Romanization of Japanese

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Japanese uses the Roman alphabet as well as kanji, hiragana, and katakana. It is often used to put Japanese words on a computer. When Romanized text is used for Japanese words, this is called romaji (ローマ字).

Differences among romanizations[change | change source]

This chart shows in full the three main systems for the romanization of Japanese: Hepburn, Nihon-shiki and Kunrei-shiki:

Hiragana Katakana Hepburn Nippon-shiki Kunrei-shiki
a
i
u
e
o
ya
yu
yo
ka
ki
ku
ke
ko
きゃ キャ kya
きゅ キュ kyu
きょ キョ kyo
sa
shi si
su
se
so
しゃ シャ sha sya
しゅ シュ shu syu
しょ ショ sho syo
ta
chi ti
tsu tu
te
to
ちゃ チャ cha tya
ちゅ チュ chu tyu
ちょ チョ cho tyo
na
ni
nu
ne
no
にゃ ニャ nya
にゅ ニュ nyu
にょ ニョ nyo
ha
hi
fu hu
he
ho
ひゃ ヒャ hya
ひゅ ヒュ hyu
ひょ ヒョ hyo
ma
mi
mu
me
mo
みゃ ミャ mya
みゅ ミュ myu
みょ ミョ myo
ya
yu
yo
ra
ri
ru
re
ro
りゃ リャ rya
りゅ リュ ryu
りょ リョ ryo
wa
i wi i
e we e
wo o
n-n'(-m) n-n'
ga
gi
gu
ge
go
ぎゃ ギャ gya
ぎゅ ギュ gyu
ぎょ ギョ gyo
za
ji zi
zu
ze
zo
じゃ ジャ ja zya
じゅ ジュ ju zyu
じょ ジョ jo zyo
da
ji di zi
zu du zu
de
do
ぢゃ ヂャ ja dya zya
ぢゅ ヂュ ju dyu zyu
ぢょ ヂョ jo dyo zyo
ba
bi
bu
be
bo
びゃ ビャ bya
びゅ ビュ byu
びょ ビョ byo
pa
pi
pu
pe
po
ぴゃ ピャ pya
ぴゅ ピュ pyu
ぴょ ピョ pyo
vu

This chart shows the differences which can be clearly seen among them.

Kana Revised Hepburn Nihon-shiki Kunrei-shiki
うう ū û
おう, おお ō ô
shi si
しゃ sha sya
しゅ shu syu
しょ sho syo
ji zi
じゃ ja zya
じゅ ju zyu
じょ jo zyo
chi ti
tsu tu
ちゃ cha tya
ちゅ chu tyu
ちょ cho tyo
ji di zi
zu du zu
ぢゃ ja dya zya
ぢゅ ju dyu zyu
ぢょ jo dyo zyo
fu hu
i wi i
e we e
o wo o
n-n'(-m) n-n'