Rail TypingRAIL TYPING

Romaji input reference

All 135 kana the engine knows, with every spelling it will accept — generated from the game's own typing engine, so it cannot drift from what actually works.

Romaji input is not one fixed spelling system. Most Japanese IMEs accept several spellings for the same mora — し can be shi, si or ci — and this game accepts the same range, so you can type the way your fingers already know.

The tables below are produced by the game's own tokenizer each time this page renders. There is no hand-maintained copy to fall out of date: if a spelling is listed here it is accepted in play, and if it is accepted in play it is listed here.

A dash means there is nothing more to show — no separate Kunrei-shiki spelling, or no alternates beyond the canonical one.

Hepburn is the default display style: it is what you see written under each station name. Kunrei-shiki (si, tu, sya) can be chosen on the setup screen instead. That choice only changes what is displayed — every spelling in these tables is accepted either way.

Basic kana (gojūon)

The 46 kana of the standard chart, with the spellings other keyboard habits produce. Note that く also takes cu and qu, and し also takes ci.

KanaHepburnKunreiAlso accepted
あa——
いi—yi
うu—wuwhu
えe——
おo——
かka—ca
きki——
くku—cuqu
けke——
こko—co
さsa——
しshisici
すsu——
せse—ce
そso——
たta——
ちchiti—
つtsutu—
てte——
とto——
なna——
にni——
ぬnu——
ねne——
のno——
はha——
ひhi——
ふfuhu—
へhe——
ほho——
まma——
みmi——
むmu——
めme——
もmo——
やya——
ゆyu——
よyo——
らra——
りri——
るru——
れre——
ろro——
わwa——
をwo——

Voiced and semi-voiced kana

The が row through the ぱ row. じ is ji in Hepburn and zi in Kunrei-shiki; both are always accepted.

KanaHepburnKunreiAlso accepted
がga——
ぎgi——
ぐgu——
げge——
ごgo——
ざza——
じjizi—
ずzu——
ぜze——
ぞzo——
だda——
ぢdi——
づdu——
でde——
どdo——
ばba——
びbi——
ぶbu——
べbe——
ぼbo——
ぱpa——
ぴpi——
ぷpu——
ぺpe——
ぽpo——

Contracted sounds (yōon)

A full-size kana followed by a small ゃ, ゅ or ょ. You can also type these as their two kana separately — しゅ as shi then lyu — though the direct spelling is shorter.

KanaHepburnKunreiAlso accepted
きゃkya——
きゅkyu——
きょkyo——
しゃshasya—
しゅshusyu—
しょshosyo—
ちゃchatyacya
ちゅchutyucyu
ちょchotyocyo
にゃnya——
にゅnyu——
にょnyo——
ひゃhya——
ひゅhyu——
ひょhyo——
みゃmya——
みゅmyu——
みょmyo——
りゃrya——
りゅryu——
りょryo——
ぎゃgya——
ぎゅgyu——
ぎょgyo——
じゃjazyajya
じゅjuzyujyu
じょjozyojyo
びゃbya——
びゅbyu——
びょbyo——
ぴゃpya——
ぴゅpyu——
ぴょpyo——
ぢゃdya——
ぢゅdyu——
ぢょdyo——

Foreign-sound combinations

Combinations used to write loanwords and non-Japanese names. Station names need them more often than you would expect — the ゲートウェイ in Takanawa Gateway, for one.

KanaHepburnKunreiAlso accepted
ゔvu——
うぃwi—whi
うぇwe—whe
うぉwho——
ふぁfa——
ふぃfi——
ふぇfe——
ふぉfo——
てぃthi——
でぃdhi——
でゅdhu——
とぅtwu——
どぅdwu——
しぇshesye—
ちぇchetye—
じぇjezye—
つぁtsa——
つぃtsi——
つぇtse——
つぉtso——

Small kana and the long-vowel mark

Typed with an l or x prefix when they stand alone. The katakana長音 mark ー is simply a hyphen.

KanaHepburnKunreiAlso accepted
ぁla—xa
ぃli—xilyixyi
ぅlu—xu
ぇle—xelyexye
ぉlo—xo
ゃlya—xya
ゅlyu—xyu
ょlyo—xyo
ー-——

The small っ (sokuon)

A small っ doubles the first consonant of the mora that follows it: っか is kka, っち is cchi (from chi). It can also be typed explicitly as ltu or xtu followed by that mora, and a っ at the very end of a word takes only those explicit forms.

KanaHepburnAlso accepted
っかkkaccaltukaltucaxtukaxtucaltsukaltsucaxtsukaxtsuca
っさssaltusaxtusaltsusaxtsusa
っちcchiltuchiltutixtuchixtutiltsuchiltsutixtsuchixtsuti
っぷppultupuxtupultsupuxtsupu
っltuxtultsuxtsu

The mora ん

ん is a single n when the next mora starts with a consonant other than n or y — んば is nba. Before a vowel, before y, or before another n, a single n would be ambiguous, so it is not accepted there: んあ must be nna or xna. Typing nn always works, in every position.

KanaHepburnAlso accepted
んばnbannbaxnba
んじnjinnjinnzixnjixnzi
んあnnaxna
んやnnyaxnya
んnnxn

Long vowels and the ー mark

Long vowels are typed out in full, exactly as the kana are written: とうきょう is toukyou, not tōkyō or tokyo. The katakana long-vowel mark ー is typed as a plain hyphen.

KanaHepburnAlso accepted
ー-—
とうきょうtoukyou—
しんじゅくshinjuku—

Ready to put it to work? Play the Yamanote Line · The romaji guide for beginners