Help:Japanese

For Japanese words the Japanese spelling and pronounciation are given between parentheses, for example:
 * Tokyo (東京都)

Tokyo is the English spelling, 東京都 is the Japanese speling and Tōkyō-to is the Japanese pronounciation.

Japanese spelling
Japanese words are spelt with a mixture of kanji and kana. Kanji originated in China and generally represent meanings. 東京都 = 東 (east) + 京 (capital) + 都 (metropolis). Kana originated as simplified kanji and are used to denote sounds. する (suru, English: "to do") = す (su) + る (ru).
 * Main article: Japanese writing system

Japanese pronounciation
The pronounciation is given using revised Hepburn romanization.
 * The vowels are pronounced like in Spanish or Italian, except for the "u".
 * The consonants are pronounced like in English.
 * Long o and u are written with macrons: "ō" and "ū".
 * Long e and i are written "ei" and "ii".
 * "n" before a consonant is syllabic.
 * "n" before "b" or "p" is pronounced m.
 * Syllabic ("long") n followed by a vowel or y is written "n'".
 * Double consonants are written "kk", "tt" etc. But note: double ch → "tch".
 * Main article: Japanese phonology