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ALA-LC Japanese romanization rules for macrons, hyphens, and word division. Use when writing Japanese words in romaji.
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Based on SOC occupation classification
| name | japanese-romanization |
| description | ALA-LC Japanese romanization rules for macrons, hyphens, and word division. Use when writing Japanese words in romaji. |
Rules for writing Japanese words in romaji with correct macrons and formatting.
Long o (おう/オウ, おお/オオ):
Long u (うう/ウウ, う extending vowel):
Long a (ああ/アア):
Long e (ええ/エエ, えい sometimes):
Long ii - always double i:
Morpheme boundaries (meaningful units meeting):
Dictionary form verb endings (-ou, -uu):
| Suffix | Example |
|---|---|
| -to (都) | Tōkyō-to |
| -fu (府) | Ōsaka-fu, Kyōto-fu |
| -ken (県) | Aichi-ken, Niigata-ken |
| -shi (市) | Yokohama-shi, Nagoya-shi |
| -ku (区) | Shibuya-ku, Chiyoda-ku |
| -chō/machi (町) | Ogawa-machi, Yūraku-chō |
| -mura/son (村) | Ogasawara-mura |
| -eki (駅) | Tōkyō-eki, Shibuya-eki |
Exception: Hokkaidō - always one word, no hyphen
Geographic features - NO hyphen:
| Suffix | Example |
|---|---|
| -san | Tanaka-san |
| -sama | Tanaka-sama |
| -kun | Nakamura-kun |
| -chan | Non-chan |
| -sensei | Yamamoto-sensei (or Yamamoto Sensei) |
| -shi (氏) | Haido-shi |
| -ke (家) | Tokugawa-ke |
| Suffix | Example |
|---|---|
| -teki (的) | Nihon-teki (日本的) |
| -gata (型) | Honkon-gata (香港型) |
| -shiki (式) | Tanaka-shiki |
| -ryū (流) | Urasenke-ryū |
| -sei (製) | Nihon-sei |
| -san (産) | Shizuoka-san |
When combining causes sound changes:
Common compounds:
Prefixes that attach:
Suffixes that attach:
Modifiers with independent meaning:
Titles before names:
Prefixes with proper names:
Use between n + vowel or n + y:
Personal names - each word:
Geographic names - each word:
Corporate/organization names - each word except particles:
Religions and sects:
Historical/cultural events - each word:
Structures, buildings, roads:
Titles of works (books, laws, artworks):
Historical periods:
Particles - no, wa, o, e, ni, de, to, etc.:
Derivatives with common noun meaning:
和/漢/洋 compounds (unless referring to nation/language):
When used as proper names:
| Japanese | Correct | Incorrect |
|---|---|---|
| 東京 | Tōkyō | Tokyo |
| 京都 | Kyōto | Kyoto |
| 大阪 | Ōsaka | Osaka |
| 柔道 | jūdō | judo |
| 剣道 | kendō | kendo |
| 相撲 | sumō | sumo |
| 豆腐 | tōfu | tofu |
| 醤油 | shōyu | shoyu |
| 抹茶 | matcha | - |
| 侍 | samurai | - |
| 将軍 | shōgun | shogun |
| 大名 | daimyō | daimyo |
| 芸者 | geisha | - |
| 神道 | Shintō | Shinto |
| 仏教 | Bukkyō | - |
| 茶道 | sadō/chadō | - |
| 華道 | kadō | - |
| 武士道 | bushidō | bushido |
| 空手 | karate | - |
| 合気道 | aikidō | aikido |
Hyphenate when combining:
But contractions are one word:
CRITICAL RULE: Proper romanization and capitalization ALWAYS take priority over programming naming conventions.
Use correct macrons and capitalization in:
Correct approach:
attribute_name: "Shōgun-rank" (not "shogun-rank")
category: "Ryū" (not "Ryu")
location_id: "Tōkyō-station" (not "tokyo-station")
user_title: "Daimyō" (not "Daimyo")
Even in kebab-case or snake_case:
skill-type: "Kendō" ✓ (not "kendo")
power_source: "Shintō" ✓ (not "shinto")
npc-class: "Ōkami" ✓ (not "okami")
Follow romanization capitalization rules, not code conventions:
"Nihonjin" not "nihonjin""Bukkyō" not "bukkyo" for religion types"sake" for the drink, "samurai" for warriorsWrong thinking: "It's a variable name, so make it lowercase" Right thinking: "It's a Japanese proper noun, so capitalize it correctly"
Programming style guides bow to linguistic accuracy when dealing with non-English terms that have established romanization standards.
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