Japanese
Romanization System
The modified Hepburn system of romanization as employed in
Kenkyusha’s New Japanese-
English Dictionary
(3rd and later editions) is used. For the syllabic nasal,
n
is always used
preceding
b
,
m
, and
p
. Romanization for words of foreign (i.e., non-Japanese) origin follows the
American National Standard system for the romanization of Japanese; e.g., ベトナム(Betonamu);
ヴェトナム(Vetonamu).
Word Reading
The reading of Japanese words follows standard Japanese language usage, insofar as this can
be determined from standard Japanese dictionaries. A current modern reading is preferred to an
obsolete one, except where the usage of standard authorities has established a particular reading
for a particular name or book title. The characters 日本 are romanized as
Nihon
unless the usage
of standard authorities has established a particular reading; e.g., Dai
Nippon
Teikoku,
Nippon
’ichi,
Nippon
eitaigura, etc. If there are various readings, the reading that appears most frequently in
dictionaries is used.
Capitalization
1.
Personal Names:
(a) Capitalize each word of a personal name, except the particle
no
.
Sugawara no Takasue no Musume 菅原孝標女
(b) Capitalize title and terms of address, except when consisting of a single
character or kana for
san
,
sama
,
chan
,
kun
, etc., that is hyphenated following a
personal name.
Kōbō Daishi 弘法大師
but
Okiku-san お菊さん
2.
Place Names:
Capitalize each separately written word of a geographic name.
Yokohama 横浜
Nihon Rettō 日本列島
Yūraku-chō 有楽町
Taiheiyō 太平洋
Bōsō Hantō 房総半島
Tōyō 東洋
3.
Corporate Names:
Capitalize each separately written word of a corporate name, except
particles and conjunctions.
Sensō o Kirokusuru Kai 戦争を記録する会
Nihon Rikugun 日本陸軍
4.
Documents and Publications:
(a) Capitalize the first word of the title of a publication (book, periodical, series, etc.)
Tsurezuregusa 徒然草
Chūō kōron 中央公論
(b) Capitalize the first word of the name of a document (law, regulation, etc.).
Rōdō kumiaihō 労働組合法
Rōdō iinkai kisoku 労働委員会規則
5.
Historical Events and Periods:
(a) Capitalize each word of the name of a historical event.
Dainiji Sekai Taisen 第二次世界大戦
Niniroku Jiken 二・二六事件
Meiji Ishin shi 明治維新史
(b) Capitalize the first word of the name of a historical period.
Jōmon jidai 縄文時代
Rikuchō jidai 六朝時代
Heianchō 平安朝
Shōwaki 昭和期
6.
Peoples and Languages:
Capitalize names of peoples and languages.
Nihonjin 日本人
Amerikajin アメリカ人
Nihongo 日本語
Eigo 英語
7.
Religions and Sects:
Capitalize names of religions and sects.
Bukkyō 佛教
Kirisutokyō キリスト教
Shintō 神道
Zenshū 禅宗
8.
Derivatives of Proper Names:
Lowercase words derived from names of places or
religions, when the derived words are no longer considered to be proper names. When
the derivative is formed by the suffix of a single character following a proper name, the
proper name is capitalized and the suffix is lowercased and follows a hyphen. (See Word
Division, 4.
Proper Names, Exceptions
)
nihontō 日本刀
nihonshu 日本酒
nihonga 日本画
butsuga 佛画
washitsu 和室
wafuku 和服
yōshu 洋酒
kutaniyaki 九谷焼
kokutani 古九谷
kanji 漢字
kanpō 漢方
kan’yaku 漢薬
zendera 禅寺
zensō 禅僧
kirisutosha キリスト者
rōmaji ローマ字
but
Taiwan-sei 台湾製
Punctuation
1. Transcribe a centered point (・) used for dividing words as a comma if it makes the
meaning of romanized words clear.
Chūgoku Shikoku no mingei 中国・四国の民芸
Pōru Kurōderu ポール・クローデル
Matsumoto Seichō, Yamamoto Shūgorō shū 松本清長・山本周五郎集
For such a center point appearing between numbers, see Word Division, 5.
Numerals
.
2. Transcribe brackets (「 ... 」) used in the manner of quotation marks (“ ... ”) as quotation
marks.
