Learn the Japanese Romaji Alphabet: Chart & Beginner’s Guide

2026/05/29

The Japanese romaji alphabet is the first thing most learners encounter.

This guide explains what romaji is and gives you a complete romaji chart with hiragana and katakana equivalents to use as a reference. 

What Is Romaji? Is It a Japanese Alphabet?

Romaji (ローマ字, rōmaji) literally means “Roman letters.” It is the system for writing Japanese using the Latin alphabet. 

The Japanese romaji alphabet is not a native Japanese script. It is a romanization layer built on top of hiragana, katakana, and kanji, primarily for non-Japanese readers and keyboard input. 

For a full overview of all four writing systems, see our complete guide to Japanese writing systems.

Three systems exist in Romaji : 

• Hepburn (used throughout this article) is the international standard, closest to English phonetics
• Kunrei-shiki is the Japanese government standard,  it writes shi as si and tsu as tu. 
• Nihon-shiki mirrors the syllabary directly and is mostly used in academic contexts.

Kana vs Romaji: What’s the Difference?

Kana and romaji represent the same sounds, but they don’t carry the same information. Here’s what romaji can’t show you:

• Long vowels : Ojisan means uncle. Ojiisan means grandfather. In romaji they look almost the same,  in hiragana, おじさん vs おじいさん, the difference is obvious.
• Distinct characters : ず and づ are two different kana, but both become zu in romaji. You lose the distinction entirely.
• Correct spelling : The word chijimu (to shrink) must be written ちぢむ, not ちじむ. Only kana makes that clear.
• Pronunciation cues : The Japanese r is a soft tongue tap, not an English r. The u in tsu is near-silent. Romaji pushes you toward English phonics by default.

Our complete guide to Japanese letters covers the transition to kana step by step.

Can Japanese People Read and Understand Romaji?

Japanese people can read and understand romaji but not because they use it daily. 

All students learn it in 4th grade to write their names in Latin letters and type on standard keyboards. Beyond that, written Japanese relies entirely on kana and kanji. 

You will genuinely encounter romaji in Japan on station signs and bilingual signage, on passports and official documents, in brand logos, and as keyboard input). That last use is the most important one: it is why even fluent Japanese speakers interact with romaji every day,  as an input tool, not a reading script.

 Our JLPT N5 self-study roadmap shows exactly when to leave romaji behind.

Japanese Romaji Alphabet Chart with Hiragana & Katakana Equivalents

The Japanese romaji alphabet chart below uses Revised Hepburn throughout. Each cell shows the hiragana, katakana, and romaji together so you can cross-reference all three at once.

Table 1 : Basic Syllables (Monographs)

Each cell shows: hiragana · katakana · romaji. The vowels (a, i, u, e, o) are always the same across every row, once you know them, every syllable follows the same pattern.

Row	a	i	u	e	o	Watch out
Vowels	あ ア a	い イ i	う ウ u	え エ e	お オ o	u is short, barely rounded
K	か カ ka	き キ ki	く ク ku	け ケ ke	こ コ ko
S	さ サ sa	し シ shi	す ス su	せ セ se	そ ソ so	shi = “shee”, not “si”
T	た タ ta	ち チ chi	つ ツ tsu	て テ te	と ト to	chi = “chee” · tsu = one syllable (“cats+u”)
N	な ナ na	に ニ ni	ぬ ヌ nu	ね ネ ne	の ノ no
H	は ハ ha	ひ ヒ hi	ふ フ fu	へ ヘ he	ほ ホ ho	fu = between f and h, lips barely touching
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	r = light tongue tap, halfway between r, l, and d
W	わ ワ wa	—	—	—	を ヲ wo	wo is only used as a grammar particle
Nasal	ん ン n	—	—	—	—	Stands alone as its own syllable

Table 2 : Voiced Sounds (Dakuten ゛ & Handakuten ゜)

Row	a	i	u	e	o
G	が ガ ga	ぎ ギ gi	ぐ グ gu	げ ゲ ge	ご ゴ go
Z	ざ ザ za	じ ジ ji	ず ズ zu	ぜ ゼ ze	ぞ ゾ zo
D	だ ダ da	ぢ ヂ ji	づ ヅ zu	で デ de	ど ド do
B	ば バ ba	び ビ bi	ぶ ブ bu	べ ベ be	ぼ ボ bo
P	ぱ パ pa	ぴ ピ pi	ぷ プ pu	ぺ ペ pe	ぽ ポ po

Table 3 — Compound Sounds (Yōon 拗音)

Row	-ya	-yu	-yo
K (き)	きゃ キャ kya	きゅ キュ kyu	きょ キョ kyo
S (し)	しゃ シャ sha	しゅ シュ shu	しょ ショ sho
T (ち)	ちゃ チャ cha	ちゅ チュ chu	ちょ チョ cho
N (に)	にゃ ニャ nya	にゅ ニュ nyu	にょ ニョ nyo
H (ひ)	ひゃ ヒャ hya	ひゅ ヒュ hyu	ひょ ヒョ hyo
M (み)	みゃ ミャ mya	みゅ ミュ myu	みょ ミョ myo
R (り)	りゃ リャ rya	りゅ リュ ryu	りょ リョ ryo
G (ぎ)	ぎゃ ギャ gya	ぎゅ ギュ gyu	ぎょ ギョ gyo
J (じ)	じゃ ジャ ja	じゅ ジュ ju	じょ ジョ jo
B (び)	びゃ ビャ bya	びゅ ビュ byu	びょ ビョ byo
P (ぴ)	ぴゃ ピャ pya	ぴゅ ピュ pyu	ぴょ ピョ pyo

Table 4 : Special Rules You Must Know

These seven rules catch almost every beginner mistake in romaji to hiragana reading. Each one behaves differently from what English phonics would suggest.

Rule	Romaji spelling	Hiragana	Example	Why it trips people up
Long vowel ā	aa	ああ	okaasan おかあさん (mother)	The double a must be held twice as long,  it changes the word
Long vowel ō	ou or oo	おう / おお	Toukyou とうきょう · ookii おおきい	“Tokyo” in English hides this entirely
Double consonant っ	kk / tt / ss…	っ + next consonant	kitte きって (stamp) · gakkou がっこう (school)	The doubled letter signals a short pause before the consonant
Particle は	wa (written ha)	は	watashi wa わたしは	The character は is ha everywhere except as a topic particle
Particle へ	e (written he)	へ	gakkou e がっこうへ	Same character, different reading depending on use
Particle を	wo or o	を	hon wo ほんを	Mostly silent w, the character marks the object of a verb
ん before a vowel	n’ (with apostrophe)	ん	shin’you しんよう ≠ shinyou しにょう	Without the apostrophe, n blends into the next syllable and changes the word

Japanese Romaji Reading Practice (with Audio)

Read each Japanese romaji story aloud first, then check the hiragana. Listen to the audio to hear the natural rhythm and pronunciation and try to follow along in hiragana on the second listen. 

At Nihongo Online School, we guide you through every step, from your first romaji sounds to reading hiragana, katakana, and essential kanji. Our native instructors build a curriculum around your pace and goals.

Discover our curriculum.