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'Nihon-shiki' or 'Nippon-shiki Rōmaji' (, "Japan-style"; romanized as ''Nihon-siki'' or ''Nippon-siki'' in Nippon-shiki itself) is a romanization system for transcribing the Japanese language into the Latin alphabet. In discussion about Rōmaji, it is abbreviated as Nihon-shiki or Nippon-shiki. Among the major romanization systems for Japanese, Nippon-shiki is the most regular, and has a one-to-one relation to the kana writing systems. In practice, Nippon-shiki has been largely supplanted by Hepburn romanization.
It was invented by physicist Aikitsu Tanakadate (田中館 愛橘 ''Tanakadate Aikitsu'') in 1885, and postdates the Hepburn system of romanization. Tanakadate's intention was to completely replace the traditional kanji and kana system of writing Japanese with a romanized system, which he felt would make it easier for Japanese people to compete with Western countries. Since the system was intended for Japanese people to use to write their own language, it is much more regular than Hepburn romanization, and, unlike Hepburn's system, it makes no effort to make itself easier to pronounce for English speakers.
Nippon-shiki was followed by another, similar system, Kunrei-shiki. The difference between Nippon-shiki and Kunrei-shiki is the difference between the kana syllabary and modern pronunciation. In modern standard Japanese, the sounds of the pairs di/zi ぢ/じ, du/zu づ/ず, dya/zya ぢゃ/じゃ, dyu/zyu ぢゅ/じゅ, dyo/zyo ぢょ/じょ, wi/i ゐ/い, we/e ゑ/え, kwa/ka くゎ/か, gwa/ga ぐゎ/が have become identical. For example, the word ''kanadukai'' (Nippon-shiki) かなづかい is pronounced as ''kanazukai'' in modern Japanese.
Nippon-shiki is considered the most regular of the romanization systems for the Japanese language, because it maintains a strict "one kana, two letters" form. Because it has unique forms corresponding to each of the respective pairs of ''kana'' homophones listed above, it is the only system of romanization that allows lossless ("round trip") mapping; see the hiragana article for more details.
Nippon-shiki has been established by the International Organization for Standardization in the ISO 3602 strict form. The JSL system, which is intended for use instructing foreign students of Japanese, is also based on Nippon-shiki.

Contents

Nipponsiki — ISO 3602 Strict

References

Nipponsiki — ISO 3602 Strict

gojūon					yōon
あ/ア ''a''	い/イ ''i''	う/ウ ''u''	え/エ ''e''	お/オ ''o''	(''ya'')	(''yu'')	(''yo'')
か/カ ''ka''	き/キ ''ki''	く/ク ''ku''	け/ケ ''ke''	こ/コ ''ko''	きゃ/キャ ''kya''	きゅ/キュ ''kyu''	きょ/キョ ''kyo''
さ/サ ''sa''	し/シ ''si''	す/ス ''su''	せ/セ ''se''	そ/ソ ''so''	しゃ/シャ ''sya''	しゅ/シュ ''syu''	しょ/ショ ''syo''
た/タ ''ta''	ち/チ ''ti''	つ/ツ ''tu''	て/テ ''te''	と/ト ''to''	ちゃ/チャ ''tya''	ちゅ/チュ ''tyu''	ちょ/チョ ''tyo''
な/ナ ''na''	に/ニ ''ni''	ぬ/ヌ ''nu''	ね/ネ ''ne''	の/ノ ''no''	にゃ/ニャ ''nya''	にゅ/ニュ ''nyu''	にょ/ニョ ''nyo''
は/ハ ''ha''	ひ/ヒ ''hi''	ふ/フ ''hu''	へ/ヘ ''he''	ほ/ホ ''ho''	ひゃ/ヒャ ''hya''	ひゅ/ヒュ ''hyu''	ひょ/ヒョ ''hyo''
ま/マ ''ma''	み/ミ ''mi''	む/ム ''mu''	め/メ ''me''	も/モ ''mo''	みゃ/ミャ ''mya''	みゅ/ミュ ''myu''	みょ/ミョ ''myo''
や/ヤ ''ya''		ゆ/ユ ''yu''		よ/ヨ ''yo''
ら/ラ ''ra''	り/リ ''ri''	る/ル ''ru''	れ/レ ''re''	ろ/ロ ''ro''	りゃ/リャ ''rya''	りゅ/リュ ''ryu''	りょ/リョ ''ryo''
わ/ワ ''wa''	ゐ/ヰ ''wi''		ゑ/ヱ ''we''	を/ヲ ''wo''
				ん/ン ''n''
voiced sounds (dakuten)
が/ガ ''ga''	ぎ/ギ ''gi''	ぐ/グ ''gu''	げ/ゲ ''ge''	ご/ゴ ''go''	ぎゃ/ギャ ''gya''	ぎゅ/ギュ ''gyu''	ぎょ/ギョ ''gyo''
ざ/ザ ''za''	じ/ジ ''zi''	ず/ズ ''zu''	ぜ/ゼ ''ze''	ぞ/ゾ ''zo''	じゃ/ジャ ''zya''	じゅ/ジュ ''zyu''	じょ/ジョ ''zyo''
だ/ダ ''da''	ぢ/ヂ ''di''	づ/ヅ ''du''	で/デ ''de''	ど/ド ''do''	ぢゃ/ヂャ ''dya''	ぢゅ/ヂュ ''dyu''	ぢょ/ヂョ ''dyo''
ば/バ ''ba''	び/ビ ''bi''	ぶ/ブ ''bu''	べ/ベ ''be''	ぼ/ボ ''bo''	びゃ/ビャ ''bya''	びゅ/ビュ ''byu''	びょ/ビョ ''byo''
ぱ/パ ''pa''	ぴ/ピ ''pi''	ぷ/プ ''pu''	ぺ/ペ ''pe''	ぽ/ポ ''po''	ぴゃ/ピャ ''pya''	ぴゅ/ピュ ''pyu''	ぴょ/ピョ ''pyo''
くゎ ''kwa''
ぐゎ ''gwa''

Note:

★ Those in red are obsolete in modern Japanese.

★ When ''he'' へ is used as a particle it is written ''he'' not ''e'' (Kunrei-shiki/Hepburn).

★ When ''ha'' は is used as a particle it is written ''ha'' not ''wa''.

★ When ''wo'' を is used as a particle it is written ''wo'' not ''o''.

★ Long vowels are indicated by a circumflex, for example long 'o' is written ''ô'', unlike Hepburn, which uses a macron.

★ Syllabic 'n' ん is written as ''n'' before consonants but as ''n''' before vowels and ''y''.

★ Geminate consonants are marked by doubling the consonant following the sokuon, っ, without exception.

References

★ ''Nihongo Daihakubutsukan'' (日本語大博物館), author: Kida, Jun'ichirō (紀田順一郎 ''Kida Jun'ichirō''), publisher: Just System (ジャストシステム, ''Jasuto Shisutemu'') ISBN 4-88309-046-9 (in Japanese), chapter 6.