English-friendly romanization system proposed for Japanese

While the advisory panel’s revision plan is based on Hepburn, the council proposed certain differences.

In Hepburn, a long vowel sound is often indicated with a macron ( ¯ ), or it may not be accompanied by any diacritic.

The revision plan calls for adding a macron, as a standard practice, but allows for using a combination of two vowels instead.

For example, “okami” (wolf) would be written as “ōkami” or “ookami.”

The latter option was included because it may be burdensome to add a macron on electronic devices.

Hepburn uses “m” if the consonant “n” is followed by “b,” “m” or “p,” as in “shimbun” (newspaper).

However, the revision plan calls for using “n” as a standard practice.

Agency officials said they will not ask for immediate changes to the proposed romanization system.

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.

In addition, Nihombashi, a district of Tokyo, has long been spelled with “m,” instead of “n,” although the consonant is followed by “b.”

Agency officials emphasized they have no intention of determining that the proposed romanization system is better than other popular methods.

Public comments to the revision plan are being accepted in Japanese at the agency’s website until Jan. 13.