Japanese Tool
Romaji to Hiragana & Katakana Converter
Type romaji and instantly see the hiragana or katakana. Convert text like arigatou into ありがとう or アリガトウ, copy the result, and learn how the conversion works below. Free, instant, and runs entirely in your browser.
How romaji becomes kana
Japanese has two syllabaries — hiragana (ひらがな, rounder, used for native words and grammar) and katakana (カタカナ, angular, used for loanwords and emphasis). Both represent the same set of sounds, so the same romaji converts to either. Here are the three rules that do most of the work:
Syllabic ん
An n before a consonant or at the end of a word is the nasal sound ん. To force it before a vowel (where na would otherwise match), write n' — e.g. kon'yaku.
Doubled consonants (っ)
A doubled consonant (kk, ss, tt, pp) produces the small っ (sokuon), which marks a brief pause. The converter emits it automatically.
Small vowels (ゃゅょ)
Combinations like kya, sha, cha collapse a consonant + y-vowel into one beat using a small ゃ/ゅ/ょ. Longer romaji always matches before shorter romaji so kya wins over ka.
Note: this converter renders exactly what the romaji spells. A native speaker would write long vowels with the long-vowel mark ー (e.g. コーヒー for kōhī) or choose kanji — those decisions need a dictionary, so they're left out of a pure romaji converter.