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To view this page properly you must have Japanese language support installed. The information I present here is what I have gathered from books and online, I can't really guarantee that it's accurate.
| Hiragana |
| あ a | い i | う u | え e | お o |
| か ka | き ki | く ku | け ke | こ ko |
| さ sa | し shi (si) | す su | せ se | そ so |
| た ta | ち chi (ti) | つ tsu (tu) | て te | と to |
| な na | に ni | ぬ nu | ね ne | の no |
| は ha | ひ hi | ふ fu (hu) | へ he | ほ ho |
| ま ma | み mi | む mu | め me | も mo |
| や ya | | ゆ yu | | よ yo |
| ら ra | り ri | る ru | れ re | ろ ro |
| わ wa | | | | を o (wo) |
| ん n |
| が ga | ぎ gi | ぐ gu | げ ge | ご go |
| ざ za | じ ji (zi) | ず zu | ぜ ze | ぞ zo |
| だ da | ぢ ji (di) | づ zu (du) | で de | ど do |
| ば ba | び bi | ぶ bu | べ be | ぼ bo |
| ぱ pa | ぴ pi | ぷ pu | ぺ pe | ぽ po |
| ふぁ fa | ふぃ fi | ふ fu | ふぇ fe | ふぉ fo |
| きゃ gya | | きゅ gyu | | きょ gyo |
| しゃ sha (sya) | | しゅ shu (syu) | | しょ sho (syo) |
| ちゃ cha (tya) | | ちゅ chu (tyu) | | ちょ cho (tyo) |
| にゃ nya | | にゅ nyu | | にょ nyo |
| ひゃ hya | | ひゅ hyu | | ひゅ hyo |
| みゃ mya | | みゅ myu | | みょ myo |
| りゃ rya | | りゅ ryu | | りょ ryo |
| ぎゃ gya | | ぎゅ gyu | | ぎょ gyo |
| じゃ ja (zya) | | じゅ ju (zyu) | | じょ jo (zyo) |
| びゃ bya | | びゅ byu | | びょ byo |
| ぴゃ pya | | ぴゅ pyu | | ぴょ pyo |
| Katakana |
| ア a | イ i | ウ u | エ e | オ o |
| カ ka | キ ki | ク ku | ケ ke | コ ko |
| サ sa | シ shi (si) | ス su | セ se | ソ so |
| タ ta | チ chi (ti) | ツ tsu (tu) | テ te | ト to |
| ナ na | ニ ni | ヌ nu | ネ ne | ノ no |
| ハ ha | ヒ hi | フ fu (hu) | ヘ he | ホ ho |
| マ ma | ミ mi | ム mu | メ me | モ mo |
| ヤ ya | | ユ yu | | ヨ yo |
| ラ ra | リ ri | ル ru | レ re | ロ ro |
| ワ wa | | | | ヲ o (wo) |
| ン n |
| ガ ga | ギ gi | グ gu | ゲ ge | ゴ go |
| ザ za | ジ ji (zi) | ズ zu | ゼ ze | ゾ zo |
| ダ da | ヂ ji (di) | ヅ zu (du) | デ de | ド do |
| バ ba | ビ bi | ブ bu | ベ be | ボ bo |
| パ pa | ピ pi | プ pu | ペ pe | ポ po |
| ファ fa | フィ fi | フ fu | フェ fe | フォ fo |
| キャ gya | | キュ gyu | | キョ gyo |
| シャ sha (sya) | | シュ shu (syu) | | ショ sho (syo) |
| チャ cha (tya) | | チュ chu (tyu) | | チョ cho (tyo) |
| ニャ nya | | ニュ nyu | | ニョ nyo |
| ヒャ hya | | ヒュ hyu | | ヒョ hyo |
| ミャ mya | | ミュ myu | | ミョ myo |
| リャ rya | | リュ ryu | | リョ ryo |
| ギャ gya | | ギュ gyu | | ギョ gyo |
| ジャ ja (zya) | | ジュ ju (zyu) | | ジョ jo (zyo) |
| ビャ bya | | ビュ byu | | ビョ byo |
| ピャ pya | | ピュ pyu | | ピョ pyo |
Stuff You Should Know About Japanese
There are 3 types of writing in Japanese. Kanji are the more complicated characters borrowed from Chinese that mean whole words and word roots. Hiragana are the rounder characters, and are used primarily for prefixes and suffixes to Kanji, and for purely Japanese words. They are used the most in games like FF1 because NES games generally contain no or very little Kanji. Katakana are the straighter characters, and are used for words of foreign origin, onomatopoeia, and for emphasis (like italics). Hiragana and Katakana are collectively referred to as Kana. Also, when Roman letters are used to represent Japanese sounds it is called Romanji.
I think the F row isn't used in Hiragana but I have it here anyway for completeness.
The vowels are pronounced like this: a as in father, i as the "ee" in feet, u as the "oo" in foot, e as in bet, and o as in hole. The "r" is pronounced like a cross between r and l and can even end up sounding like d. It's used for both r and l in loan words (and for d in rare instances, like "purin" (pudding)). There is no "th" sound, so s and z are used. There is also no v (or at least there didn't used to be), so b is usually used, such as banpaia=vampire. The "a" can also be used as the "u" in bug, and is doubled to replace the "r" sound in words like the names Bert and Bart: バート (ba-t).
A long vowel means to hold the sound twice as long. Some vowels will just be doubled, some use another vowel in a pair. [ a -> aa, i -> ii, u -> uu, e -> ei, o -> ou ] Hiragana is printed as I just described. Katakana uses a - after the vowel to extend it. Romanji is usually printed with a line over the vowel (except i, which is doubled), but since text usually can't have overlines on a computer you can sometimes find it written any of the other ways.
I'm told the っ ッ "little tsu" character means to stop your voice, and it is Romanized by doubling the following consonant.
ex. ロボット = robotto (robot)
Here are some more sounds I've seen used:
| . | ティ (ti). | テュ (tu) | . | . |
| . | ディ (di) | デュ (du) | . | . |
| . | . | . | ジェ (je) | . |
| ヴァ (va) | ヴィ (vi) | . | ヴェ (ve) | ヴォ (vo) |
| . | ブイ (vi) | . | . | . |
The size of the font may make it hard to tell the difference between ho, bo, and po and others like it, so I'll explain them. The g, z, d, and b rows have 2 little lines above them (called nigori), and the p row has a little circle (called a maru).
ex. ホ ho ボ bo ポ po
As I said above, Katakana is usually used for foreign words, and in most cases those words are English. Some words are less than obvious, try to sound them out. ゴブリン (goburin) goblin is easy enough, but something like ウルフ (urufu) wolf may give you trouble.
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