MarioWiki:Japanese

Although many editors are not familiar with Japanese characters, specific Japanese words are often of interest in articles. In these cases, it is usually appropriate to provide a romanization of that word – in other words, to write it using the Latin Alphabet. Generally, romanizations are only appropriate for singular words or short phrases of interest. Long passages usually should not include a romanization; in these cases a translation is preferable.

Kana Table
For the most part, Hepburn romanization is used on this wiki, so the kana should be romanized according to the following table. Red marks romanizations that are unsystematic; editors should be aware of these so as to avoid accidental use of the systematic equivalent.

Extended Katakana
Because extended katakana are not completely standardized in their usage, the correct way of romanizing them can often be difficult to determine. The following table gives some examples of possible romanizations, but editors are advised to use their own judgment in conjunction with the table. The examples provided may not be appropriate to some situations, and extended katakana not covered by the table are very likely to crop up at times.

ん
ん should be romanized n in most circumstances.


 * 日本　（にほん） -> nihon
 * こんな -> konna
 * アンナ -> anna

When ん is immidiately followed by one of the あ‐row kana, it should instead be n ' , to distinguish it from the な‐row kana.


 * 禁煙　（きんえん） -> kin'en
 * 祈念　（きねん） -> kinen

ん should never be rendered as m.


 * 新聞　（しんぶん） -> shinbun, not shimbun

Long Vowels
Long vowels should always be noted by placing a macron over the vowel.


 * 大魔王　（だいまおう） -> daimaō
 * もう -> mō
 * ルイージ -> ruīji

Note that this is a difference from the usual Hepburn style, which mandates that long え and い be romanized as ei and ii in certain cases. Also be careful to distinguish between cases like 問う（とう） and 糖（とう）. The former should be tou, while the latter should be tō. This is due to the fact that what looks like a long vowel in 問う is actually separated over two different morphemes, and so is pronounced as two distinct vowels rather than a single long one.

っ
When っ is followed by a consonant other than n, it should be represented by doubling the consonant directly following it.


 * 閣下　（かっか） -> kakka
 * もっと -> motto
 * クッパ -> kuppa

Note that っち should be cchi, never tchi.

は, を, and へ
When used as particles, は,を, and へ should be romanized as wa, o, and e, rather than the usual ha, wo, and he.

Other Small Kana
Small kana not covered elsewhere can be romanized as ~ followed by the romanization of the corresponding larger kana.


 * ヌゥ -> nu~u