1: Installing Japanese Language Pack and Enabling Japanese Input

Most modern computers (Windows and macOS) can display Japanese text by default. If you can read Japanese but cannot type it, you need to install the Japanese language pack and enable the Japanese Input Method Editor (IME). Because system menus may change, follow the official instructions for your device: Windows (Microsoft Support): Search for “Install a language pack Windows Japanese” or “Japanese IME Microsoft instructions.” macOS (Apple Support): Search for “Add Japanese input source macOS” or “Use Japanese IME on Mac.”

1-1. Selecting the input mode.

Windows:
Press Alt + Shift to switch input languages. If needed, press Alt + ~ to select ひらがな (Hiragana) mode. The initial input mode is the direct mode. The English-input mode and the direct mode are the same.

Mac:

Press Command + Space to switch to Japanese input.

This will switch between the Japanese-input mode and the English-input mode.

1-2. Entering romaji

Initially, the part you type in romaji (e.g., o h a y o u) appears in dotted underlined hiragana (おはよう) This means the input is NOT finalized. To keep the input as is (all hiragana), hit the key (＝ key on Mac):

o h a y o u → おはよう → おはよう
To force everything into katakana, hit F7 and :
j o n / b u r a u n → じょん・ぶらうん → ジョン・ブラウン → ジョン・ブラウン

The function key may be assigned with a different command by the program you are using and may not work in the same way. There is an alternate way to convert the input to katakana automatically. That is to use the IME dictionary (which knows what hiragana sequence should be written in katakana). This method is used to convert hiragana into kanji-kana sequence. This method will be introduced in Lesson 5.

⚠ key will convert the input into half-width katakana characters (ｼﾞｮﾝ･ﾌﾞﾗｳﾝ). These katakana characters are not the normal katakana (ジョン・ブラウン). Avoid using half-width katakana.

1-3. Font Issues

When a document created on one computer is opened on another system, its appearance may change. This is usually because the original fonts are not available on the new system. Some programs allow you to embed fonts when you save the file. This preserves the original appearance but increases the file size. In general, most computers include standard Japanese fonts such as Mincho (serif) and Gothic (sans-serif) or their equivalents. These are safe choices when sharing documents across different systems. This textbook uses these standard fonts, along with Kyokashotai, a textbook-style font designed to model handwriting. When practicing writing, learners are encouraged to follow the character shapes shown in Kyokashotai.

Comparison of texts in Mincho, Gothic and Kyokashotai fonts

1-4. About Character Encoding (UTF-8)

In addition to fonts, correct character encoding is essential for displaying Japanese text properly. If the encoding is incorrect, Japanese characters may appear as garbled or unreadable text. To avoid this issue, make sure your files are saved using UTF-8 encoding, which is the standard format for representing Japanese and other languages across different platforms.

2: Typing Input Chart

The following chart shows the summary of typing input chart.
Typing Input for Kana
Top-Left a-column i-column u-column e-column o-colomn
vowel-row

あ

ア

a

い

イ

i

う

ウ

u

え

エ

e

お

オ

o
k-row

か

カ

k a

き

キ

k i

く

ク

k u

け

ケ

k e

こ

コ

k o
s-row

さ

サ

s a

し

シ

s h i, s i

す

ス

s u

せ

セ

s e

そ

ソ

s o
z-row

ざ

ザ

z a

じ

ジ

j i, z i

ず

ズ

z u

ぜ

ゼ

z e

ぞ

ゾ

z o
t-row

た

タ

t a

ち

チ

c h i, t i

つ

ツ

t s u, t u

て

テ

t e

と

ト

t o
d-row

だ

ダ

d a

ぢ

(ヂ)

d i

づ

(ヅ)

