Hi Re is equivalent to what some write as w and orthographically as This sound is not phonetically w because it does not have lip rounding so some folks including me feel that is a more appropriate symbol was useful because it was found on typewriters while had to be written in by hand Computers are getting better at displaying this stuff so I say use the more accurate symbol is different in that there is audible frication and the constriction is further forward in the mouth is an allophone of h but is not Actually is redundant since it is just a short like j is a short i and w is a short u we could just use a non syllabic diacritic Re j j is supposed to mean j It does nt include C V is not allowed In other words Japanese allows an optional j before a vowel and following an optional consonant onset i e V or j V or C V or C j V 09 52 2005 Feb 7 UTC