Romaji is the method by which Japanese text is transliterated into Romanised characters (A-Z) to help pronunciation for those not familiar with the Japanese writing systems.

A typical Japanese sentence can contain all three character sets - Hiragana, Katakana and Kanji. For example:

Japanese このウェブサイトは本当に素晴らしいです
Romaji kono webusaito wa honto ni subarashī desu.
English This website is very good.

Pronunciation / Reading

Romaji Sound Example Meaning Japanese
a father obasan aunt 叔母さん
i feet ojisan uncle 叔父さん
u boot butsu smack ぶつ
e get e painting 絵
o cold koji orphan 孤児
ā 'a' - aa obāsan grandmother お祖母さん
ī 'i' - ii ojīsan grandfather お祖父さん
ū 'u'　- uu būtsu boot ブーツ
ē 'e' - ee ē yes ええ
ō 'o' - oo kōji construction 工事
ei eh eigo English (lan.) 英語
ka cup naka inside 中
ki kit ki tree 木
ku could kusa grass 草
ke kept take bamboo 竹
ko cot otoko male 男
sa sarcasm saki previous 先
shi she shita below 下
su soup natsu summer 夏
se set mise store 店
so soft sora sky 空
ta tug atama head 頭
chi cheese kuchi mouth 口
tsu satsuma tsuki moon / month 月
te ten te hand 手
to top hito person 人
na nut hana flower 花
ni niece nishi west 西
nu noodle inu dog 犬
ne net neko cat 猫
no not sono garden 園
ha hard hayai early 早い
hi heat hi fire 火
fu foot fuyu winter 冬
he heavy hebi snake へび
ho hot hoshi star 星
ma mud yama mountain 山
mi mix mimi ear 耳
mu move mushi insect 虫
me met me eye 目
mo motto mori forest 森
ya young hayashi woods 林
yu use yuki snow 雪
yo yacht oya parent 親
ra run karada body 体
ri rip hidari left (direction) 左
ru rude haru spring 春
re red hare fine 晴れ
ro rod shiro white 白
wa wonder kawa river 川
wo what wokka vodka ウォッカ
n nothing sen thousand 千
ga gum nagai long 長い
gi gift migi right (direction) 右
gu good isogu hurry 急ぐ
ge get nageru throw 投げる
go got ugoku move 動く
za influenza mazaru mix 混ざる
ji jigsaw onaji same 同じ
zu zoom mizu water 水
ze zeppelin kaze wind 風
zo zorro nozomu hope 望む
da dust tadashii correct 正しい
de debt deru exit 出る
do dog midori green 緑
ba but nakaba half 半ば
bi big kubi neck 首
bu book abura oil 油
be bed taberu eat 食べる
bo body noboru climb 登る
pa part pajama pajamas パジャマ
pi pig pikapika sparkling ぴかぴか
pu put purezento present (gift) プレゼント
pe pet perapera fluent ぺらぺら
po pot poketto pocket ポケット