Commas next to words in Japanese books?

[mickeyjapan]

I found this in the book I’m reading (look at the word しきたり). What does it mean when Japanese books have commas next to words like this? I’ve seen this a couple times before and couldn’t find any answers online. Can anyone help with this, thanks

[Kazzeon]

I would imagine it’s to spell it out, adding pause between each letter.

[Belthazar]

Aye. I read it as Punctuated. For. Emphasis.

[MissMisc]

They’re called 圏点けんてん , 傍点ぼうてん, or 脇点わきてん, and they’re used to emphasize text, similar to how we use things like italics in English

[mickeyjapan]

Thank you so much! I’d been seeing them often and couldn’t figure out what they were. ありがとうございました！