Katakana chart

The 46 basic katakana

Rows are named after their consonant and columns after their vowel. Read each row from left to right. A few sounds are irregular: シ is shi, チ is chi, ツ is tsu and フ is fu. ン stands alone and is romanized as n.

Dakuten and handakuten

Two small marks change the sound. Two dots, the dakuten, turn カ into ガ, サ into ザ, タ into ダ and ハ into バ. A small circle, the handakuten, turns ハ into パ.

Combinations

A kana from the i column followed by a smaller ャ, ュ or ョ is read as one syllable: キ plus ャ is キャ, kya.

Extra kana for foreign sounds

The Japanese Cabinet notice of 1991 on writing loanwords (外来語の表記) has two tables. Table 1 is the general set, and the kana below are the part of it that starts with シェ.

Table 2 is for writing closer to the original sound or spelling, most often for place names and personal names. Where table 2 is not needed, the notice says the table 1 range may be used. Sounds outside both tables are left free.

How this site writes foreign names

The name converter does not swap letters one by one. It works out how your name sounds in the language you pick and writes the closest sounds in katakana, following the notice above. Long vowels and doubled consonants use ー and ッ.

Name in Japanese