Rōmaji

 

About Rōmaji

Rōmaji (ローマ字) was developed to describe the sound of Japanese in Roman alphabet.

Rōmaji is mainly used for the convenience of foreigners who are not familiar with Japanese characters.

For example, names of train stations are shown in both Rōmaji (Roman alphabet) and Japanese characters.

 

Rōmaji Spelling

There are different romanization systems suitable for different purposes.

In this website, we adopt the Hepburn-Based Romanization System recommended by the Department of English Language, The University of Tokyo (*1).

We believe this is the most complete and suitable system for the Japanese language education.

The following tables show the Rōmaji spelling of Kana letters (Hiragana and Katakana).

Irregular spellings are colored in red.

Gojūon

	ア段 a column	イ段 i column	ウ段 u column	エ段 e column	オ段 o column
ア行 a row	あ　ア	い　イ	う　ウ	え　エ	お　オ
	a	i	u	e	o
カ行 ka row	か　カ	き　キ	く　ク	け　ケ	こ　コ
	ka	ki	ku	ke	ko
サ行 sa row	さ　サ	し　シ	す　ス	せ　セ	そ　ソ
	sa	shi	su	se	so
タ行 ta row	た　タ	ち　チ	つ　ツ	て　テ	と　ト
	ta	chi	tsu	te	to
ナ行 na row	な　ナ	に　ニ	ぬ　ヌ	ね　ネ	の　ノ
	na	ni	nu	ne	no
ハ行 ha row	は　ハ	ひ　ヒ	ふ　フ	へ　ヘ	ほ　ホ
	ha	hi	fu	he	ho
マ行 ma row	ま　マ	み　ミ	む　ム	め　メ	も　モ
	ma	mi	mu	me	mo
ヤ行 ya row	や　ヤ		ゆ　ユ		よ　ヨ
	ya		yu		yo
ラ行 ra row	ら　ラ	り　リ	る　ル	れ　レ	ろ　ロ
	ra	ri	ru	re	ro
ワ行 wa row	わ　ワ				を　ヲ
	wa				o
ん　ン
n　or　n'

n' is used when ん comes before a vowel or y

Hiragana	はんこ	はんい	しんぐ	しんや
Rōmaji	hanko	han'i	shingu	shin'ya

The purpose of the apostrophe is to distinguish はんい (han'i) and はに (hani), しんや (shin'ya) and しにゃ (shinya).

Dakuon

	ア段 a column	イ段 i column	ウ段 u column	エ段 e column	オ段 o column
ガ行 ga row	が　ガ	ぎ　ギ	ぐ　グ	げ　ゲ	ご　ゴ
	ga	gi	gu	ge	go
ザ行 za row	ざ　ザ	じ　ジ	ず　ズ	ぜ　ゼ	ぞ　ゾ
	za	ji	zu	ze	zo
ダ行 da row	だ　ダ	ぢ　ヂ	づ　ヅ	で　デ	ど　ド
	da	ji	zu	de	do
バ行 ba row	ば　バ	び　ビ	ぶ　ブ	べ　ベ	ぼ　ボ
	ba	bi	bu	be	bo

Handakuon

	ア段 a column	イ段 i column	ウ段 u column	エ段 e column	オ段 o column
パ行 pa row	ぱ　パ	ぴ　ピ	ぷ　プ	ぺ　ペ	ぽ　ポ
	pa	pi	pu	pe	po

Yōon

カ行 ka row	きゃ　キャ	きゅ　キュ	きょ　キョ
	kya	kyu	kyo
サ行 sa row	しゃ　シャ	しゅ　シュ	しょ　ショ
	sha	shu	sho
タ行 ta row	ちゃ　チャ	ちゅ　チュ	ちょ　チョ
	cha	chu	cho
ナ行 na row	にゃ　ニャ	にゅ　ニュ	にょ　ニョ
	nya	nyu	nyo
ハ行 ha row	ひゃ　ヒャ	ひゅ　ヒュ	ひょ　ヒョ
	hya	hyu	hyo
マ行 ma row	みゃ　ミャ	みゅ　ミュ	みょ　ミョ
	mya	myu	myo
ラ行 ra row	りゃ　リャ	りゅ　リュ	りょ　リョ
	rya	ryu	ryo
ガ行 ga row	ぎゃ　ギャ	ぎゅ　ギュ	ぎょ　ョ
	gya	gyu	gyo
ザ行 za row	じゃ　ジャ	じゅ　ジュ	じょ　ジョ
	ja	ju	jo
ダ行 da row	ぢゃ　ヂャ	ぢゅ　ヂュ	ぢょ　ヂョ
	ja	ju	jo
バ行 ba row	びゃ　ビャ	びゅ　ビュ	びょ　ビョ
	bya	byu	byo
パ行 pa row	ぴゃ　ピャ	ぴゅ　ピュ	ぴょ　ピョ
	pya	pyu	pyo

Sokuon

っ　ッ

Make the following consonant letter double. さっき sakki　　きっぷ kippu　　ベッド beddo　　ロック rokku

Long Vowels

long a	long i	long u	long e	long o
ā	ī	ū	ē　or　ei	ō

How to Read Rōmaji

Basically, you can read Rōmaji as you usually read English texts. But the pronunciation of Japanese syllables is not exactly the same as English.

To master the correct pronunciation, try to imitate the pronunciation of native Japanese speakers.

Basic Rules

Each syllable (each Hiragana and Katakana letter) is pronounced for the same length. For example, when you say the word [aka] in 1 second, it takes 0.5 second for [a] and another 0.5 second for [ka]. You don't have to be this precise, but it is important to keep it mind.

Letters with a bar on top - ā, ū, ē and ō are long vowels and the length should be double of the standard vowels.

[f] sound: Create the sound with pursed lips (like whistling).

[r] sound: Tip of your tongue is rolled back for English [r], and is placed behind the upper teeth for English [l]. For Japanese [r], the position is between these two. The sound is more closer to English [l].

[n] sound: It is considered to be one syllable, and the length should be the same as other syllables.

You can learn and practice the pronunciation at Hiragana Course.

References

• *1 Recommended System for Romanizing Japanese by Department of English Language / Komaba Organization for Educational Development, The University of Tokyo, Komaba

Related Topics

• Hiragana
• Katakana
• Kanji