Hepburn

This article is about the system used for transcribing the Japanese language into the Roman alphabet. For other meanings, see Hepburn (disambiguation).

---

The Hepburn romanization system (Japanese: ヘボン式 Hebon-shiki) was devised by Reverend James Curtis Hepburn to transcribe the sounds of the Japanese language into the Roman alphabet for his Japanese–English dictionary, published in 1867. This system is sometimes referred to as Hyōjun-shiki (standard style).

The original and revised variants of Hepburn remain by far the most popular methods of transcription of Japanese. It gives the best indication to an English speaker of how the word is pronounced in modern Japanese. In Japan, many younger people are familiar with the Roman alphabet through the study of English and thus find Hepburn more comfortable than the alternative Monbushō system. Other romanization systems for Japanese include Nihon-shiki (ISO 3602 Strict) , Kunrei-shiki (Monbushō and ISO 3602), and JSL; see rōmaji for a comparison between these systems.

Hepburn is used by BambooWeb. See BambooWeb:Manual of Style for Japan-related articles.

Legal status

Hepburn is based on English phonology, not Japanese, and as such has faced some opposition in Japan. In particular, a September 21, 1937 cabinet ordnance proclaimed an alternative system now commonly known as Kunrei to be Japan's official romanization for all purposes, but this was overturned by the SCAP during the Occupation of Japan. The (slightly revised) ordnance was reissued in 1954, to little effect.

In 1972, Modified Hepburn was codified as ANSI standard Z39.11-1972. It was proposed in 1989 as a draft for ISO 3602, but rejected in favor of Kunrei. The Z39.11-1972 standard was consequently deprecated on October 6, 1994.

However, despite its lack of de jure status, Hepburn remains the de facto standard. In Japan, all official signs (street signs, warnings, notices, etc) are romanized in Hepburn or, increasingly, modified Hepburn. JR and all the other transportation systems (buses, subways, other train systems, aeroplanes, etc) use Hepburn or modified Hepburn. Signs and notices in city offices and police stations use Hepburn or modified Hepburn. Signs at shrines, temples and attractions use Hepburn or modified Hepburn. Newspapers and TV use Hepburn or modified Hepburn. Cities and prefectures use Hepburn or modified Hepburn. Publications by the Japanese Foreign Ministry use Hepburn. Official tourism information put out by the government uses Hepburn or modified Hepburn, as do all guidebooks, local and foreign, on Japan. Students of Japanese as a foreign language usually learn Hepburn or modified Hepburn.

Features of Hepburn romanization

• When he へ is used as a particle it is written e.
• When ha は is used as a particle it is written wa.
• When wo を is used as a particle it is written o.
• Long vowels are indicated by a macron, for example long o is written ō.
• 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 っ, except for sh→ssh, ch→tch.
• Where syllables constructed systematically according to the Japanese syllabary contain the "unstable" consonant for the modern spoken language, the orthography is changed to something that, as an English speaker would pronounce it, better matches the real sound, for example し is written shi not *si. This kind of irregular spelling, however, makes difficult to explain Japanese regular conjugations.

Variations of the Hepburn system indicate the long vowels ō and ū as follows:

• Tōkyō: indicated with macrons (standard).
• Tôkyô: indicated with circumflexes (surrogate use, outdated)
• Tokyo: not indicated at all (common for Japanese words that have been adopted into English).
• Tookyoo: doubled.
• Tohkyoh: indicated with an "h".
• Toukyou: written using hiragana spelling: ō as ou and ū as uu. This is sometimes called wāpuro style, as this is how text is entered into a Japanese word processor (wādo purosessā) using a keyboard with diacritic mark tilde instead of the macron or circumflex. This style is extremely rare.

Some linguists object to Hepburn, as it does not transcribe Japanese phonetic structures, inflections, or conjugations properly. Supporters argue that Hepburn is not intended as a linguistic tool, and that IPA should be used in such contexts instead.

