Checked for validity and accuracy – October 2017 ROMANIZATION OF JAPANESE KANA Modified Hepburn System BGN/PCGN 1976 Agreement1 The modified Hepburn system for the romanization of Japanese has been in use by the BGN and the PCGN since the 1930’s and has been used extensively in the romanization of Japanese geographic names. This system is well adapted to the general needs of speakers of English and is the most widely used system for romanization of Japanese. In 2007, the Geospatial Information Authority of Japan (GSI) issued “Toponymic Guidelines for Map Editors and other Editors, Japan (Third Edition)2,” and the BGN and the PCGN have adopted several of the guidelines dealing with romanization.3 The Japanese language is written in two forms: kanji, which are Sino-Japanese characters, and kana, which are syllabic symbols. There are two styles of kana, namely katakana, the squared form, and hiragana, the cursive form. Katakana symbols were originally derived from parts of kanji characters and today are used primarily for the phonetic transcription of foreign words and as the equivalent of italics. Hiragana symbols, on the other hand, were originally created by simplifying the strokes of whole kanji characters and are mainly used to represent grammatical particles and suffixes. Each kana character represents a syllable, which may be composed of a vowel, consonant-vowel combination, or syllabic nasal. Running text is usually written in kanji with kana interspersed. Geographic names, personal names, and words written in isolation are usually written in kanji, with or without the addition of small-script kana equivalents, which, when used for that purpose, are referred to as furigana. Kanji may be romanized by determining the furigana of the kanji characters using a Japanese dictionary (e.g., Kokugo Jiten or Kanji Jiten), then romanizing the furigana using the modified Hepburn system. A familiarity with the grammatical structure and writing system of the Japanese language is essential for the correct romanization of kanji. 