Kana to Romaji Converter: Hiragana & Katakana Online

Q: Why does katakana convert the same as hiragana?

They represent the same sounds. カ and か are both ka . The tool maps katakana onto hiragana first and then converts.

A kana to romaji converter rewrites Japanese hiragana and katakana in Latin letters, syllable by syllable. ありがとう becomes arigatou, and カタカナ becomes katakana.

Example

Input

ありがとう

Output

arigatou

Kana and romaji

Japanese uses two syllabaries alongside kanji. Hiragana (ひらがな) is used for grammatical endings and native words. Katakana (カタカナ) is used for loanwords, names and emphasis. Both have the same set of 46 basic sounds, so a converter can treat them the same way.

Romaji is Japanese written in the Latin alphabet. This tool follows Hepburn spelling, the system most English speakers know: し is shi, ち is chi, つ is tsu and ふ is fu. Combined syllables such as きゃ (kya) and しょ (sho) are handled.

The converter is deliberately simple. Some things need a human reading:

Long vowels are written letter by letter (arigatou, not arigatō).
Small っ (sokuon), which doubles the next consonant (きって is kitte), is not converted yet and passes through unchanged.
Kanji can't be converted. Their reading depends on context, so they pass through unchanged.
は and へ as particles are pronounced wa and e but are spelled ha and he here.

Basic hiragana chart

	a	i	u	e	o
	あ a	い i	う u	え e	お o
k	か ka	き ki	く ku	け ke	こ ko
s	さ sa	し shi	す su	せ se	そ so
t	た ta	ち chi	つ tsu	て te	と to
n	な na	に ni	ぬ nu	ね ne	の no
h	は ha	ひ hi	ふ fu	へ he	ほ ho
m	ま ma	み mi	む mu	め me	も mo
y	や ya		ゆ yu		よ yo
r	ら ra	り ri	る ru	れ re	ろ ro
w	わ wa				を wo
	ん n

How to use the converter

Paste hiragana, katakana or a mix of both.
Read the romaji in the output.
Check the result for long vowels, small っ and particles, which need manual adjustment.

Kana to romaji at a glance

Scripts	Hiragana (U+3040–309F), katakana (U+30A0–30FF)
Romanization	Hepburn
Combined syllables	Yes, for example きゃ kya
Not handled	Kanji, small っ, long-vowel macrons

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between Hepburn and Kunrei romaji?

Hepburn spells words the way English speakers would pronounce them (shi, chi, tsu, fu). Kunrei-shiki, Japan's official system for schools, keeps the spelling regular instead (si, ti, tu, hu). Hepburn is used on signs, passports and in most textbooks.

Why does katakana convert the same as hiragana?

They represent the same sounds. カ and か are both ka. The tool maps katakana onto hiragana first and then converts.

Can it convert kanji like 日本?

No. A kanji can have several readings that depend on the word it's in (日 can be nichi, hi or ni), so converting kanji needs a dictionary. Kanji characters are passed through unchanged.

Last reviewed 23 October 2026 · found a mistake? contact@decoder.tools · view as markdown