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Japan Studies: Japanese Language Rules

This page shows you how to get the most from our library resources for finding good information for your research projects.

Romanization of Japanese (romaji)

Table of Modified Hepburn
(Romanaization system used in major databases)
*The letters highlighted in yellow are commonly mistaken.

あ
a

 い
i		 う
u		 え
e		 お
o		 や
ya		 ゆ
yu		 よ
yo
か 
ka		 き 
ki		 く 
ku		 け 
ke		 こ 
ko		 きゃ 
kya		 きゅ 
kyu		 きょ 
kyo
さ 
sa		 し 
shi		 す 
su		 せ 
se		 そ 
so		 しゃ 
sha		 しゅ 
shu		 しょ 
sho
た 
ta		 ち 
chi		 つ 
tsu		 て 
te		 と 
to		 ちゃ 
cha		 ちゅ 
chu		 ちょ 
cho
な 
na		 に 
ni		 ぬ 
nu		 ね 
ne		 の 
no		 にゃ 
nya		 にゅ 
nyu		 にょ   
nyo
は 
ha		 ひ 
hi		 ふ 
fu		 へ 
he		 ほ 
ho		 ひゃ 
hya		 ひゅ 
hyu		 ひょ
hyo
ま 
ma		 み 
mi		 む 
mu		 め 
me		 も 
mo		 みゃ 
mya		 みゅ 
myu		 みょ
myo
ら 
ra		 り 
ri		 る 
ru		 れ 
re		 ろ 
ro		 りゃ 
rya		 りゅ 
ryu		 りょ 
ryo
わ
wa		 ん
n		 ("は")
wa

(" を")
o

 ("へ")
e		 (ヴァ)
 va		 (ヴィ)
vi		 (ヴォ)
vo

が
ga

 ぎ
gi		 ぐ
gu		 げ
ge		 ご
go		 ぎゃ
gya		 ぎゅ
gyu		 ぎょ
gyo
ざ 
za		 じ 
ji		 ず
zu		 ぜ 
ze		 ぞ
zo		 じゃ 
ja		 じゅ 
ju		 じょ 
jo
だ 
da		 ぢ
ji		 づ
zu		 で 
de		 ど
do		      
ば 
ba		 び 
bi		 ぶ 
bu		 べ 
be		 ぼ 
bo		 びゃ 
bya		 びゅ 
byu		 びょ 
byo
ぱ 
pa		 ぴ
pi		 ぷ 
pu		 ぺ 
pe		 ぽ 
po		 ぴゃ 
pya		 ぴゅ 
pyu		 ぴょ 
pyo

Pay special attention to:

  • Long vowels: Omit them.
    • 大阪 (おおさか) Osaka: <wrong> Oosaka / {correct} Osaka 
    • 研究 (けんきゅう) research: <wrong> kenkyuu / {correct} kenkyu 
  • Double consonants (small っ): Repeat the succeeding consonant.
    • 日本 (にっぽん) Japan: Nippon
    • ホットドッグ hotdog: hottodoggu
      • Exception: Double consonants "cc" are transcribed as "tc."
        • 一丁 (いっちょう) one piece: <wrong> iccho / {correct} itcho
        • 坊ちゃん (ぼっちゃん) a boy: <wrong> bocchan / {correct} botcha
  • "ん" is always transcribed as "n," not "m."
    • 新聞 (しんぶん) newspaper: <wrong> shimbun / {correct} shinbun
    • 短編 (たんぺん) a short story: <wrong> tampen / {correct} tanpen
  • A continuous string of Japanese words must be divided into word units.
    • 日本の政治と社会 Japanese politics and society: Nihon no seiji to shakai
    • 日本史 Japanese history: Nihon shi

*To maximize your search results, input different romanized forms or word divisions. For example, "nihon shi" and "nihonshi" for 日本史.

*See this ALA-LC PDF guideline on Japanese romanization (American Library Association-Library Congress, revised March 2012) for more about the word division, capitalization and use of hyphens.