1 Introductory text expanded, tables modified, and explanatory notes added in 2015 2 http://www.gsi.go.jp/ENGLISH/page_e30064.html 3 See ‘Notes’ for the modified rules for the romanization of Japanese (pages 6&7) 1 Table 1: Standard Characters [Hiragana/Katakana/Romanization] This table summarizes the kana symbols (hiragana and katakana). Each symbol represents a syllable. When reading Japanese kana, it is important to recognize whether the following syllable/vowel letter is within the same Kanji character. a i u e o - あ/ア/a い/イ/i う/ウ/u え/エ/e お/オ/o か/カ/ka き/キ/ki く/ク/ku け/ケ/ke こ/コ/ko k4 が/ガ/ga ぎ/ギ/gi ぐ/グ/gu げ/ゲ/ge ご/ゴ/go さ/サ/sa し/シ/shi す/ス/su せ/セ/se そ/ソ/so s ざ/ザ/za じ/ジ/ji ず/ズ/zu ぜ/ゼ/ze ぞ/ゾ/zo た/タ/ta ち/チ/chi つ/ツ/tsu て/テ/te と/ト/to t だ/ダ/da ぢ/ヂ/ji づ/ヅ/zu で/デ/de ど/ド/do n な/ナ/na に/ニ/ni ぬ/ヌ/nu ね/ネ/ne の/ノ/no は/ハ/ha ひ/ヒ/hi ふ/フ/fu へ/ヘ/he ほ/ホ/ho h ば/バ/ba び/ビ/bi ぶ/ブ/bu べ/ベ/be ぼ/ボ/bo ぱ/パ/pa ぴ/ピ/pi ぷ/プ/pu ぺ/ペ/pe ぽ/ポ/po m ま/マ/ma み/ミ/mi む/ム/mu め/メ/me も/モ/mo y や/ヤ/ya ゆ/ユ/yu よ/ヨ/yo r ら/ラ/ra り/リ/ri る/ル/ru れ/レ/re ろ/ロ/ro w わ/ワ/wa を/ヲ/o -n ん/ン/n 4 Row headings refer to classes of sounds. The sounds may be spelled differently based upon surrounding sounds. 2 Table 2: Standard Characters with Contractions [Hiragana/Katakana/Romanization] Character combinations used for contractions consist of a full-sized kana plus a miniature kana representing a single vowel or diphthong. For example, き ki combined with ゃ(a miniature version of や ya) becomes きゃ kya. When the small vowel letters and diphthongs follow consonant/diphthong letters, table 2 rules supersede the rules in table 1. ya i yu ye yo きゃ/キャ/kya きゅ/キュ/kyu きぇ/キェ/kye きょ/キョ/kyo ぎゃ/ギャ/gya ぎゅ/ギュ/gyu ぎぇ/ギェ/gye ぎょ/ギョ/gyo k くぁ/クァ/kwa くぃ/クィ/kwi くぇ/クェ/kwe くぉ/クォ/kwo ぐぁ/グァ/gwa ぐぃ/グィ/gwi ぐぇ/グェ/gwe ぐぉ/グォ/gwo しゃ/シャ/sha しゅ/シュ/shu しぇ/シェ/she しょ/ショ/sho sh じゃ/ジャ/ja じゅ/シュ/ju じぇ/ジェ/je じょ/ジョ/jo ちゃ/チャ/cha ちゅ/チュ/chu ちぇ/チェ/che ちょ/チョ/cho ぢゃ/ヂャ/ja ぢゅ/ヂュ/ju ぢぇ/ヂェ/je ぢょ/ヂョ/jo つぁ/ツァ/tsa つぃ/ツィ/tsi つぇ/ツェ/tse つぉ/ツォ/tso t てぃ/ティ/ti テュ/tyu でぃ/ディ/di デュ/dyu トュ/tu ドュ/du にゃ/ニャ/nya にゅ/ニュ/nyu にぇ/ニェ/nye にょ/ニョ/nyo n ひゃ/ヒャ/hya ひゅ/ヒュ/hyu ひぇ/ヒェ/hye ひょ/ヒョ/hyo びゃ/ビャ/bya びゅ/ビュ/byu びぇ/ビェ/bye びょ/ビョ/byo h ぴゃ/ピャ/pya ぴゅ/ピュ/pyu ぴぇ/ピェ/pye ぴょ/ピョ/pyo ふぁ/ファ/fa ふぃ/フィ/fi ふぇ/フェ/fe ふぉ/フォ/fo みゃ/ミャ/mya みゅ/ミュ/myu みぇ/ミェ/mye みょ/ミョ/myo m y ぃぇ/ィェ/ye りゃ/リャ/rya りゅ/リュ/ryu りぇ/リェ/rye りょ/リョ/ryo r ウィ/wi ウェ/we ウォ/wo w ヴァ/va ヴィ/vi ヴ/v ヴェ/ve ヴォ/vo 3 Table 3: Standard Characters with Long Vowels5 [Hiragana/Katakana/Romanization] Japanese distinguishes between short and long vowels. With some exceptions, long vowels are usually romanized with a vowel letter bearing a macron (e.g., ā). The Japanese long vowel marker (ー) indicates a lengthening of the