Katakana Converter (Romaji to Katakana)
This katakana converter turns romaji into katakana, with the long-vowel mark ー and the special spellings Japanese uses for foreign words, such as ティ and ウィ. Use it to write names and loanwords, or paste katakana to read it.
How to use the katakana converter
- Write the word the way it sounds in Japanese, using romaji. Katakana spells sounds, so “Michael” is written from its Japanese pronunciation, maikeru, not from its English letters.
- Keep the two options ticked for foreign words. Long vowels become a dash (ー), and sounds like ti, tu and wi use the special combinations Japanese created for loanwords.
- Press Convert and copy the katakana. The hiragana version is shown below it.
- Paste katakana to turn it back into romaji.
How the conversion works
Katakana has the same 46 basic sounds as hiragana, written with sharper, simpler shapes. The tool uses the same longest-match reading as our Hiragana Translator converter, then adds the rules Japanese uses for words from other languages:
- Long vowels → ー. A doubled vowel or a vowel with a macron becomes the long-vowel mark: paatii or pātī → パーティー (“party”), kōhī → コーヒー (“coffee”).
- Foreign sound combinations. ti → ティ, di → ディ, tu → トゥ, wi → ウィ, we → ウェ, wo → ウォ, fa → ファ, fi → フィ, fe → フェ, fo → フォ, she → シェ, je → ジェ, che → チェ, va → ヴァ, vi → ヴィ.
- Double consonants become a small ッ: beddo → ベッド (“bed”).
- n becomes ン when no vowel follows: konpyuutaa → コンピューター (“computer”).
Untick “Foreign-word spellings” if you are writing native Japanese words in katakana (for emphasis, or for plant and animal names). Then ti gives チ and tu gives ツ, as in standard Kunrei romaji.
wiriamu → wi + ri + a + mu → ウィ + リ + ア + ム → ウィリアム (“William”)
Katakana chart
| a | i | u | e | o | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| – | ア a | イ i | ウ u | エ e | オ o |
| k | カ ka | キ ki | ク ku | ケ ke | コ ko |
| s | サ sa | シ shi | ス su | セ se | ソ so |
| t | タ ta | チ chi | ツ tsu | テ te | ト to |
| n | ナ na | ニ ni | ヌ nu | ネ ne | ノ no |
| h | ハ ha | ヒ hi | フ fu | ヘ he | ホ ho |
| m | マ ma | ミ mi | ム mu | メ me | モ mo |
| y | ヤ ya | ユ yu | ヨ yo | ||
| r | ラ ra | リ ri | ル ru | レ re | ロ ro |
| w | ワ wa | ヲ wo | |||
| n | ン n | ||||
Easily confused pairs: シ (shi) and ツ (tsu), ソ (so) and ン (n). In シ and ン the strokes run upward from the bottom; in ツ and ソ they come down from the top.
Examples
English names in katakana
| Name | Japanese pronunciation | Katakana |
|---|---|---|
| William | wiriamu | ウィリアム |
| Sarah | seera | セーラ |
| Michael | maikeru | マイケル |
| Emma | ema | エマ |
| Ahmed | afumedo | アフメド |
| Fatima | fatima | ファティマ |
Japanese syllables end in a vowel or n, so English consonant clusters get extra vowels: Ahmed → a-fu-me-do. There is often more than one accepted spelling. Sarah may be セーラ or サラ, depending on whether the speaker hears an English or Hebrew pronunciation.
Common loanwords
aisukuriimu → アイスクリーム (ice cream), famirii resutoran → ファミリー レストラン (family restaurant), terebi → テレビ (TV). Japanese writes these as one word without spaces: ファミリーレストラン.
How to write your name in katakana
First say your name slowly and split it into Japanese-style syllables: consonant plus vowel. Replace l with r (Japanese has one sound for both), v with b if you want the everyday spelling (ヴ is used but less common), and add u or o after stranded consonants (t and d usually take o: Robert → robaato → ロバート). Then type the romaji here. If you can, check the result with a Japanese speaker, since names often have a settled spelling, especially famous ones. Our guide to Hiragana vs Katakana vs Kanji: How Japanese Writing Works has more on when Japanese uses each script.