Diacritic marks
1. Transcribe the macron ( ˉ ) over the letters
a, i, u, e
, and
o
to indicate a long vowel
pronunciation.
rōdō 労働
kenkyū 研究
Tōkyō 東京
sābisu サービス
chīzu チーズ
sētā セーター
2. Transcribe the apostrophe ( ' ) between syllables when the first syllable ends with the
letter
n
and the following syllable begins with the letter
a, i, u, e, o
, and
y
and when it is
necessary to separate romanization.
toshokan'in 図書館員
Nagai Ken'ichi 長井憲一
Shin'etsu 信越
hon'yaku 翻訳
Man'yō 万葉
shin'ainaru 親愛なる
san'okuen 三億円
shin'uchi 真打
Word Division
1.
Sino-Japanese (on) Compounds:
A compound means a word consisting of two or more
Chinese characters (kanji), or of Chinese characters and kana, or of kana alone, whether
established by dictionary usage or not.
(a) Write binary compounds as single words.
ichigen ikkō 一言一行
Rikuchō jidai 六朝時代
Nihon kokusei jiten 日本国政事典
kokumin shugi 国民主義
Indo tetsugaku shiyō 印度哲学史要
Tōyō Gakkai 東洋学会
Keiō Gijuku Daigaku Keizai Gakubu 慶応義塾大学経済学部
Tōkyō Daigaku Kyōyō Gakubu 東京大学教養学部
(b) Trinary, derived, and other compounds.
(1) Write trinary and derived compounds as single words as long as they contain
no more than one binary or trinary compound.
keizaiteki 経済的
seibutsugaku 生物学
jinseikan 人生観
yuibutsuron 唯物論
kenkōhō 健康法
daijinbutsu 大人物
daiōjō 大往生
jibika 耳鼻科
koseibutsugaku 古生物学
hōshakaigaku 法社会学
For a word beginning with such characters as 新, 旧, etc., consult any current
dictionary to determine whether it is part of a word or is a prefix to the
following word or words (see Word Division, 3.
Prefixes, Suffixes, etc.
(a)). If
it is appropriate, apply the provisions of (2) below.
shinkansen 新幹線
kyūtaisei 旧体制
(2) Write trinary pseudo-compounds formed by the addition of a single character
as single words.
gōshisō 業思想
kakusensō 核戦争
kakukazoku 核家族
ryōseikatsu 寮生活
shinkenchiku 新建築
daijiten 大辞典
daihatsumei 大発明
chōtaikoku 超大国
If, however, a single character is enclosed within brackets used as quotation
marks, transcribe the brackets as quotation marks.
“jin” shisō 「仁」思想
“kaku” ronsō 「核」論争
(c) Write single characters in succession constituting a pseudo-compound as one
word.
todōfuken 都道府県
shikuchōson 市区町村
shichōson 市町村
shinōkōshō 士農工商
ishokujū 衣食住
(d) Hyphenate grouped compounds involving phonetic changes.
jochū-bōkō 女中奉公
bungei-dokuhon 文芸読本
gōshi-gaisha 合資会社
kabushiki-gaisha 株式会社
but
In proper names, romanize as
Kabushiki Kaisha
(e.g., Nissan Jidōsha
Kabushiki Kaisha).
(e) Hyphenate one or more single-character modifiers having a common substantive.
shō-chūgakkō 小・中学校
shō-chū-kōtō gakkō 小・中・高等学校
shō-chūkibo kigyō 小・中規模企業
jō-gesuidō 上・下水道
nō-san-gyoson 農山漁村
chū-kinsei 中・近世
nō-kō-kōgyō 農・工・鉱業
bun-shi-tetsugaku 文・史・哲学
Meiji sanjūshichi-hachinen 明治三十七・八年
When single character modifiers form a binary or trinary compound, however,
follow 1(a) or 1(b) above.
chūshō kigyō 中小企業
Bunri Gakubu 文理学部
rikagaku jiten 理化学辞典
dōshokubutsu jikken 動植物実験
2.
Native Japanese (kun and jūbakoyomi or yutōyomi) compounds
(a)
Nouns
(1) Write compound nouns as single words.
wareware 我々
wagahai 我輩
kirisame 霧雨
teashi 手足
yamatodamashii 大和魂
mizusakazuki 水盃
ukiyoe 浮世絵
chanoma 茶の間
chanoyu 茶の湯
yononaka 世の中
kokoroarigao 心有顔
iyagarase 嫌がらせ
kogirei 小綺麗
rikutsudōri 理屈通り
Write separately modifiers which are not part of compounds.
waga hokori 我が誇り
waga musuko わが息子
waga machi 我が町
waga kyōdo 我が郷土
In case of doubt, prefer the separate form.