short vowel symbol it follows, causing it to be romanized as a long vowel. ā ī ū ē ō おう/オウ/ō ああ/アア/ā いい/イイ/ī うう/ウウ/ū ええ/エエ/ē (おう/オー/ō) - (ああ/アー/ā) (いい/イー/ī) (うう/ウー/ū) (ええ/エー/ē) (おお/オオ/ō) (おお/オー/ō) かあ/カア/kā きい/キイ/kī くう/クウ/kū けえ/ケエ/kē こう/コウ/kō (こお/コオ/kō) k があ/ガア/gā ぎい/ギイ/gī ぐう/グウ/gū げえ/ケエ/gē ごう/ゴウ/gō (ごお/ゴオ/gō) さあ/サア/sā しい/シイ/shī すう/スウ/sū せえ/セエ/sē そう/ソウ/sō (そお/ソオ/sō) s ざあ/ザア/zā じい/ジイ/jī ずう/ズウ/zū ぜえ/ゼエ/zē ぞう/ゾウ/zō (ぞお/ゾオ/zō) たあ/タア/tā ちい/チイ/chī つう/ツウ/tsū てえ/テエ/tē とう/トウ/tō (とお/トオ/tō) t だあ/ダア/dā ぢい/ヂイ/jī づう/ヅウ/zū でえ/デエ/dē どう/ドウ/dō (どお/ドオ/dō) なあ/ナア/nā にい/ニイ/nī ぬう/ヌウ/nū ねえ/ネエ/nē のう/ノウ/nō n (のお/ノオ/nō) はあ/ハア/hā ひい/ヒイ/hī ふう/フウ/fū へえ/ヘエ/hē ほう/ホウ/hō (ほお/ホオ/hō) ばあ/バア/bā びい/ビイ/bī ぶう/ブウ/bū べえ/ベエ/bē ぼう/ボウ/bō h (ぼお/ボオ/bō) ぱあ/パア/pā ぴい/ピイ/pī ぷう/プウ/pū ぺえ/ペエ/pē ぽう/ポウ/pō (ぽお/ポオ/pō) まあ/マア/mā みい/ミイ/mī むう/ムウ/mū めえ/メエ/mē もう/モウ/mō m (もお/モオ/mō) やあ/ヤア/yā ゆう/ユウ/yū よう/ヨウ/yō y (よお/ヨオ/yō) らあ/ラア/rā りい/リイ/rī るう/ルウ/rū れえ/レエ/rē ろう/ロウ/yō r (ろお/ロオ/rō) わあ/ワア/wā w 5 See Notes section 5 for general rules regarding long vowels. 4 Table 4: Standard Characters with Long Vowels and Contractions [Hiragana/Katakana/Romanization] Character combinations for contractions involving long vowels are composed of a short contraction (see Table 2) combined with a full-sized kana. Sometimes the long vowel marker (ー) is used instead of the final kana in words of foreign origin. The vowels in these combinations are romanized with macrons. For example, き ki combined with ゃ(a miniature version of や ya) and あ a becomes きゃあ kyā. (y)ā ī (y)ū (y)ē (y)ō きゃあ/キャア/kyā きゅう/キュウ/kyū キェー/kyē きょう/キョウ/kyō (きょお/キョオ/kyō) k ぎゃあ/ギャア/gyā ぎゅう/ギュウ/gyū ギェー/gyē ぎょう/ギョウ/gyō (ぎょお/ギョオ/gyō) しゃあ/シャア/shā しゅう/シュウ/shū シェー/shē しょう/ショウ/ shō (しょお/ショオ/shō) sh じゃあ/ジャア/jā じゅう/ジュウ/jū ジェー/jē じょう/ジョウ/ jō (じょお/ジョオ/jō) ちゃあ/チャア/chā ちゅう/チュウ/chū チェー/chē ちょう/チョウ/chō (ちょお/チョオ/chō) ぢゃあ/ヂャア/jā ぢゅう/ヂュウ/jū ヂェー/jē ぢょう/ヂョウ/jō (ぢょお/ヂョオ/jō) t ツァ-/tsā ツェー/tsē ツォー/tsō ティー /tī テュー/tyū ディー/dī デュー/dyū トゥー/tū ドゥー/dū にゃあ/ニャア/nyā にゅう/ニュウ/nyū ニェー/nyē にょう/ニョウ/nyō n (にょお/ニョオ/nyō) ひゃあ/ヒャア/hyā ひゅう/ヒュウ/hyū ひょう/ヒョウ/hyō (ひょお/ヒョオ/hyō) びゃあ/ビャア/byā びゅう/ビュウ/byū びょう/ビョウ/byō h (びょお/ビョオ/byō) ぴゃあ/ピャア/pyā ぴゅう/ピュウ/pyū ぴょう/ピョウ/pyō (ぴょお/ピョオ/pyō) ファー/fā フィー/fī フュー/fyū フェー/fē フォー/fō みゃあ/ミャア/myā みゅう/ミュウ/myū みょう/ミョウ/myō m (みょお/ミョオ/myō) y イェー/yē りゃあ/リャア/ryā りゅう/リュウ/ryū りょう/リョウ/ryō r (りょお/リョオ/ryō) ウィー/wī ウェー/wē ウォ/wō w ヴァ-/vā ヴィー/vī ヴェー/vē ヴォ/vō 5 Notes 1.