Japanese Keyboard · online

Japanese Keyboard: key facts

• Script: Kana, used across Japan.
• Writing direction: left to right.
• Layout: 45 keys, 45 base characters, 45 on Shift.
• Transliteration: 212 conversion rules built in.
• Variants: 3 (Hiragana, Katakana, Direct Kana).
• Native name: にほんごキーボード / 日本語キーボード; speech synthesis locale: ja-JP.

Japanese Keyboard in detail

Type Japanese with the romaji engine: “konnichiwa” becomes こんにちは. Kana layout and vocabulary resources included. The Japanese Keyboard (にほんごキーボード / 日本語キーボード) covers the Kana script as used across Japan. Text flows left to right in the editor, and every character below belongs to the authentic Kana repertoire — no transliterated approximations once you use the virtual keys.

The romaji engine turns Latin input into kana on the fly, with long vowels, sokuon and katakana variants handled from the same keystrokes.

The page ships 3 built-in variants — Hiragana (Romaji → Hiragana (default): 'konnichiwa' → 'こんにちは'.); Katakana (Type in CAPITALS for Katakana: 'KATSU' → 'カツ'.); Direct Kana (Standard JIS kana layout without romaji.) — switchable without reloading. Your text never leaves the browser: copy it to any app, export it, listen to it with the ja-JP speech voice, or send it to Google, YouTube, Wikipedia, Translate, DuckDuckGo.

Every key on the Japanese Keyboard

The layout holds 45 character keys: 45 distinct base characters, 45 Shift variants. The table below maps each physical position to the characters it produces, so you can learn the layout or verify coverage of a rare letter before you start typing.

Complete transliteration table

The quick table higher up this page shows an excerpt. Below is the complete engine: all 212 mappings, longest match wins, applied left to right. Try « ka » → か, « ki » → き, « ku » → く to feel how whole words collapse into script in a single gesture. Multi-character sequences always win over single letters, so digraphs and common words convert before their parts do.

Getting the most out of this keyboard

Start with the Hiragana variant if you are unsure: Romaji → Hiragana (default): 'konnichiwa' → 'こんにちは'. You can switch variants mid-text without losing what you typed.

Kana runs left to right, so mixing it with in-line Latin terms, brand names or URLs just works: the editor keeps each run in its own direction without manual markers.

For pronunciation, press the speaker button: the ja-JP voice reads exactly what is in the editor, which makes this page a practical dictation and shadowing tool. Export the text first if you want to rehearse offline.

Preferred typefaces here are Noto Sans JP, Hiragino Kaku Gothic ProN, Yu Gothic (fallback Noto Sans JP). If a character shows as a box on your device, switch fonts in the toolbar — complex-script shaping varies between systems, especially on older phones.

Common words to try first

New to Kana? These 16 conversions are the fastest way to trust the engine: type the left column exactly and confirm the right column appears. They cover greetings, frequent words and the trickiest letter combinations of the language.

Dictionaries and resources for Japanese Keyboard

Below the keyboard, the resource hub gathers 10 hand-picked links for Japanese Keyboard: 4 monolingual dictionaries (including Lexilogos — dictionnaire, Jisho — 辞書, Goo辞書, Wiktionary (ja)), 2 bilingual translators, 0 grammar and conjugation reference, 1 vocabulary and phrase guide, and 3 encyclopedias, newspapers and general resources. Type a word in the editor first and the links marked with an arrow receive it automatically — look up a definition, a conjugation or a translation without retyping.

Keep exploring

If this is not quite your language, the closest alternatives each have their own virtual keyboard, transliteration engine and dictionary hub, so switching costs one click. The method guides embed the same keyboard, so you can practise while you learn.

• Chinese Pinyin Keyboard (Chinese (Hanzi)): Type Chinese: enter pinyin and pick the character, or click the virtual keys. Simplified and traditional characters supported.…
• Korean Hangul Keyboard (Hangul): Type Korean Hangul with smart jamo composition: “annyeong” becomes 안녕 automatically as you type.…
• Vietnamese Keyboard (Latin + diacritics): Type Vietnamese with Telex, VNI and plain modes: “xin chào” is produced from “xin chao” + s as you type.…
• Arabic Keyboard (Arabic): Type Arabic with smart transliteration: “marhaba” becomes مرحبا as you type. Click the virtual keys or use your own keyboard.…
• Method guides: “Type Japanese: romaji → hiragana, katakana, kanji”, “Type Chinese with pinyin: how-to”, “Type Korean (Hangul): automatic composition”.