waga kuni 我国 (わが国)
waga ko 我が子
waga tomo 我友 (わが友)
chichi haha 父母
ani imōto 兄妹
are kore あれこれ
(2) Write separately a
kun
single character word modifying a compound.
onna ekaki 女絵かき
aji jiman 味自慢
koto gassō 琴合奏
mizu shigen 水資源
kome sōdō 米騒動
otoko aite 男相手
(b)
Verbs
(1) Write simple and compound inflected verbs, with their auxiliaries, as
single words.
shihaisuru 支配する
doraibusuru ドライブする
yomiuru 読み得る
nashienai なし得ない
kansuru 関する
omoidasu 思い出す
(2) Write verbs separately from adverbs or inflected adjectives and verbs.
dō kangaeru どう考える
aa shitai ああしたい
sō suru そうする
kō naru こうなる
tsuyoku naru 強くなる
utsukushiku naritai 美しくなりたい
ikite ita 生きていた
kaette kuru 帰って来る
yatte miyō やって見よう
itadaite ikimasu 戴いていきます
(3) Write honorific auxiliaries or potential auxiliaries,
dekiru
and
dekinai
,
separately from other parts of the verb.
ookuru itashimashō お送り致しましょう
odekake asobashimasu ka お出掛け遊ばしますか
gaman dekiru ka 我慢出来るか
gaman dekimasen 我慢出来ません
(c)
Adjectives
. Write compound inflected adjectives as single words.
bimyōnaru 微妙なる
ikanaru 如何なる
miryokuaru 魅力ある
teikōnaki 抵抗なき
dōdōtaru 堂々たる
osorubeki 恐るべき
ayamatta sahō, ayamariyasui sahō誤った作法・誤りやすい作法
(d)
Adverbs and conjunctions
. Write compound adverbs and conjunctions as single
words.
tokuni 特に
narabini 並に
tomoni 共に
tsuini 遂に
ikani 如何に
suguni 直ぐに
matawa 又は
aruiwa 或いは
(e)
Particles
. Write particles separately from other words and from each other.
kōfuku
e no
michi 幸福への道
E
wa
dare
ni de mo
kakeru 絵は誰にでも描ける
Sō iu hon
o
yomu
no ga
tanoshii そういう本を読むのが楽しい
anata
to
watashi
to
あなたとわたしと
kumo
no
ue
ni
雲の上に
anata
no
tame
ni
あなたの為に
nonki
na
ojisan nonki
ni
kamaeru 呑気な小父さん呑気に構える
yunīku
na
sonzai ユニークな存在
arata na 新たな
3.
Prefixes, Suffixes, etc.
(a) Write separately a single-character prefix modifying
on
or
kun
compounds
following it.
zen shushō enzetsushū 前首相演説集
ko shachō kaikoroku 故社長懐古録
shin okurigana 新送りがな
shin shokuminchi shugi 新植民地主義
kyū dōtokuritsu 旧道徳律
kyū dojin shakai 旧土人社会
Dai jinmei jiten 大人名事典
shō bungaku jiten 小文学辞典
chō senshinkoku 超先進国
chō genjitsu shugi 超現実主義
han sensō undō 反戦争運動
han sensōron 反戦争論
kaku jidai 各時代
kaku todōfuken 各都道府県
kaku musan seitō 各無産政党
hi bunkateki 非文化的
hi sabetsu shakai 非差別社会
ichi toshokan’in 一図書館員
ichi kinen shashin 一記念写真
(b) Hyphenate a single character modifying, or modified by, foreign words generally
written in katakana.
shō-enerugī 省エネルギー
kaku-enerugī 核エネルギー
datsu-enerugī 脱エネルギー
shō-ene 省エネ
enerugī-gen エネルギー源
karorī-hyō カロリー表
irasutorēshon-teki イラストレーション的
If the foreign word in katakana together with a single character is a long-
established word or a corporate name, however, romanize it as one word.
Amerikajin アメリカ人
kirisutosha キリスト者
Saiensusha サイエンス社
sābisugyō サービス業
(c) Write the suffix
tō
or
nado
(等, など)
hen
(編, 篇) used for sections of books, and
shō
(抄, 鈔) for excerpts or commentaries,
kō
(考, 稿) for treaties or drafts, and
ten
(展) for exhibitions, separately from the word preceding them unless they
form Sino-Japanese compounds, e.g., 前編, 私考, 草稿, 特別展, 企画展.
kyōdō kiken kōi
tō
no kinshi ihan 共同危険行為等の禁止違反
kyō konogoro omoidasu koto
nado
今日この頃思い出すことなど
senzen sengo
hen
戦前戦後編
Nihon shokunikushi
shō
日本食肉史抄
Nihon insho
kō
日本印書考
Shina shoshigaku
kō
支那書誌学稿
Tōzai bijutsu kōryū 300-nen
ten
東西美術交流３００年展
bijinga
ten
美人画展
(d) Write single-character substantives modified by
on
or
kun
compounds as part of
the word preceding it.
