Romaji to Hiragana and Katakana Converter
Type a Japanese spelling in romaji to see hiragana or katakana, or turn kana into romaji. This tool converts writing, not English words into Japanese.
Convert kana and romaji
Convert spellings, not English meanings.
Unrecognized characters stay as entered. English words may partly convert. Check ambiguous spellings.
What the converter does
The converter covers basic, marked and common combined kana. It leaves unfamiliar characters in place, but English words entered as romaji may be partly converted. Kana-to-romaji output is kana by kana, without word spaces or particle pronunciation. Some spellings cannot be converted back to the exact original kana.
A word’s meaning and the correct kanji depend on context. Use a Japanese dictionary to check them. To practise recognizing the characters, try the kana quiz.
Frequently asked questions
Does this translate English into Japanese?
No. It converts a Japanese pronunciation written in romaji to kana, or kana to romaji. Use a dictionary to look up a word’s meaning.
How do I enter an n before a vowel?
Use an apostrophe after n when you need to separate it from the following vowel or y sound. For example, kan'i becomes かんい, while kani becomes かに.
How do I type long vowels and small kana?
Spell long vowels as they appear in kana, such as toukyou. A hyphen after kana adds the long-vowel mark, such as ko-hi- for コーヒー. Use x or l for small kana, such as texi for てぃ. The hyphen is for a long vowel, so remove hyphens used to join words. Words with macron or circumflex vowels are left unchanged.
Why does romaji show ha for は?
The output spells kana one by one. When は, へ or を is a particle, its pronunciation depends on how it is used. The converter does not add word spaces or identify particles. When you enter romaji, wa, e and o become わ, え and お; type ha, he and wo for the particles は, へ and を.
Can this read kanji?
No. Kanji and other unrecognized characters stay in the result unchanged. Use a dictionary for kanji readings.
Evidence and sources
- Japanese romanization table official docs · Reference kana and Latin-letter sound correspondences.
- Unicode normalization forms official docs · Normalization of halfwidth and fullwidth katakana.