The Classical Japanese language (Japanese: 文語bungo) is the literary form of the Japanese language that was the standard until the early Shōwa period. It is based on Late Old Japanese, the language as spoken during the Heian era, but exhibits some later influences. Its use started to decline during the late Meiji period when novelists started writing their works in the spoken form. Eventually, the spoken style became in widespread use including major newspapers, but many of official documents were still written in the old style. After World War II, most documents switched to the spoken style, although the classical style continues to be used in traditional genres such as haiku. Old laws are also left in the classical style unless fully revised.
