ancient kana; cursive kanji syllabary (Heian period)
Historical term for a writing system used in the Heian period where cursive kanji forms were employed as a syllabary, distinct from modern kana.
Jōdai-gana is a writing system from the Heian period that used cursive kanji as syllabic characters.
Man'yōgana is an earlier system using kanji for their phonetic values, while jōdai-gana specifically refers to the cursive forms developed later.
Hiragana evolved from the cursive forms of jōdai-gana, but became standardized and simplified over time.
Compound of 上代 (jōdai, 'ancient times') and 仮名 (kana, 'syllabic script'). The term refers to the cursive kanji-based syllabary used in the Heian period.