d u

で

デ

d e

ど

ド

d o
n-row

な

ナ

n a

に

ニ

n i

ぬ

ヌ

n u

ね

ネ

n e

の

ノ

n o
h-row

は

ハ

h a

ひ

ヒ

h i

ふ

フ

f u, h u

へ

ヘ

h e

ほ

ホ

h o
y-row

や

ヤ
y a

…

ゆ

ユ

y u

 …

よ

ヨ

y o
r-row

ら

ラ

r a

り

リ

r i

る

ル

r u

れ

レ

r e

ろ

ロ

r o
w-row

わ

ワ

w a

 … … …

を

(ヲ)

w o
nn-row … …

ん

ン

n

 … …
Japanese does not have an "L" sound. Do not use the letter "L" to type らりるれろ or ラリルレロ. The results are unpredictable depending on the computer systems. Katakana ヅ, ヂ and ヲ are in parentheses because they are not used in modern Japanese.

3: Double Vowels

To get double vowels ああ, いい and うう, etc., type vowel characters as shown below without spaces:

  1. a a → ああ
  2. k a a → かあ
  3. k i i → きい
  4. k u u → くう
  5. etc.

To get double vowels えい, ええ, ねい, ねえ, etc., type vowell characters as shown below without spaces:

  1. e i → えい
  2. e e → ええ
  3. n e i → ねい
  4. n e e → ねえ
  5. etc.

To get double vowels おう, おお, etc., type vowell characters as shown below without spaces:

  1. o u → おう
  2. o o → おお
  3. k o u → こう
  4. k o o → こお
  5. etc.

For katakana, the vowel extender symbol ー is written by a hyphen - without spaces or quotation marks:

  1. k o - h i - → コーヒー (coffee)
  2. b i - r u → ビール (beer)

4: Double Consonants

To get a small character っ or ッ, type double consonants (e.g., t t, s s, k k, p p, etc.) without spaces:
  1. g a k k o u → がっこう
  2. i s u t t e i i m a s u → いすっていいます
  3. i p p u n → いっぷん

Alternatively, you can type a letter "x" in front of "t u" or "t s u" without spaces. So, typing "x t u" or "x t s u" will give you small っ or ッ. The shortest possible way to type がっき is "g a k k i."

  1. g a x t u k i → がっき
  2. g a x t s u k i → がっき
  3. g a k k i → がっき

5: Glides

Glide Chart
Top-Left a-column u-column o-colomn
ky-row

きゃ

キャ

k y a

きゅ

キュ

k y u

きょ

キョ

k y o
gy-row

ぎゃ

ギャ

g y a

ぎゅ

ギュ

g y u

ぎょ

ギョ

g y o
sh-row

しゃ

シャ

s h a, s y a

しゅ

シュ

s h u, s y u

しょ

ショ

s h o, s y o
j-row

じゃ

ジャ

j a, z y u

じゅ

ジュ

j u, z y u

じょ

ジョ

j o, z y o
t-row

ちゃ

チャ

c h a, t y a

ちゅ

チュ

c h u, t y u

ちょ

チョ

c h o, t y o
n-row

にゃ

ニャ

n y a

にゅ

ニュ

n y u

にょ

ニョ

n y o
h-row

ひゃ

ヒャ

h y a

ひゅ

ヒュ

h y u

ひょ

ヒョ

h y o
b-row

びゃ

ビャ

b y a

びゅ

ビュ

b y u

びょ

ビョ

b y o
p-row

ぴゃ

ピャ

p y a

ぴゅ

ピュ

p y u

ぴょ

ピョ

p y o
m-row

みゃ

ミャ

m y a

みゅ

ミュ

m y u

みょ

ミョ

m y o
r-row

りゃ

リャ

r y a

りゅ

リュ

r y u

りょ

リョ

r y o
Typing "x" or "l" (= letter L) to get small-size characters works for typing glides as well. For example, instead of typing sha-pen, you can type "s h i x y a - p e n" without spaces to get シャーペン. This last method is less efficient and prone to misspelling, but you can use it as a last resort. デュ (d e x y u) is a special katakana-only cobmination discussed below.

