Japanese latinization guide

This article describes official wiki policy for latinizing Japanese words and names, as well as Japanese titles using renderings of non-Japanese words and names.

General notes
In general, try to latinize Japanese words and names using the system as much as possible; but be sure to write Japanese names of media works, people, characters, and the like on their respective pages. If a latinization occurs right next to a Japanese spelling, write the latinization in italics.

If an individual person or thing has a particular way of spelling their name in the latin alphabet, follow that rather than a standard latinization.

Japanese itself uses three writing systems: kanji (symbols that represent words or concepts), hiragana (letters representing syllables in native Japanese words) and katakana (letters representing syllables in foreign words, foreign names, slang, onomatopeia, in emphasis, and in names of animals); none of the three are to be distinguished in latinization. All kanji have hiragana transcriptions to describe the respective kanji's sound, and are used to form the basis of latinization here.

Kana
This wiki's latinization follows the current Hepburn latinization, with the following exceptions:


 * 1) Avoid using macrons. Instead, mark long vowels by doubling the respective vowel letter. If the two of the same vowels are pronounced in a row, use an apostrophe to separate them.
 * 2) Latinize えい/エイ as ei. This also applies to letters ending in the vowel sound e, but beginning with a consonant.
 * 3) Latinize おう/オウ as ou. This also applies to letters ending in the vowel sound o, but beginning with a consonant.
 * 4) Word-final っ/ッ is written with an apostrophe.
 * 5) Latinize long consonants by doubling the respective letter. If the consonant is written using two letters, double only the first letter.
 * 6) Latinize ぢ/ヂ, ぢゃ/ヂャ, ぢゅ/ヂュ, andぢょ/ヂョas dji, dja, dju, and djo; respectively.
 * 7) Latinize づ/ヅ as dzu whenever the letters are used in standard Japanese.
 * 8) Latinize ん/ン as n' when written in Japanese before や/ヤ, ゆ/ユ, and よ/ヨ.
 * 9) Never latinize を/ ヲ as o.
 * 10) Use an apostrophe to separate clusters from two sounds being pronounced separately.

A table below is shown for full detail. The letters are in Japanese order by default; with clusters following at the end of a group.

Irregular readings
Only documented or otherwise common irregular readings are shown.