Modified vs original Hepburn

The original version of Hepburn writes syllabic n ん as m before the consonants p, b and m. Modified Hepburn, adopted by the Library of Congress among others, always writes syllabic n as n.

Hepburn romanization for hiragana

あ a	い i	う u	え e	お o
か ka	き ki	く ku	け ke	こ ko	きゃ kya	きゅ kyu	きょ kyo
さ sa	し shi	す su	せ se	そ so	しゃ sha	しゅ shu	しょ sho
た ta	ち chi	つ tsu	て te	と to	ちゃ cha	ちゅ chu	ちょ cho
な na	に ni	ぬ nu	ね ne	の no	にゃ nya	にゅ nyu	にょ nyo
は ha	ひ hi	ふ fu	へ he	ほ ho	ひゃ hya	ひゅ hyu	ひょ hyo
ま ma	み mi	む mu	め me	も mo	みゃ mya	みゅ myu	みょ myo
や ya		ゆ yu		よ yo
ら ra	り ri	る ru	れ re	ろ ro	りゃ rya	りゅ ryu	りょ ryo
わ wa				を o
				ん n
が ga	ぎ gi	ぐ gu	げ ge	ご go	ぎゃ gya	ぎゅ gyu	ぎょ gyo
ざ za	じ ji	ず zu	ぜ ze	ぞ zo	じゃ ja	じゅ ju	じょ jo
だ da	ぢ ji	づ zu	で de	ど do
ば ba	び bi	ぶ bu	べ be	ぼ bo	びゃ bya	びゅ byu	びょ byo
ぱ pa	ぴ pi	ぷ pu	ぺ pe	ぽ po	ぴゃ pya	ぴゅ pyu	ぴょ pyo

Hepburn romanization for standard katakana

ア a	イ i	ウ u	エ e	オ o
カ ka	キ ki	ク ku	ケ ke	コ ko	キャ kya	キュ kyu	キョ kyo
サ sa	シ shi	ス su	セ se	ソ so	シャ sha	シュ shu	ショ sho
タ ta	チ chi	ツ tsu	テ te	ト to	チャ cha	チュ chu	チョ cho
ナ na	ニ ni	ヌ nu	ネ ne	ノ no	ニャ nya	ニュ nyu	ニョ nyo
ハ ha	ヒ hi	フ fu	ヘ he	ホ ho	ヒャ hya	ヒュ hyu	ヒョ hyo
マ ma	ミ mi	ム mu	メ me	モ mo	ミャ mya	ミュ myu	ミョ myo
ヤ ya		ユ yu		ヨ yo
ラ ra	リ ri	ル ru	レ re	ロ ro	リャ rya	リュ ryu	リョ ryo
ワ wa				ヲ o
				ン n
ガ ga	ギ gi	グ gu	ゲ ge	ゴ go	ギャ gya	ギュ gyu	ギョ gyo
ザ za	ジ ji	ズ zu	ゼ ze	ゾ zo	ジャ ja	ジュ ju	ジョ jo
ダ da	ヂ ji	ヅ zu	デ de	ド do
バ ba	ビ bi	ブ bu	ベ be	ボ bo	ビャ bya	ビュ byu	ビョ byo
パ pa	ピ pi	プ pu	ペ pe	ポ po	ピャ pya	ピュ pyu	ピョ pyo

Hepburn romanization for extended katakana

(These are used mainly to represent the sounds in words in other languages.)

			イェ ye
	ウィ wi		ウェ we	ウォ wo
ヴァ va	ヴィ vi	ヴ vu	ヴェ ve	ヴォ vo
			シェ she
			ジェ je
			チェ che
	ティ ti	トゥ tu
	ディ di	ドゥ du
ツァ tsa	ツィ tsi		ツェ tse	ツォ tso
ファ fa	フィ fi		フェ fe	フォ fo
		フュ fyu