Editing Hepburn romanization (section)

== Variants ==
[[File:Toyooka Station Sign (cropped).jpg|thumb|250px|Former [[Japan National Railways]]-style board of [[Toyooka Station (Hyōgo)|Toyooka Station]]. For the two adjacent stations, "[[Gembudō Station|GEMBUDŌ]]" follows the Hepburn romanization system, but "[[Kokufu Station|KOKUHU]]" follows the [[Nihon-shiki romanization|Nihon-shiki]]/[[Kunrei-shiki romanization]] system.]]
There are many variants of the Hepburn romanization. The two most common styles are as follows:
* '''Traditional Hepburn''', as defined in various editions of Hepburn's dictionary, with the third edition (1886)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ab.cyberhome.ne.jp/~kaizu/roomazi/doc/hep3.html|script-title=ja:和英語林集成第三版|trans-title=Digital 'Japanese English Forest Collection'|publisher=Meiji Gakuin University|website=Meiji Gakuin University Library|orig-year=2006|date=March 2010|access-date=August 10, 2017|language=ja|archive-date=October 22, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161022013225/http://www.ab.cyberhome.ne.jp/~kaizu/roomazi/doc/hep3.html|url-status=live}}</ref> often considered authoritative<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.meijigakuin.ac.jp/mgda/index5_j.html |title=明治学院大学図書館 - 『和英語林集成』デジタルアーカイブス |publisher=Meijigakuin.ac.jp |access-date=June 29, 2012 |archive-date=December 16, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131216222332/http://www.meijigakuin.ac.jp/mgda/index5_j.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> (although [[historical kana usage|changes in kana usage]] must be accounted for). It is characterized by the rendering of syllabic ''n'' as ''m'' before the consonants ''b'', ''m'' and ''p'': for example, {{Transliteration|ja|Shimbashi}} for {{nihongo2|新橋}}.
* '''Modified Hepburn''', also known as '''Revised Hepburn''', in which (among other changes) the rendering of syllabic ''n'' as ''m'' before [[bilabial consonant]]s is no longer used: ''{{Transliteration|ja|Shinbashi}}'' for {{nihongo2|新橋}}. The version of the system published in the third (1954) and later editions of ''[[Kenkyusha's New Japanese-English Dictionary]]'' are often considered authoritative; it was adopted in 1989 by the [[Library of Congress]] as one of its [[ALA-LC romanization]]s,<ref name="Kudo2010">{{cite journal |last=Kudo |first=Yoko |date=January 28, 2011 |title=Modified Hepburn Romanization System in Japanese Language Cataloging: Where to Look, What to Follow |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/01639374.2011.536751 |format=pdf |journal=Cataloging & Classification Quarterly |volume=49 |issue=2 |pages=97–120 |doi=10.1080/01639374.2011.536751 |s2cid=62560768 |access-date=November 1, 2020 |archive-date=December 29, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211229064352/https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/01639374.2011.536751 |url-status=live }}</ref> and is the most common variant of Hepburn romanization used today.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hawaii.edu/asiaref/japan/online/rom_hist.htm |title=UHM Library : Japan Collection Online Resources |publisher=Hawaii.edu |date=October 6, 2005 |access-date=June 29, 2012 |archive-date=February 26, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210226172935/http://www.hawaii.edu/asiaref/japan/online/rom_hist.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>
In Japan itself, there are some variants officially mandated for various uses:
* {{nihongo|'''Railway Standard'''|鉄道掲示基準規程|Tetsudō Keiji Kijun Kitei}},<ref>{{cite web |url=http://homepage1.nifty.com/tabi-mo/font_kitei2.htm#10 |title=鉄道掲示基準規程 |publisher=Homepage1.nifty.com |access-date=July 13, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120301033237/http://homepage1.nifty.com/tabi-mo/font_kitei2.htm#10 |archive-date=March 1, 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref> which mostly follows Modified Hepburn, except syllabic ''n'' is rendered as in Traditional. [[Japan Railways]] and other major railways use it for station names.
* {{nihongo|'''Road Sign Romaji (Hepburn)'''|道路標識のローマ字(ヘボン式)|Dōrohyōji no rōmaji (Hebonshiki)}}, used for road signs, which otherwise follows Modified Hepburn closely but specifies that macrons are not to be used.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kictec.co.jp/varieties-road-sign/hebon-romaji/|script-title=ja:道路標識のローマ字(ヘボン式) の綴り方|trans-title=How to spell Roman letters (Hepburn style) of road signs|website=Kictec|date=June 14, 2012|access-date=August 10, 2017|language=ja|archive-date=April 20, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160420041720/http://www.kictec.co.jp/varieties-road-sign/hebon-romaji/|url-status=live}}</ref> <!--how to spell Roman letters (Hepburn style) of road signs, which follows Modified Hepburn. It is used for road signs. (This sentence needs to be fixed)-->
* {{nihongo|'''Ministry of Foreign Affairs Passport Standard'''|外務省旅券規定|Gaimushō Ryoken Kitei}},<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ezairyu.mofa.go.jp/passport/hebon.html|title=ヘボン式ローマ字綴方表|publisher=Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan|access-date=May 16, 2022|archive-date=August 10, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220810185158/https://www.ezairyu.mofa.go.jp/passport/hebon.html|url-status=live}}</ref> a permissive standard that renders the syllabic ''n'' as ''m'' before ''b'', ''m'' and ''p''. Most of the long vowels are not rendered, and macrons are not used above the letter. Moreover, this standard explicitly allows the use of {{nihongo|"non-Hepburn romaji"|非ヘボン式ローマ字|hi-Hebon-shiki rōmaji}} in personal names with special approval,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ezairyu.mofa.go.jp/passport/hebon.html|title=ヘボン式ローマ字綴方表 (Hebon-shiki Romanization) |website=ezairyu.mofa.go.jp |publisher=Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan|access-date=15 January 2025}}</ref> notably for passports. In particular, the long vowel ''ō'' can be romanized ''oh'', ''oo'' or ''ou'' (''Satoh'', ''Satoo'' or ''Satou'' for {{nihongo2|佐藤}}).

