Rōmaji Input

Note: For instructions on switching to Rōmaji input, refer to Settings - Keyboard Tab.

Inputting Japanese in Rōmaji

When using Rōmaji input, follow these three tips to enter kanji and kana correctly.

  1. Enter furigana for kanji words. For '東京(とうきょう)', enter 'toukyou' instead of 'Tōkyō'.
  2. Type - or ^ after one of 'aiueo' for entering 'ー' (long vowel mark) in katakana words. Note that when writing Japanese in Rōmaji, '-' (hyphen-minus) is not used as 'ー' (long vowel mark). The - key is used just for convenience.
  3. Enter Rōmaji corresponding to the kana, not the pronunciation. For 'を', enter 'wo' instead of 'o'. For 'づ', enter 'du' instead of 'zu'.
In Kana and Kanji In Rōmaji input In Kunrei-shiki In Hepburn romanization
東京(とうきょう) toukyou Tôkyô Tōkyō
寿司(すし) susi susi sushi
コーヒー ko-hi-
ko^hi^		 kôhî kōhī
を wo o o

Romanization Charts

This chart is based on Kunrei-shiki romanization, which is organized in a more systematic way than Hepburn romanization.

  A I U E O YA YU YO
あ a い i う u え e お o
K か ka き ki く ku け ke こ ko きゃ kya きゅ kyu きょ kyo
S さ sa し si す su せ se そ so しゃ sya しゅ syu しょ syo
T た ta ち ti つ tu て te と to ちゃ tya ちゅ tyu ちょ tyo
N な na に ni ぬ nu ね ne の no にゃ nya にゅ nyu にょ nyo
H は ha ひ hi ふ hu へ he ほ ho ひゃ hya ひゅ hyu ひょ hyo
M ま ma み mi む mu め me も mo みゃ mya みゅ myu みょ myo
Y や ya ゆ yu よ yo
R ら ra り ri る ru れ re ろ ro りゃ rya りゅ ryu りょ ryo
W わ wa を wo
G が ga ぎ gi ぐ gu げ ge ご go ぎゃ gya ぎゅ gyu ぎょ gyo
Z ざ za じ zi ず zu ぜ ze ぞ zo じゃ zya じゅ zyu じょ zyo
D だ da ぢ di づ du で de ど do
B ば ba び bi ぶ bu べ be ぼ bo びゃ bya びゅ byu びょ byo
P ぱ pa ぴ pi ぷ pu ぺ pe ぽ po ぴゃ pya ぴゅ pyu ぴょ pyo


  Kana Rōmaji Example
Syllabic /n/ ん n
n' (before one of aiueoy)		 かんじ
kanzi
ほんや
hon'ya
Long consonant っ Repeat the consonant がっこう
gakkou
Long vowel ー Add ^ or ¯ above the vowel letter (for katakana words) ラーメン
râmen
rāmen

Key Bindings

There are some keyboard operations that are specific to Hiragana IME for Rōmaji input; normally, use the standard Rōmaji spelling.

Hiragana IME extensions

The classic Japanese word processor methods

Hiragana IME also supports several methods that were widely used in classic Japanese word processors.

Note: The classic Japanese word processor methods are incorrect as Rōmaji spelling. The JIS standard X4063, which defined these methods, was deprecated in 2010.

US Keyboard

Backspace

Tab

Caps Lock
Enter

Shift
Shift

Ctrl
❖
Alt
Alt
❖
☰
Ctrl
`
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
0
-
=

Q
W
E
R
T
Y
U
I
O
P
[
]
\

A
S
D
F
G
H
J
K
L
;
'

Z
X
C
V
B
N
M
,
.
/

~
!
@
#
$
%
^
&
*
(
)
_
+

{
}
|

:
"

<
>
?

…
ー

よみ短縮
「
」
￥

あ/A
大⬄小

、
。
・
カタカナ

変換
〜
ー

『
』


？

Japanese Keyboard

半角/
全角 
⌫

Tab
Enter

英数

Shift
Shift

Ctrl
❖
Alt
無変換
変換
カタカナ
Alt
❖
☰
Ctrl
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
0
-
^
\

Q
W
E
R
T
Y
U
I
O
P
@
[

A
S
D
F
G
H
J
K
L
;
:
]

Z
X
C
V
B
N
M
,
.
/

!
"
#
$
%
&
'
(
)
_
=
~
|

`
{

+
*
}

<
>
?
_

あ/A
ー
ー
￥

よみ短縮
「

あ/A
大⬄小
」

、
。
・
カタカナ

A
あ
〜

…
『

』

？