CHARACTER RECOGNITION METHOD

A character recognition method includes a step of assigning one of a plurality of predetermined directionality codes to each of the pixels defining the contour of a character pattern. Then, the character pattern, to which the directionality codes have been assigned, is subdivided into a plurality of mesh regions. In this case, in accordance with the present invention, the character pattern is not directly subdivided into mesh regions, and, instead, the character pattern is first subdivided into a first plurality of sub-regions and then the first plurality of sub-regions are converted into a second plurality, which is smaller in number than the first plurality, of mesh regions by combining at least some of said first plurality of sub-regions. Such a two-step subdivision process of a character pattern is advantageous in absorbing fluctuations caused by modifications of the character pattern, such as hand-written characters.