How to Type in Japanese on Any Computer or Phone

Being able to type Japanese is one of the most useful things you can set up as a learner, and it takes a few minutes. You'll use it to look up words in a dictionary, search for anime and songs, message people and write sentences of your own. Every time you type a word you also practise reading it, because you have to pick the right kana and the right kanji yourself.

You don't need a Japanese keyboard. Every computer and phone comes with a free Japanese input method: you type the sounds on the keyboard you already have, and it turns them into Japanese.

How Japanese typing works

On a computer, and on phones set to a QWERTY layout, you type in romaji and the input method writes kana as you go. Typing neko gives ねこ.

Then you choose how it should be written:

1. Type the word's sound: nihon → にほん.
2. Press Space to convert it. The input method suggests 日本にほん. Press Space again to see other options in a list.
3. Press Enter to keep it.

If you want the word in hiragana, just press Enter without converting. For a katakana word, type its sound and pick the katakana option from the list (or use the shortcuts below).

日本語にほんごを勉強べんきょうしています。

Typed as: nihongo wo benkyou shiteimasu, then Space to convert and Enter.

Windows

1. Open Settings → Time & language → Language & region.
2. Under Preferred languages, select Add a language, search for Japanese and install it. You don't need the optional speech or handwriting features.
3. Windows adds the Microsoft IME keyboard.

To use it:

• Windows key + Space switches between your keyboards.
• When Japanese is on, the taskbar shows A or あ. A means it's still typing English letters: press Alt + ` (the key above Tab) or click the A to switch to あ.
• F7 turns what you've typed into katakana, and F6 into hiragana.

Mac

1. Open System Settings → Keyboard.
2. Next to Input Sources, click Edit…, then +.
3. Choose Japanese and then Romaji, and click Add.

To use it:

• Switch input sources with Control + Space, or the 🌐 / fn key if your keyboard has one.
• Control + K turns what you've typed into katakana, and Control + J into hiragana.
• macOS turns on Live Conversion by default, which converts to kanji as you type. If that's confusing while you're learning, turn it off in the Japanese input source's settings and convert with Space yourself.

iPhone and iPad

1. Open Settings → General → Keyboard → Keyboards.
2. Tap Add New Keyboard… and choose Japanese.
3. Pick Romaji, Kana, or both.

Switch keyboards with the 🌐 key. Converting works the same on every phone: as you type, suggestions appear above the keyboard, so tap the one you want.

Android

Most Android phones use Gboard. The menu names vary a little from phone to phone:

1. Open Gboard's settings (on most phones, Settings → System → Keyboard → Gboard).
2. Go to Languages → Add keyboard and choose Japanese.
3. Pick a layout, 12-key (flick) or QWERTY, and tap Done.

Switch keyboards with the 🌐 key, or by holding the space bar.

Romaji or flick on a phone?

• Romaji (QWERTY) works just like typing on a computer. It's the easiest place to start.
• Kana (12-key) is what most people in Japan use. Each key holds one row of the kana chart, and you flick in a direction for each vowel. On the あ key, a tap gives あ, left い, up う, right え and down お. It feels slow for a week, then it's faster than romaji. It's also good practice for the order of the kana chart.

The keys that trip everyone up

Most kana are typed the way you'd expect. These are the ones to learn:

You want	Type	Example
ん	nn	konnnichiha → こんにちは. One n is enough before a consonant, but nn always works.
Small っ (a pause)	Double the next consonant	kitte → きって
を	wo	wo → を, though it's said o
The particle は	ha	It's said wa, but it's written, and typed, は
Long vowel in katakana ー	- (hyphen)	ko-hi- → こーひー, then convert to コーヒー
Small ゃ, ぃ and so on	x or l first	xya → ゃ, xtu → っ on its own
づ and ぢ	du, di	tudukeru → つづける
、 and 。	, and .	Japanese commas and full stops

Both spellings of most sounds work, so shi and si both give し, and tsu and tu both give つ.

こんにちは。

It ends in は, so it's typed konnnichiha, even though it's said konnichiwa.

Other systems

• ChromeOS: Settings → Device → Keyboard and inputs → Add input methods → Japanese.
• Linux: install Mozc, Google's Japanese input method, for your desktop's input framework (for example fcitx5-mozc or ibus-mozc) and add it as an input method.

Make it part of studying

Once it's set up, use it every day:

• Look words up by typing them, instead of copying and pasting.
• When you meet a new word, try typing it from memory. If you can't get the kana right, you don't know the word yet.
• Write a sentence or two a day. Picking the right kanji from the list is reading practice too.

Search the dictionary in Japanese, add the words you find to your decks and review them with spaced repetition.