Hepburn Romaji Converter (Kana ⇄ Romaji)
Convert between hiragana, katakana and Hepburn romaji — the style used on Japanese passports. Pick Hepburn or Kunrei-shiki and long-vowel style. Everything stays in your browser.
How to use
Type text — conversion runs live based on auto-detect or your chosen direction. Switch romanization and long-vowel style as needed.
Examples
- ありがとう → arigatou (Hepburn)
- フジサン → fujisan / huzisan
- gakkou → がっこう (double consonant kk → っ)
Hiragana, katakana and romaji
Japanese is written with two kana scripts — hiragana (ひらがな) for native words and grammar, katakana (カタカナ) for foreign loanwords and emphasis — that cover the same set of sounds. Romaji writes those same sounds in the Latin alphabet. This tool moves text between all three, so you can read a Japanese word aloud, type kana from romaji, or switch a word between hiragana and katakana.
Hepburn, traditional Kunrei-shiki, and the 2025 revision
Hepburn uses forms such as shi, chi, tsu and fu, while traditional Kunrei-shiki uses si, ti, tu and hu for the same sounds. Japan’s December 22, 2025 Cabinet notification replaced the older standard with one general reference table based mainly on Hepburn-style spellings (last checked July 14, 2026). This tool retains both choices so older documents and alternative conventions can still be compared.
Limits of reverse conversion
Romaji does not retain kanji, word boundaries, or a unique reading. Use an apostrophe in a form such as kon'ya to distinguish ん from a following y sound. Macron mode mechanically converts vowel sequences such as ou to ō; it cannot decide whether a person or place uses that spelling officially. The long-vowel mark ー is always written as a hyphen (-) in either mode, never as a macron (for example コンピューター → konpyu-ta-).
Passport names follow separate Ministry of Foreign Affairs rules, so confirm the official passport Hepburn table before an application. For other normalization, try the Full-width / Half-width Converter or Case Converter.
Hepburn romanization table
The Hepburn system used on Japanese passports and in most English-language writing. Plain, voiced and semi-voiced syllables:
| -a | -i | -u | -e | -o |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| あ a | い i | う u | え e | お o |
| か ka | き ki | く ku | け ke | こ ko |
| さ sa | し shi | す su | せ se | そ so |
| た ta | ち chi | つ tsu | て te | と to |
| な na | に ni | ぬ nu | ね ne | の no |
| は ha | ひ hi | ふ fu | へ he | ほ ho |
| ま ma | み mi | む mu | め me | も mo |
| や ya | — | ゆ yu | — | よ yo |
| ら ra | り ri | る ru | れ re | ろ ro |
| わ wa | — | — | — | を wo |
| が ga | ぎ gi | ぐ gu | げ ge | ご go |
| ざ za | じ ji | ず zu | ぜ ze | ぞ zo |
| だ da | ぢ ji | づ zu | で de | ど do |
| ば ba | び bi | ぶ bu | べ be | ぼ bo |
| ぱ pa | ぴ pi | ぷ pu | ぺ pe | ぽ po |
Palatalized syllables (ya / yu / yo)
| きゃ kya | きゅ kyu | きょ kyo |
| しゃ sha | しゅ shu | しょ sho |
| ちゃ cha | ちゅ chu | ちょ cho |
| にゃ nya | にゅ nyu | にょ nyo |
| ひゃ hya | ひゅ hyu | ひょ hyo |
| みゃ mya | みゅ myu | みょ myo |
| りゃ rya | りゅ ryu | りょ ryo |
| ぎゃ gya | ぎゅ gyu | ぎょ gyo |
| じゃ ja | じゅ ju | じょ jo |
| びゃ bya | びゅ byu | びょ byo |
| ぴゃ pya | ぴゅ pyu | ぴょ pyo |
Where Hepburn and Kunrei-shiki differ
Hepburn spells sounds the way an English speaker would read them; Kunrei-shiki keeps the shape of the Japanese kana grid. Passports use Hepburn.
| Kana | Hepburn | Kunrei-shiki |
|---|---|---|
| し | shi | si |
| ち | chi | ti |
| つ | tsu | tu |
| ふ | fu | hu |
| じ・ぢ | ji | zi |
| じゃ・ぢゃ | ja | zya |
| じゅ・ぢゅ | ju | zyu |
| じょ・ぢょ | jo | zyo |
| しゃ | sha | sya |
| しゅ | shu | syu |
| しょ | sho | syo |
| ちゃ | cha | tya |
| ちゅ | chu | tyu |
| ちょ | cho | tyo |
Syllabic n is written n, with an apostrophe before a vowel or y (kon'ya). Long vowels are normally dropped on passports, giving Ito and Sato. Personal and place names carry their own conventions and existing spellings, so check what the recipient requires.