Kana Converter
Type romaji and get Japanese hiragana and katakana instantly like an IME, convert kana back to romaji, or batch-convert whole texts between hiragana, katakana and romaji. Free, private and browser-based.
What are hiragana and katakana?
They are the two Japanese syllabaries. Hiragana is the flowing, rounded script used for native Japanese words and grammar; katakana is the angular script used mainly for foreign loanwords, names, emphasis and onomatopoeia. Together with kanji they make up written Japanese, and romaji is the Latin-alphabet transcription of their sounds.
How does the Romaji to Kana mode work?
It behaves like a Japanese IME: as you type romaji syllables such as ka, shi, tsu, kyo or n, they are replaced on the fly by kana. Words typed in CAPITAL letters turn into katakana automatically, which is the standard way to type foreign names. The conversion uses the official Wanakana bind API on the input field.
How do I type long vowels, the small tsu and the particle words?
Type doubled consonants for the small tsu (kitta becomes きった), double vowels for long sounds (toukyou becomes とうきょう), and type n with an apostrophe when it stands alone before a vowel (nya becomes にゃ, while n'ya becomes んや). The particles を, は and へ are typed as wo, wa and he, exactly as on a Japanese keyboard.
What does the batch mode do?
Batch mode converts a whole block of text at once. Choose romaji to kana, to hiragana, to katakana or kana to romaji, paste your text — a sentence, a list of names or entire paragraphs — and press Convert. The result updates live while you edit, and you can copy it with one click.
Can it convert names into katakana?
Yes. Switch the Romaji to Kana input style to "Always katakana" (or simply type the name in capitals), enter something like sarajean, and you get サラジェーン. This is handy for creating katakana versions of Western names, brands or place names.
Is the romaji output Hepburn style?
Yes, the kana to romaji conversion follows the Hepburn system used in most textbooks: し becomes shi, ち becomes chi, つ becomes tsu, long vowels use macron-free letters such as ou and aa, and ん becomes n before consonants and n' before vowels.
What is it useful for?
Typing Japanese without installing an IME, preparing kana flashcards and study sheets, checking how your name looks in katakana, converting song lyrics or game text to romaji for pronunciation practice, and producing hiragana or katakana versions of any text.
Is anything sent to a server?
No. The Wanakana library is bundled with the page and every conversion runs locally in your browser — no network requests, no cookies, and the tool keeps working completely offline.
How to Use Kana Converter
This kana converter runs on the Wanakana library bundled locally with the page. It offers an IME-style romaji input that turns what you type into Japanese kana instantly, a kana-to-romaji reader, and a batch mode that converts whole texts between romaji, hiragana and katakana. Nothing is uploaded and it works offline.
- Open the "Romaji → Kana" tab and type syllables like ka, shi, tsu, kyo or n — they become kana as you type, exactly like a Japanese IME.
- Choose an input style: Auto turns CAPITAL words into katakana, or force everything to hiragana or katakana. The live preview shows hiragana, katakana and romaji variants of what you typed.
- Switch to "Kana → Romaji" and paste Japanese text to see its Hepburn romaji reading appear as you type or edit.
- In "Batch conversion", pick a conversion (romaji to kana, to hiragana, to katakana, or to romaji), paste whole paragraphs and press Convert.
- Use Copy to grab any result and Clear to start over; your last tab and settings are remembered in this browser.
To type the particle を use "wo", for は use "wa" and for へ use "he" — the same rules as a Japanese keyboard. Doubled consonants give the small tsu (kitta → きった) and a standalone ん needs an apostrophe (nya → にゃ, n'ya → んや).
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