How to Type Japanese: Small つ, ん, を, づ, and the Long Vowel ー
Once you install a Japanese keyboard, you type in romaji and it converts to kana and kanji. Most of it is intuitive — but a handful of characters (っ, ん, を, づ, ー) confuse everyone at first. Here is exactly which keys to press.
How Romaji Input Works
With a Japanese IME (input method) set to “Hiragana,” you type the romaji and it becomes kana automatically: type ka → か, sushi → すし. Then press the space bar to convert to kanji, and Enter to confirm.
That conversion step is the secret weapon we’ll come back to at the end.
The Tricky Keys
kitte → きって, gakkou → がっこう
honn → ほん, kangae → かんがえ
wo → を
tsuduku → つづく, hanadi → はなぢ
ko-hi- → コーヒー
Small Kana & Loanword Sounds
- Small ゃゅょ: just type them together —
kya→ きゃ,sho→ しょ. - Standalone small vowels (ぁぃぅぇぉ): prefix with
lorx—la→ ぁ,xtu→ っ. - Loanword sounds:
fa→ ファ,ti→ ティ,va→ ヴァ.
Typing as a Free Spell-Checker
Here is the trick most learners miss: the IME confirms your readings. Type genin and 原因 appears; type geiin and it won’t convert correctly. If the kanji you expect doesn’t come up, your reading is wrong.
Use this constantly. It’s a free, instant check on every word you think you know.
Teacher’s Note
Typing Japanese trains reading and spelling at the same time, because you must produce the correct reading to get the right kanji. I tell students to switch their phone to a Japanese keyboard early — texting becomes daily, painless practice.
Practice reading, the input way
Nihongo Pass builds the reading recognition you need to type and convert correctly — designed by a JLPT N1 teacher.