Type in romaji and this keyboard writes hiragana as you go, the way computers and phones in Japan do. Switch to katakana for foreign words, then copy your text anywhere. Free, nothing to install.
Capitals give katakana in either mode: KO-HI- is コーヒー (coffee). nn or n' gives ん, a doubled letter a small っ.
Tap a key to add it where your cursor is. The small letters say what to type for it.
Japanese keyboards on computers, and the QWERTY layout on phones, all work the same way: you spell each syllable in romaji and the keyboard turns it into kana. These rules cover everything that isn't one plain syllable after another.
On your own device the space bar then offers kanji for what you typed, a step called 変換 (henkan, conversion), and Enter keeps the choice. This page stops at kana, which is what you write while you learn.
| Rule | You type | You get | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| One syllable at a time | ka shi tsu | か し つ | sakuraさくら |
| Combinations with a small ya, yu, yo | kya sha cho ja | きゃ しゃ ちょ じゃ | toukyouとうきょう |
| A doubled consonant is a small っ | kka tte ppa | っか って っぱ | kitteきって |
| ん is nn, or n before a consonant | nn | ん | konnichihaこんにちは |
| n' keeps ん apart from a vowel | n' | ん | kin'enきんえん |
| A small kana on its own: x or l first | xa xtu xya | ぁ っ ゃ | a xtuあっ |
| Sounds from other languages | fa thi she va | ふぁ てぃ しぇ ゔぁ | pa-thi-パーティー |
| A hyphen is the long vowel mark | - | ー | ko-hi-コーヒー |
| Particles are typed as written | ha wo he | は を へ | watashihaわたしは |
| Capitals give katakana | PAN | パン | MAIKUマイク |
| Punctuation | . , ? ! [ ] / | 。 、 ？ ！ 「 」 ・ | hai.はい。 |
Every system comes with a free Japanese keyboard. Add it once and switch to it whenever you write Japanese: it turns romaji into kana like this page does, then offers kanji.
Alt and ` (the key left of 1) turns Japanese typing on and off; the taskbar shows あ or A. F7 turns what you just typed into katakana.
Switch with Control and Space, or the globe key. Control and K turns what you just typed into katakana.
Tap the globe key to move between your keyboards.
Tap the globe key, or hold the space bar, to switch. Some phones come with another keyboard; the steps are much the same.
Menus move a little between versions. If a name differs, search your settings for keyboard or language.
bunka · culture
On phones, many people in Japan type with (flick input): ten keys, one for each row of the kana chart. Touch and slide left, up, right or down for , , or .
Add your system's Japanese keyboard (Microsoft IME on Windows, Japanese Romaji on a Mac), switch to it and type in romaji: it writes hiragana as you go, the space bar offers kanji and Enter keeps them. To type right away without installing anything, use the keyboard on this page and copy the result.
Here, switch the keyboard to katakana or type in capitals. With your system's keyboard, type the word and press F7 on Windows or Control and K on a Mac. A hyphen gives the long vowel mark ー, as in コーヒー (coffee).
Double the next consonant for a small っ: kitte gives きって (a stamp). For ん type nn, or n' when a vowel or y comes next: kin'en is 禁煙 (no smoking), kinen is 記念 (a commemoration). A small kana on its own is x or l plus the sound: xtu, xya, la.
Not here: this page writes kana, the way you write before you know which kanji to choose. The Japanese keyboard on your phone or computer turns kana into kanji when you press the space bar, and lists the options when several words sound the same.
Naraio is a path from here to N1: kana, then kanji, words and grammar in the order you need them, stories at your level, and reviews that come back right before you'd forget. Join the waitlist and we'll write when it opens.