Details of the variants can be found below.

===Obsolete variants===
The romanizations set out in the first and second versions of Hepburn's dictionary are primarily of historical interest. Notable differences from the third and later versions include:
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==== Second version ====
* {{nihongo2|エ}} and {{nihongo2|ヱ}} were written as ''ye'': [[Yedo]]
* {{nihongo2|ズ}} and {{nihongo2|ヅ}} were written as ''dzu'': [[kudzu]], tsudzuku
* {{nihongo2|キャ}}, {{nihongo2|キョ}}, and {{nihongo2|キュ}} were written as ''kiya'', ''kiyo'' and ''kiu''
* {{nihongo2|クヮ}} (modern: {{nihongo2|カ}}) was written as ''kuwa''<ref>{{cite book|title=A Japanese-English And English-Japanese Dictionary|author=James Curtis Hepburn|year=1872|publisher=American Presbyterian mission press|url=http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=nyp.33433081858254;view=1up;seq=326|pages=286–290|edition=2nd|access-date=December 16, 2013|archive-date=January 1, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160101221254/http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=nyp.33433081858254;view=1up;seq=326|url-status=live}}</ref>
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==== First version ====
The following differences are in addition to those in the second version:<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://archive.org/details/japaneseenglishe00hepb_0|title=Japanese-English and English-Japanese dictionary.|first=J. C. (James Curtis)|last=Hepburn|date=December 10, 1872|publisher=Shanghai, American Presbyterian mission press|via=Internet Archive}}</ref>
* {{nihongo2|ス}} was written as ''sz''.
* {{nihongo2|ツ}} was written as ''tsz''.
* {{nihongo2|ズ}} and {{nihongo2|ヅ}} were written as ''du''.
{{Col-end}}