The np.array().view(np.chararray) way to create a chararray appears to automatically strip trailing whitespace: >>> c=np.array(['aAaAaA',' aA ','abBABba'],dtype='S7') >>> c[1]; len(c[1]) ' aA ' 6 >>> c=c.view(np.chararray) >>> c[1]; len(c[1]) ' aA' 4 Is there a way to suppress this behavior? If not, bug or feature? Thanks, DG