Translation guide
In Japanese, iteration marks (odoriji) are special characters used to repeat the preceding character or characters, primarily in vertical writing or informal contexts. They are not punctuation but a shorthand for repeated kanji or kana.
The most common iteration mark, used to repeat the preceding kanji in words like 時々 (tokidoki) or 人々 (hitobito).
The kanji iteration mark, called ノマ (noma) because it looks like the katakana ノ and マ. It repeats the preceding kanji, often with rendaku (voicing) on the second occurrence. Used in words like 時々 (tokidoki, sometimes), 人々 (hitobito, people), 色々 (iroiro, various). Not used across word boundaries.
Do not use 々 to repeat a kanji across word boundaries. It only repeats a single kanji within a compound word.
I sometimes take a walk.
I listened to people's opinions.
Used to repeat the preceding hiragana character, often in informal writing or for emphasis, like すゝむ (susumu) or あゝ (aa).
The hiragana iteration mark, repeating the preceding hiragana. Rare in modern standard writing but seen in older texts or stylized contexts. Example: すゝむ (susumu, to advance).
to advance (archaic or stylized spelling)
Used to repeat the preceding katakana character, like コーヒー (koohii) written as コーヒヽ (rare).
The katakana iteration mark, repeating the preceding katakana. Extremely rare in modern writing; almost never used. Example: コーヒヽ (koohii, coffee) in very old texts.
coffee (archaic spelling)
Used to repeat two or more preceding kana, like ばか〱 (bakabaka) or いろ〱 (iroiro).
The kana repetition mark for multiple characters, called くの字点 (kunoji-ten). It repeats the previous two or more kana. Rarely used today, but seen in older vertical writing. Example: いろ〱 (iroiro, various).
various (archaic spelling)
A vertical mark used to repeat the previous character in vertical text, like 〻.
A vertical iteration mark used in vertical writing to repeat the preceding character. It is called 二の字点 (ninoji-ten) because it looks like the kanji 二. Very rare in modern usage.
iteration mark (vertical)
Iteration marks are not punctuation; they are part of the word's spelling. Do not confuse them with ditto marks or other symbols.
When 々 repeats a kanji, the second occurrence often undergoes rendaku (voicing). For example, 人 (hito) + 々 → 人々 (hitobito), not hitohito. This is not always predictable, so learn words individually.