Free Japanese romaji converter — read any sentence
Want to know how a Japanese sentence sounds? Paste it in and get the kana and romaji for every word, with text-to-speech and one-click copy.
Song lyrics, anime and drama lines, personal names, place names and everyday phrases all work.
Quick input: click any word below to fill it in and convert it.
How we write romaji
ん is always n: しんぶん → shinbun (not shimbun)
おう is written ou: とうきょう → toukyou (not tōkyō)
Common Japanese phrases
The 15 most useful Japanese phrases, with standard romaji and English. Press Read to hear one, or paste it into the converter above to see the word-by-word breakdown.
| Japanese | Romaji | Meaning | Audio |
|---|---|---|---|
| おはようございます | ohayou gozaimasu | Good morning | |
| こんにちは | konnichiwa | Hello | |
| こんばんは | konbanwa | Good evening | |
| はじめまして | hajimemashite | Nice to meet you | |
| ありがとうございます | arigatou gozaimasu | Thank you | |
| すみません | sumimasen | Excuse me / Sorry | |
| お願いします | onegai shimasu | Please | |
| いただきます | itadakimasu | Let's eat | |
| ごちそうさまでした | gochisousama deshita | Thanks for the meal | |
| 大丈夫です | daijoubu desu | It's fine / I'm okay | |
| わかりました | wakarimashita | Got it | |
| おやすみなさい | oyasuminasai | Good night | |
| さようなら | sayounara | Goodbye | |
| かわいい | kawaii | Cute | |
| 大好き | daisuki | I love it |
Japanese to English: reading vs meaning
People searching for a Japanese to English converter usually want one of three different things. This page does the first one, and only the first one — worth knowing before you paste a sentence in and wonder why the answer still means nothing to you.
How does it sound?
This tool. Paste Japanese and get the kana and romaji for every word, with audio and one-click copy.
What does it mean?
Not this tool. Romanization gives you the reading, never the meaning — for meaning you need a dictionary.
Why is there English in it?
Japanese borrowed thousands of English words and wrote them in katakana. Sound them out and they come back.
Still not sure which one you need? Japanese to English: converter, translation, or reading? sorts the three apart.
Learn faster with these
Kana chart
Still learning kana? See the full chart with audio and keyboard practice.
What is romaji?
Where romaji came from, the systems that exist, and why it matters when you start Japanese.
Romaji input method
How to type Japanese kana with romaji on a computer or phone.
Japanese to English
Reading, meaning, or loanwords — which of the three you actually want, and the right tool for each.
Katakana to English
The English words hiding inside Japanese, and the sound rules that disguise them.
Japanese names in English
How Japanese names are romanized, and how to write your own name in Japanese.
FAQ
How accurate is the conversion?▾
The tool tokenizes with a general Japanese dictionary and then applies the same annotation rules used across this site, so common words are highly accurate. Rare kanji, personal names and place names may be misread or left unannotated; anything unrecognized is shown as - rather than guessed at.
Is this the same as a Japanese to English translator?▾
No. This is a romanizer: it takes Japanese and gives back the reading — kana and romaji, the letters you would say out loud. A translator gives back meaning, which is a different job done by a different kind of tool. Romanization is fully mechanical and can be derived from the characters; meaning has to be looked up in a dictionary. That is why no single tool does both in one step.
Can it tell me what a Japanese word means?▾
It cannot — nothing in the characters contains the meaning, so there is nothing for the converter to derive it from. The practical workflow is to romanize here first, then look the word up. Getting the reading is what makes the lookup possible: you cannot search a dictionary for a word you cannot pronounce or spell in kana. Our guide to Japanese dictionary tools covers the lookup side.
Is romaji the same as pinyin?▾
The idea is similar — both spell pronunciation out in Latin letters — but the rules differ: ん is n, a small っ doubles the next consonant, a long vowel ー doubles the vowel, and the particles は/を are read wa/wo. Paste a sentence and you can see the standard romaji for anything you are unsure about.
How do I add romaji to Japanese lyrics so I can sing along?▾
Paste the lyrics line by line and the tool annotates every word with kana and romaji; click any word to hear it. For kana you do not know yet, just read the romaji, then loop the line with the Read button until it flows.
How do I read a small っ?▾
A small っ marks a one-beat pause, written in romaji by doubling the consonant that follows: きって → kitte, まって → matte, いっしょに → isshoni.
How is the long vowel ー written?▾
ー doubles the vowel before it: ビール → biiru, コーヒー → koohii. A long o that comes from the o-row plus う is written ou: とうきょう → toukyou.
Why are は and を read wa and wo?▾
They are particles with special readings: は as the topic marker is wa, へ as the direction marker is e, and を as the object marker is wo. The tool recognizes particles automatically and annotates them with these readings.
Why is しんぶん written shinbun and not shimbun?▾
Before b, p and m, some romaji systems write ん as m (shimbun); this site uses n throughout, following the standard Hepburn-style convention. Both are in use — we just keep the site consistent with what you hear while practicing.
How much text can I convert at once?▾
Up to 500 characters per run, roughly a sentence or two. For longer passages, paste it in a few chunks. Kanji, kana and Latin text can be mixed freely.
Is the text I paste stored or shared?▾
No. Text is tokenized on the server and discarded immediately — it is not stored, not linked to any account, and completely anonymous.
Is this tool free?▾
Completely free, no login, no limits. Come back whenever you need a reading, and pair it with the kana practice and dialogues on this site.