Japanese Braille Converter (Kana ⇔ Unicode Braille)
Type hiragana or katakana and get the matching Japanese braille (Nihongo tenji) as Unicode braille characters, or paste braille to turn it back into kana. Voiced and semi-voiced marks, contracted sounds, the small tsu, the long-vowel mark, the number sign and the connector are all handled, and every output cell is listed with its dot numbers (1–6). Useful for studying Japanese braille or adding braille to printed material. To normalize hiragana and katakana first, try the Hiragana / Katakana Converter.
🔒 Runs in your browser · Your data is never sent to a server
Dot numbers
Notes
- Most kanji, Latin letters and symbols cannot be converted and are left as they are; only kana and digits are converted. Rewrite kanji in hiragana first.
- Real Japanese braille needs word spacing and special rules (for example the particles は and へ are written as わ and え). This tool simply replaces characters one by one and does not apply them. For official braille documents, check with a braille specialist or transcription software.
- Braille → kana reads the six-dot range of the Unicode braille patterns (U+2800 onward). Cells that use dots 7 or 8 are left unchanged.
- "！" and the archaic kana "ゑ" share one braille cell (dots 2, 3, 5), so braille → kana returns "！". The opening and closing corner brackets「」 also share one cell (dots 3, 6), so they are assigned alternately in order of appearance.
Glossary
Japanese braille (six-dot)
A system that writes characters with combinations of six dots in a 3×2 cell. The kana syllabary is encoded in six-dot patterns, and voiced, semi-voiced and contracted sounds are written by putting a prefix cell before the base kana.
Unicode braille
A Unicode block (U+2800–U+28FF) of braille patterns holding all 256 combinations of eight dots. The 64 patterns that use only dots 1–6 correspond to six-dot Japanese braille. Because it is plain text, it can be copied and pasted and used as input for braille displays and embossers.
Number sign and connector
The number sign tells the reader that the following cells are digits. Because the digits 0–9 share their cell shapes with the あ-row and ら-row kana, a connector cell is inserted when one of those kana directly follows a number.
FAQ
Can it convert kanji to braille?
No. Only kana and digits are converted. Kanji and Latin letters are left as they are, so rewrite kanji in hiragana first.
Why are the particles は and へ not written as わ and え?
The tool does not analyze meaning; it replaces characters one by one. Braille rules such as writing the particles は and へ as わ and え, and word spacing, are not applied automatically.
What cell appears between a number and the kana after it?
A number sign (dots 3-4-5-6) precedes digits. If an あ-row or ら-row kana directly follows a number, a connector (dots 3-6) is inserted to tell them apart from digits.
Does it support eight-dot braille?
Kana → braille outputs six-dot patterns as Unicode braille characters. Braille → kana reads the six-dot range and leaves cells with dots 7 or 8 unchanged.
Share this page