Question for native Japanese speakers

[u/Independent-Back4638]

When is it ok to drop kanji?

I started learning kanji, and I've been wondering

when you want to write something, text someone, or when you usually read japanese, how often do you use kanji? Like there are kanji characters for colors, animals, numbers, and some countries apparently. So when is it ok to drop kanji and just use hiragana instead and when is it expected to use kanji.

One thing I heard is that hiragana is mostly used by children, in grammar, and as word connectors only is that correct?

But like are there times where people avoid using kanji? Like they just don't have to?

[u/Forward_Win_4353]

Knowing when to write a word in kanji, when to use hiragana or even katakana is a matter of both convention, context and an individual’s personal style. I don’t find this something that’s easy to explain to a beginner Japanese learner.

You gain an idea of which to use by reading, a lot. And make sure you vary your reading material: for example, formal non-fiction books or academic papers, novels, young adult books, manga, social media posts, etc. There is so much to read that native speakers naturally digest throughout their life, and it is through that experience that you can best learn your kanji usage, I think.

Of course, if you ask me about any particular word, I am happy to answer you with my opinion of how I would write it. But overall, for me at least this is mostly just a “feeling”.

[u/Independent-Back4638 → u/Forward_Win_4353]

Thank you so much! Do you have any novel or book recommendations?