# Transcription of the Japanese language in Esperanto

Esperantists often use non-Esperanto transcriptions, such as Hepburn and Kunrei, to transcribe the Japanese language in the Esperanto alphabet. However, the need for a transcription in the Esperanto alphabet is essential for non-Japanese speaking Esperantists to be able to pronounce words.

## Summary

There are two well-known transcription systems of Japanese in Latin alphabet: Hepburn and Kunrei. However, there is no official Esperanto transcription for Japanese. This page presents one of the unofficial methods of transcription.

## Transcription

Most books on Esperanto published in Japan provide tables for transcription. In 2012, a book by Kenichi Fujimaki, called Revised Esperanto Grammar (まるごとエスペラント文法 改訂版) explains one way of transcription, however, as far as 1923, Yoshimi Ishiguro writes his Beginning Esperanto Textbook (初等エスペラント教科書) explaining a transcription, however the remaining digital copies of his works are barely readable, so they are not included in this article.

### Double consonant

The symbol "っ" / "ッ" is not actually transcribed, but instead, indicated by doubling the following consonant. For example, さっぽろ is transcribed as "Sapporo".
According to Hepburn:
* c → tc (ts → tts)
* ĉ → tĉ (ch → tch)
* ŝ → sŝ (sh → ssh)
According to Kunrei:
* c → cc (t → tt)
* ĉ → ĉĉ (ty → tty)
* ŝ → ŝŝ (sy → ssy)

### Long vowels

These are various methods of transcribing the word Tokyo (とうきょう, kanji: 東京):
* Tōkjō : Indicated by a macron.
* Tokjo : No indication.
* Tôkjô : Indicated by a circumflex.
* Toukjou or Toŭkjoŭ: Indicated by the use of an ou for a long o sound, and a ŭ for a long u sound.
* Tookjoo: Indicated by doubling the vowels.

### Diphthongs

The Japanese vowel i is changed to j and the vowel u is changed to ŭ for Esperanto transcription.
* ai → aj
* ei → ej
* oi → oj
* ui → uj
* au → aŭ
* eu → eŭ
* ou → oŭ
* ue → ŭe

### Consonants

If there is a じ (ji) before an ん (n) in a word, it must be written as ĝi. Otherwise, either ĵi or ĝi can be used.
* "Ĝiŝin" (じしん, 地震, earthquakes)
* "Buridĝi" (ブリッジ, contract bridge)
* "Kanĝi" (かんじ, 漢字, kanji)
* "Fuĵi-san" (ふじさん, 富士山, Fuji, Note: さん is a separate word, ĵ can be used)
When the syllable ず/づ is used at the beginning of a word, it is mostly transcribed as dzu, directly from Hepburn; but if the syllable is anywhere else in the word, it is mostly transcribed as zu.
* Kazu (かず, number)
* Manazuru (まなづる)
* Dzuke (づけ)
* Dzumen (ずめん, drawing)

### Voiceless vowels

Generally, some vowels may not be said at all. This is very common in everyday speech in Japanese
* Shita → Ŝta (した)
* Desu → Des (です)

## Romanization charts

| あ ア a | い イ i | う ウ u | え エ e | お オ o | や ヤ ja | ユ ゆ ju | よ ヨ jo |
| か カ ka | き キ ki | く ク ku | け ケ ke | こ コ ko | きゃ キャ kja | きゅ キュ kju | きょ キョ kjo |
| さ サ sa | し シ ŝi | す ス su | せ セ se | そ ソ so | しゃ シャ ŝa | しゅ シュ ŝu | しょ ショ ŝo |
| た タ ta | ち チ ĉi | つ ツ cu | て テ te | と ト to | ちゃ チャ ĉa | ちゅ チュ ĉu | ちょ チョ ĉo |
| な ナ na | に ニ ni | ぬ ヌ nu | ね ネ ne | の ノ no | にゃ ニャ nja | にゅ ニュ nju | にょ ニョ njo |
| は ハ ha | ひ ヒ hi | ふ フ fu | へ ヘ he | ほ ホ ho | ひゃ ヒャ hja | ひゅ ヒュ hju | ひょ ヒョ hjo |
| ま マ ma | み ミ mi | む ム mu | め メ me | も モ mo | みゃ ミャ mja | みゅ ミュ mju | みょ ミョ mjo |
| ら ラ ra | り リ ri | る ル ru | れ レ re | ろ ロ ro | りゃ リャ rja | りゅ リュ rju | りょ リョ rjo |
| わ ワ ŭa | ゐ ヰ ŭi | | ゑ ヱ ŭe | を ヲ ŭo | | | |
| | | | | ん ン n | | | |
| が ガ ga | ぎ ギ gi | ぐ グ gu | げ ゲ ge | ご ゴ go | ぎゃ ギャ gja | ぎゅ ギュ gju | ぎょ ギョ gjo |
| ざ ザ za | じ ジ ĝi / ĵi | ず ズ zu / dzu | ぜ ゼ ze | ぞ ゾ zo | じゃ ジャ ĝa / ĵa | じゅ ジュ ĝu / ĵu | じょ ジョ ĝo / ĵo |
| だ ダ da | ぢ ヂ (ĝi) / (ĵi) | づ ヅ (zu) / (dzu) | で デ de | ど ド do | ぢゃ ヂャ (ĝa) / (ĵa) | ぢゅ ヂュ (ĝu) / (ĵu) | ぢょ ヂョ (ĝo) / (ĵo) |
| ば バ ba | び ビ bi | ぶ ブ bu | べ ベ be | ぼ ボ bo | びゃ ビャ bja | びゅ ビュ bju | びょ ビョ bjo |
| ぱ パ pa | ぴ ピ pi | ぷ プ pu | ぺ ペ pe | ぽ ポ po | ぴゃ ピャ pja | ぴゅ ピュ pju | ぴょ ピョ pjo |
| | | | イェ je | |
| | ウィ ŭi | | ウェ ŭe | ウォ ŭo |
| ヴァ va | ヴィ vi | ヴ vu | ヴェ ve | ヴォ vo |
| | | | シェ ŝe | |
| | | | ジェ ĝe / ĵe | |
| | | | チェ ĉe | |
| | ティ ti | トゥ tu | | |
| | | テュ tju | | |
| | ディ di | ドゥ du | | |
| | | デュ dju | | |
| ツァ ca | ツィ ci | | ツェ ce | ツォ co |
| ファ fa | フィ fi | | フェ fe | フォ fo |
| | | フュ fju | | |
* Red letters indicate Kana no longer used in modern Japanese.