{"id":1826,"date":"2026-03-27T07:04:27","date_gmt":"2026-03-27T07:04:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kanji123.org\/blog\/?p=1826"},"modified":"2026-04-07T08:06:59","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T08:06:59","slug":"how-to-type-in-japanese","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kanji123.org\/blog\/how-to-type-in-japanese\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Type in Japanese: Kana, Kanji and More"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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So you want to learn how to type in Japanese. You’ve installed your Japanese keyboard, you hit a few keys \u2014 and suddenly romaji is morphing into hiragana<\/a> or katakana<\/a>, a dropdown box appears, and nothing makes sense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Don’t worry. Typing in Japanese is easier than it looks once you understand the logic behind it. In fact, if you already know some romaji<\/a>, you’re most of the way there.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

This guide covers everything: hiragana input, katakana input, kanji conversion, punctuation, symbols, and even kaomoji. By the time you finish, you’ll be typing Japanese without thinking twice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before you start, make sure your Japanese keyboard or IME is already enabled on your device. If it isn’t, set that up first \u2014 then come back here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to Use This Guide<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Before you begin, make sure your Japanese keyboard is enabled. If you don\u2019t have one set up yet or aren\u2019t sure how to install it on your device, follow our step-by-step guide to installing a Japanese IME <\/a>before continuing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The tables below show a Japanese character on top and the romaji input you type to produce it directly below. For example, to type \u3042, you type a. Simple as that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Romaji knowledge makes this much easier. Because Japanese words have standard romaji spellings, you can type almost any word just by spelling it out in romaji and letting the IME do the rest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One thing to keep in mind: two common romanization systems exist \u2014 Hepburn and Nihon-shiki. Therefore, some characters have two valid inputs. Both options appear in the tables below wherever they apply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to Type Hiragana<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Hiragana is the first script your IME produces when you start typing. Here’s the full input chart:<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"basic<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Source: <\/em>MochiKana<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two things to note:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

First, \u3093 requires you to type nn \u2014 not just n. When you type a single n, the IME waits to see if you’ll follow it with a vowel to make \u306a\u3001\u306b\u3001\u306c\u3001\u306d\u3001or \u306e. So you need that second n to confirm you want \u3093. The difference matters:<\/p>\n\n\n\n