9 hours ago
Japan govt. panel drafts first change to 'romaji' rules in about 70 years
A Japanese government panel has made a draft recommendation to change the method for expressing Japanese words in the Roman alphabet, which has not been updated in about 70 years.
The country has two romanization, or "romaji," systems -- the Kunrei and Hepburn. The Cabinet designated Kunrei as standard in 1954.
For example, Kunrei uses "ti" for the Japanese syllable while Hepburn expresses it as "chi," which is closer to the English pronunciation.
Kunrei has been adopted in school education and other fields, but many people are actually more familiar with Hepburn.
The government has been pushing for discussions on the matter at a Cultural Affairs Agency panel after sensing it was time to consider better use of the romaji styles in line with changing times.
The draft said that the Kunrei method has not clearly taken hold with the general public. It recommended switching to one which is based on the more widely used Hepburn system.
The panel plans to complete its recommendation by around this autumn. The change is expected to be expressed as a Cabinet promulgation during the current fiscal year.