6: Small Characters

To transcribe some foreign words in katakana, you need small katakana vowel characters ァィゥェォ. See the examples at the bottom of this page. There is also hiragana equivalent of these: ぁぃぅぇぉ. To get these small characters, type an "x" or "l" (= letter L) in front of "aiueo."

1: x a → small ァ/ぁ

2: x i → small ィ/ぃ

3: x u → small ゥ/ぅ

4: x e → small ェ/ぇ

5: x o → small ォ/ぉ

7: Punctuation Marks

  • A comma generates a Japanese comma (、), and a period generates a Japanese period (。).
  • While you are in the ひらがな input mode, typing spaces will not put spaces between letters. (A space bar is reserved for converting ひらがな into kanji. We will learn more about kanji later.) If spaces are needed, hit the key to finalize the Japanese text first and then type spaces.　Or, you can switch to the English input mode first and then type spaces.
  • Quotation marks: Type [ and ] to get 「 and 」.
# To get this... type this or this.
1 ペーパー？ p e - p a -?
2 ハッピー h a p p i - h a x t u p i -
3 おはよう o h a y o u
4 どうも、ありがとう。 d o u m o , a r i g a t o u .
5 「ああっ！」 [ a a ! ]

8: Innovative Katakana Spelling

The innovative katakana typing may be used somewhat inconsistently.
Typing input for innovative katanaka spelling
columns a-column i-column u-column e-column o-colomn
y-row … … …

イェ

ixe

 …
w-row …

ウィ

wi

 …

ウェ

we

ウォ

who
v-row

ヴァ

va

ヴィ

vi

ヴ

vu

ヴェ

ve

ヴォ

vo
q-row …

クィ

qi

 …

クェ

qu

クォ

qo
s-row …

スィ

suxi

 … … …
sh-row … … …

シェ

she

 …
j-row … … …

ジェ

je

 …
ch-row … … …

チェ

che

 …
t-row … …

トゥ

toxu

 … …
t-row …

ティ

thi

テュ

thu

 … …
ts-row

ツァ

tsa

ツィ

tsi

 …

ツェ

tse

ツォ

tso
d-row …

…

ドゥ

doxu

…

 …
d-row …

ディ

dhi

デュ

dhu

…

 …
f-row

ファ

fa

フィ

fi

 …

フェ

fe

フォ

fo
fy-row … …

フュ

fyu

 … …
Examples
columns sh, j, ch t, d f, v q, y w
a-row

ファーム 　(farm) fa-mu

ヴァン (van) van

 スクァッシュ 　(squash) skuxasshu
i-row

ティー 　(tea) thi-

ディール (deal) dhi-ru

フィールド 　(field) fi-rudo

ヴィーナス 　(venus) vi-nasu

デイヴィッド 　(David) deividdo

クィーン 　(queen) qi-nn

ウィーク 　(week) wi-ku
u-row

トゥー 　(two) twu-

ドゥーム 　(doom) dwu-mu

テューン 　(tune) thu-nn or texyu-n

デューン 　(dune) dhu-nn　or dexyu-n

 デイヴ (Dave) deivu 　
e-row

シェル 　(shell) sheru

ジェット 　(jet) jetto

チェック 　(check) chekku

フェイス 　(face) feisu

ヴェール 　(veil) ve-ru

スクェア (square) suqea

イェール 　(Yale) ye-ru

 ウェン 　(when) wenn
o-row

フォーム 　(form) fo-mu

ヴォイス 　(voice) voisu

 クォーター (quarter) qo-ta- ウォーク 　(walk) who-ku

9: Exercises

Type the following words in kana (hiragana or katakana) on your computer. What romaji combination do you use to type in the shortest possible way? Click to reveal the answer.

1. かざり decoration
2. ざいこ inventory
3. がいこくじん foreigner
4. コンピュータ computer
5. インターネット Internet
6. ジョージアテック Georgia Tech
7. ニューヨーク New York
8. フェイスブック Facebook
9. ツイッター Twitter
10. セキュリティーチェック security check
11. Your first and last name