English-friendly romanization system proposed for Japanese | The Asahi Shimbun: Breaking News, Japan News and Analysis
The Agency for Cultural Affairs is soliciting public comments about its plans to change romanization rules of the Japanese language for the first time in about 70 years.
A subcommittee of the Subdivision on the Japanese Language of the Council for Cultural Affairs, an advisory panel, proposed using the Hepburn romanization system, in principle.
However, a different method, called Kunrei-shiki, is defined as the standard romanization system under a Cabinet notification issued in 1954.
Kunrei-shiki, originally established by a Cabinet decree issued in 1937, uses regular combinations of a consonant and a vowel.
The revision plan calls for adding a macron, as a standard practice, but allows for using a combination of two vowels instead.
The revision plan allows for not using any diacritic for a long vowel, as in “judo,” or adding “h,” as in “Ohtani” for the Los Angeles Dodgers star. Both are widely used internationally.
