※
This symbol is called
米印 kome-jirushi ("rice sign") in
Japanese, because of its resemblance to the
kanji for
rice.
It is superficially similar to an English asterisk, but actually used quite differently. Most of the time, the kome-jirushi appears to draw the reader's attention to instructions or precautions, e.g.:
※サルを切り放つことは法律で禁じられています。
Dismembering the monkey is prohibited by law.
Like the asterisk, the
kome-jirushi can also be used for
footnotes. Nowadays, however, it is more common to use numbered footnotes or a Western-style asterisk (
＊ / Unicode FF0A) for that purpose.
The kome-jirushi appears at Unicode hex 203B.