What ･ means
No: ･ is the narrow counterpart of ・, with the same role. In Japanese, the fullwidth middle dot ・, called nakaguro, can separate parts of names and words written in Katakana, the syllabary used for many foreign names and loanwords, or mark list divisions. Halfwidth means this form fits a narrower text grid; its punctuation role stays the same.
Japan's JIS C 6220 national character-set standard, published in 1969, included compact Katakana for early computing and telecommunications, where character space was tight. Later two-byte-per-character standards represented more Japanese writing, while the halfwidth set persisted in legacy encodings and constrained fields.
How do I type ･?
Use the halfwidth conversion in Japanese input. As of 2026, Microsoft Japanese input for Windows converts pending text to halfwidth Katakana with F8. Enter the Japanese middle dot, press F8 during conversion, then confirm the narrow candidate.
Is ･ used in ordinary Japanese prose? Usually not: Japanese conventions favor fullwidth nakaguro, ・, for ordinary text.
A form may allow halfwidth kana and still reject this punctuation.
What it means when someone sends it to you
2 readingsDon't confuse it with
1Questions people ask
2Why does ･ look different after a font change?
Fonts draw it differently. It may look nearly as wide as ・ in one font and smaller in another, but its narrow text width remains distinct.
Why does a form reject ･?
It can. A form may allow halfwidth Katakana while checking punctuation separately. As of 2026, an SBI Shinsei Bank remittance FAQ says its form rejects the middle dot and asks for a full stop.
How to type ･
･\FF65Codes and encoding1 code points
A visible symbol can contain several code points. JS .length counts UTF-16 units; UTF-8 counts bytes.