Ochiboshū 落穂集
Kokinshū 古今集
Kokin wakashū 古今和歌集
Bunka jinmeiroku 文化人名録
Nihon seifu gyōsei kikōzu 日本政府行政機構図
Nichi-Ro gaikō jūnenshi 日露外交十年史
Gakkō toshokanhō 学校図書館法
Kokubunji shiryō chōsa hōkokusho 国分寺資料調査報告書
Meiji Taishō bungakushi 明治大正文学史
Kagoshima-ken fūbutsushi 鹿児島県風物誌
shizen kagakusha 自然科学者
jibi inkōka 耳鼻咽喉科
kyōdai shimaitachi 兄弟姉妹達
Rōdō Kijunkyoku 労働基準局
Asahi Shinbunsha 朝日新聞社
Nihon Bungaku Kenkyūkai 日本文学研究会
4.
Proper Names
(a) Write proper names and titles of books separately from modifiers or words
modified by them.
Rinkān den リンカーン伝
Niwa Fumio shū 丹羽文雄集
Genji monogatari shō 源氏物語抄
Shin jidai 清時代
Min Shin jidai 明清時代
To shi shō 杜詩抄
Nihon shi 日本史
Beikoku shi 米国史
Tōyō shiron 東洋史論
Exceptions:
(1) For proper names, including corporate names, that contain other proper
names, follow 1(a)-1(b), 2(a), and 3(d) above.
Edojō 江戸城
Ōedo 大江戸
Yōmeigaku 陽明学
Shijōgawara 四條河原
Sohōkai 蘇峰会
Onogumi 小野組
Gendai Nihonshi Kenkyūkai 現代日本史研究会
(2) Write names of historical periods with single-character generic terms as
single words.
Shinchō 清朝
Meijiki 明治期
(3) For names of ships, write such prefixes as
maru
or
gō
separately from
the preceding word.
Asama Maru 浅間丸
Hayabusa Gō はやぶさ(隼)号
Purejidento Wiruson Gō プレジデント・ウィルソン号
(4) Hyphenate single characters which can be suffixed to any proper names:
e.g., 的, 型, 式, 流, 産, 製, 派, 系, 本, 版, 戦.
Nihon-teki 日本的
Honkon-gata 香港型
Tanaka Chiyo-shiki 田中千代式
Hōshō-ryū 宝生流
Hokkaidō-san 北海道産
Taiwan-sei 台湾製
Tanaka-ha 田中派
Nakasone-kei 中曽根系
Kanda-bon 神田本
Kanazawa Bunko-ban 金沢文庫版
Okinawa-sen 沖縄戦
(5) Hyphenate an auxiliary to a proper name which results in a double
consonant.
Kyashī-tte yonde キャシーってよんで
(b) Write titles and terms of address separately from personal names.
(1) Write separately a title that precedes a personal name.
Sei Sabieru 聖サビエル
(2) If a title or a term of address following a personal name consists of a
binary or trinary compound, write it separately from the personal name.
Meiji Tennō 明治天皇
Taiken Mon’in 待賢門院
Kitashirakawa no Miyasama 北白川の宮様
Echizen no Kami 越前守
Nichiren Shōninsama 日蓮上人様
Takezawa Sensei 竹沢先生
(3) Hyphenate a title or a term of address when it consists of a single
character or kana for
san
,
sama
,
chan
,
kun
, etc., and follows a personal
name.
Bashō-ō 芭蕉翁
Kakushin-ni 覚信尼
Gotoba-in 後鳥羽院
Okiku-san お菊さん
Nakamura-kun 中村君
Tarō-chan 太郎ちゃん
Non-chan kumo ni noru ノンちゃん雲に乗る
Sa-shi 左氏
(c) Geographic names
(1) Hyphenate generic terms used as part of the name of jurisdictions or
streets.
