Romaji to Kanji

A real Japanese Input Method Editor (IME) like Google Japanese Input or Microsoft IME is software that lives in your operating system and intercepts every keystroke. This tool is browser-based — you type romaji into the box, press Convert, and you see a ranked list of kanji candidates with their readings and meanings. It's perfect for occasional typing (a message, a note, a name) when you don't want to install an OS-level IME. For daily Japanese typing, install a real IME — it's faster because it auto-predicts as you type and integrates with every app.

Japanese has roughly 13,000 distinct sounds (kana combinations) but over 50,000 kanji that each map to those sounds. Naturally, MANY kanji share the same reading. The reading 'tabemono' specifically matches 食べ物 'food' (the only common word that reads that way), but the reading 'kakari' matches at least 係 (matter), 掛かり (charge), 懸かり (depending), 罹り (catching disease), and a half-dozen others. The tool ranks by frequency so the most common kanji for the reading appears first, but always confirm based on context.

Only partially. The corpus is general vocabulary, not name data — for Japanese names, the readings are too ambiguous and parent-specific to predict reliably from romaji. If you need to convert a romaji name to kanji, our dedicated Japanese Name Generator tool gives authentic combinations, and the Japanese Name Reader does the reverse (kanji name → reading). For non-name vocabulary, this tool handles most JLPT N5-N1 words and beyond.

Exact matches are words whose reading is exactly the romaji you typed (typing 'gakkou' returns 学校 because 学校 reads exactly 'gakkou'). Partial matches are words whose reading STARTS WITH your input — typing 'gak' returns 学校 (gakkou), 学生 (gakusei), 学者 (gakusha), etc. Partial matches are useful when you're not sure of the full reading or you're using this tool autocomplete-style. The two sections are separated so you can scan exact hits first.

Three common causes. (1) Your romaji has a typo — 'koohi' will fail because the lengthening mark is missing; try 'koohii' or 'kohi'. (2) The reading is genuinely rare — extremely uncommon vocabulary or technical terms aren't in the 10,000-word corpus. (3) Your input is too short — typing just 'ka' produces hundreds of partial matches; type at least 3 hiragana to narrow it down. For the most precise lookup, type the complete word reading.

It's possible for casual one-off typing, but inefficient for sustained Japanese writing. A real IME predicts as you type, handles particles automatically, and integrates with your operating system's autocomplete and dictation. This tool is best used to (a) double-check a kanji you can't quite remember, (b) find candidate kanji for a romaji-only spelling, and (c) learn how readings map to kanji as a study aid. For daily Japanese text composition, install a free OS-level IME — Google Japanese Input is the gold standard on Mac/Windows.