Japanese Pronunciation
All of the following was taken from A Guide to Learning Hiragana & Katakana: First Steps to Reading and Writing Japanese by Kenneth G. Henshall with Tetsuo Takagaki.
  
a
"a" in "car" but shorter
i
"ee" in "meet" but shorter
u
"u" in "hula" but shorter
e
"e" in "get"
o
"o" as in "or" but shorter
ka
"ca" as in "car" but shorter
ki
"ki" as in "keep" but shorter
ku
"Ku" as in "Kuwait" but shorter
ke
"ke" as in "keg"
ko
"co" as in "core" but shorter
sa
"sa" as in "sarcasm" but shorter
shi
"shee" as in "sheep" but shorter
su
"Su" as in "Susan" but shorter
se
"se" as in "set"
so
"so" as in "sore" but shorter
ta
"ta" as in "tar" but shorter
chi
"chee" as in "cheek" but shorter
tsu
"tsu" as in "tsunami" (said sunami)
te
"te" as in "ten"
to
"to" as in "tore" but shorter
na
"na" as in "narcotic" but shorter
ni
"nea" as in "neat" but shorter
nu
"noo" as in "noon" but shorter
ne
"ne" as in "net"
no
"no" as in "north" but shorter
ha
"ha" as in "harm" but shorter
hi
"hea" as in "heat" but shorter
fu
"foo" as in "fool" but with softer "f"
he
"he" as in "hen"
ho
"ho" as in "horn" but shorter
ma
"ma" as in "mark" but shorter
mi
"mea" as in "meat" but shorter
mu
"moo" as in "moon" but shorter
me
"me" as in "meet"
mo
"mo" as in "more" but shorter
ya
"ya" as in "yard" but shorter
yu
"you" as in "youth" but shorter
yo
"Yo" as in "York" but shorter
ra
"ra" as in "mirage" but shorter
ri
"ree" as in "reek" but shorter
ru
"ru" as in "rule" but shorter
re
"re" as in "red"
ro
"ro" as in "roar"
wa
"wa" as in "watt"
n
"n" as in "sin"
Back to top

Examples:
Ogenki desu ka?
Oh-gen-kee  des  kah?
otaku
oh-tah-ku
tomodachi
toh-moh-dah-chee
Nani ka?
Nah-nee  kah?
bishoujo
bee-show-joe