Tōkyō-to 東京都
Chiyoda-ku 千代田区
Yūraku-chō 有楽町
Yamaguchi-ken 山口県
Yokohama-shi 横浜市
Ogawa-machi 小川町
Ogasawara-mura 小笠原村
Nijō-dōri 二条通り
Hōjō-gō 北条郷
Exceptions:
(1) Write generic terms separately if they form Sino-Japanese
compounds.
Ogasawara sonchō 小笠原村長
Ogawa chōshi 小川町史
Chiyoda Kuritsu 千代田区立
Yokohama shisei 横浜市政
Tōkyō tomin 東京都民
Yamaguchi kenpō 山口県報
(2) Write
koku
as part of the name of a country.
Nihonkoku 日本国
Manshūkoku 満洲国
Kankoku 韓国
(3) Write
Kuni
separately if preceded by
no
in the name of a province.
Musashi no Kuni 武蔵国 (武蔵の国)
Nitta no Shō 新田荘
(2) Write modifiers differentiating places of the same name as part of the
name if they are part of the name of a jurisdiction.
Higashiizu-chō 東伊豆町
Kamikitayama-mura 上北山村
If the modifiers are not part of the name of a jurisdiction, write them
separately.
Minami Yamashiro 南山城
Tōnan Ajia 東南アジア
(3) Write compound names designating merged places or containing a
larger place name as single words.
Ujiyamada-shi 宇治山田市
Aizuwakamatsu-shi 会津若松市
(4) Hyphenate generic terms for stations and harbors following place names.
Tōkyō-eki 東京駅
Yokohama-kō 横浜港
Shinagawa-juku 品川宿
If the generic terms form Sino-Japanese compounds, write them
separately.
Tōkyō ekichō 東京駅長
Yokohama kōwan 横浜港湾
(5) Write generic terms for geographic features as part of the name.
Sumidagawa 隅田川
Asamayama 浅間山
Biwako 琵琶湖
Shinanoji 信濃路
Saipantō サイパン島
If the generic terms form Sino-Japanese compounds, write them
separately.
Biwa kohan 琵琶湖畔
Asama sanroku 浅間山麓
(d) Abbreviated forms
(1) Write words consisting of or containing abbreviated proper names as
single words.
Nōbi Heiya 濃尾平野
Kaetsunō 加越能
Keihin kōgyō chitai 京浜工業地帯
Meishin kōsoku dōro 名神高速道路
Shin’etsusen 信越線
Ōbeijin 欧米人
ryūō gakusei 留欧学生
Eishibun 英詩文
tainichi bōeki 対日貿易
Kiki kayō 記紀歌謡
Hyphenate, however, a compound consisting of abbreviated names of
countries or languages, except when the compound is normally elided.
Nichi-Ro gaikō jūnenshi 日露外交十年史
Nichi-Ei-Doku igo shōjiten 日英独医語小辞典
Sen-Man sōsho 鮮満叢書
Wa-Kansho 和漢書
Nikka daijiten 日華大辞典
Nitchū kankei 日中関係
(2) Write contracted compound proper names as single words.
Chūkyō jūyō bunkenshū 中共重要文献集
Mantetsu chihō gyōseishi 満鉄地方行政史
Soren no Nihon kenkyū ソ連の日本研究
Hokushi Jiken no keika 北支事件の経過
Saō monogatari 沙翁物語
Fukuō hyakuwa 福翁百話
5.
Numerals.
(a) Write cardinal numbers under 100, and the numbers 100, 1,000, 10,000, and
100,000, etc., as single words, if spelled out. Separate by hyphens the hundreds,
thousands, tens of thousands, etc., in numbers over 100.
sen-kyūhyaku-hachijūsannen 千九百八十三年
(b) Write the ordinal prefix
dai
, numerators, and other suffixes as part of the numbers
they precede or follow, if spelled out. Write them separate from the words they
modify.
daisan seiryoku 第三勢力
Dainiji Sekai Taisen kaikoroku 第二次世界大戦回顧録
(c) Transcribe a center point between numbers as a period, with no space following
it. If, however, the number is spelled out in romanization as a word, then the
center point is not represented by a Roman value (cf.
Library of Congress Rule
Interpretations, Appendix C.4C
).
8.15 zengo : sensō to watakushitachi８・１５前後 : 戦争と私たち
3.14 futō hanketsu 三・一四不当判決
20.5-seiki no ongaku ２０・５世紀の音楽
but
Niniroku Jiken ニ・ニ六事件
(d) Hyphenate numbers joined to modify a common substantive.
3-4-jigen ３・４次元
Shōwa 58-59-nendo 昭和五八・五九年度
1989-nen 一九八九年
