Small ke
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ヶ (also known as the small ke) is a common, yet often misunderstood Japanese character.
ヶ is an abbreviation for the kanji 「箇」 which is used as a counter. It is pronounced ka or ga, not ke or ko. The rule of pronunciation is that if it is used in a counter-word, such as 1ヶ月 (ikkagetsu) it is pronounced ka. If it is in a place name, such as 青木ヶ原 (Aokigahara), it is pronounced ga. Incidentally, "～ヶ原" (gahara) means "field of～" and appears occasionally in Japanese place names.
A rare, related character to ヶ is 个. This one is still used in Chinese. A larger version (ケ) also appears and is the same in every way, but its use is largely restricted to established names.
