Kunrei-shiki

Kunrei-shiki

Kunrei-shiki (訓令式; also called "monbusho" system) is a romanization system for transcribing the Japanese language into the Latin alphabet (romaji). It is the system officially sanctioned by the Japanese ministry of education, although it is much less widespread in use than Hepburn romanization, and is mostly used within Japanese schools.

Kunrei-shiki is also known as ISO 3602, as it was approved by the International Standards Organization as a common romanization method for the language.

The system is a compromise between Hepburn, which stresses conformity with English phonology, and Nippon-shiki, which stresses one-to-one coorespondence with the kana system. The major differences between the three systems are:

Kana Hepburn Kunrei-shiki Nippon-shiki
し shi si si
じ ji zi zi
ぢ ji zi di
づ zu zu du
ふ fu hu hu
しゃ sha sya sya
しゅ shu syu syu
しょ sho syo syo
じゃ ja zya zya
じゅ ju zyu zyu
じょ jo zyo zyo
ぢゃ ja zya dya
ぢゅ ju zyu dyu
ぢょ jo zyo dyo

Kana	Hepburn	Kunrei-shiki	Nippon-shiki
し	shi	si	si
じ	ji	zi	zi
ぢ	ji	zi	di
づ	zu	zu	du
ふ	fu	hu	hu
しゃ	sha	sya	sya
しゅ	shu	syu	syu
しょ	sho	syo	syo
じゃ	ja	zya	zya
じゅ	ju	zyu	zyu
じょ	jo	zyo	zyo
ぢゃ	ja	zya	dya
ぢゅ	ju	zyu	dyu
ぢょ	jo	zyo	dyo

Long vowels are represented by a circumflex in the modern system, although the older Kunrei-shiki specification called for macrons.