Translate between English and Morse code in real time. Learn the Morse code alphabet, generate Morse audio, and decode messages with ease — no signup required.
Japanese Morse code — officially called Wabun code (和文モールス符号), also known as kana code — is a Morse encoding system built specifically for the Japanese kana syllabary. While International Morse code assigns each dot-dash pattern to a single Latin letter, Wabun code assigns a unique pattern to each Japanese kana sound (mora). One Wabun code = one complete syllable, such as “ka,” “su,” “ni,” or “ko.” This makes Wabun code a fully independent standard — entirely separate from International Morse, with its own chart, training, and dedicated translator.
Wabun code covers all 48 basic kana of the Japanese gojūon (五十音), plus voiced variants with dakuten (゛) — such as が ga, ざ za, and ば ba — and semi-voiced variants with handakuten (゜) — such as ぱ pa. Every kana character gets a distinct dot-dash sequence of 2–5 elements. Frequency matters here: the most common kana received the shortest codes by design. The character ん (n), the most frequent kana in Japanese text, is just —- (four dashes). The kana い (i) is just ·- — exactly the same logic Samuel Morse used when assigning E (·) to the most common Latin letter.
Key distinction: International Morse = one pattern per Latin letter. Wabun code = one pattern per Japanese kana syllable. They are entirely separate systems. The same dot-dash sequence can mean a completely different character in each one.
Because Hiragana and Katakana are two scripts for exactly the same sounds — just written differently — they produce identical Wabun code output. The kana あ (Hiragana) and ア (Katakana) both encode to -·-·· because they both represent the sound “a.” This translator also accepts Romaji — Japanese text written in the Roman alphabet — and converts it to the correct kana sound before Wabun encoding. So typing “konnichiwa” produces the same output as typing こんにちは.
When a radio transmission needs to mix Japanese kana with Roman characters or numbers, operators use ITU-standardised prosigns to switch between systems mid-message. The prosign DO (–·· —–—) announces the start of Wabun. The prosign SN (···–·) returns the transmission to International Morse. This is how Japanese ham radio operators send messages that contain both Japanese kana and Latin-script content in a single contact.
Did you know? ん is encoded as —- — four dashes — because it is the single most frequent kana in Japanese text. Wabun code was intentionally designed so the most-used kana get the shortest codes, minimising total transmission time on air.
Tool Guide
Simple explanation of every button, panel, slider, and setting in the tool — exactly as shown in the interface. No technical knowledge required.
The large text box on the left is where you type or paste your Japanese text. Directly above the input area, three radio buttons let you tell the tool which script you are using:
Always select the radio button that matches what you are typing before you start. The tool uses this setting to identify each kana sound correctly and produce accurate Wabun code.
Two small utility buttons sit at the top-right corner of the input panel. The Clear button (shown in red) erases everything in the input field instantly — one click to reset the tool for a new translation. The Paste JS button pastes text directly from your device clipboard into the input box. This is useful when you have copied Japanese text from a website, document, or message and want to translate it without retyping it manually.
The right panel displays your Wabun code output after translation. At the top of this panel is a dropdown selector that controls what is shown — the default is “Morse Code Only”, displaying the raw dot-dash Wabun sequences. Two action buttons appear at the top-right corner of the result panel:
Below the two panels sits the main action row. Every button is labelled in Japanese with English in brackets. Here is exactly what each one does:
The primary conversion button. After entering your Japanese text and selecting the correct script, click this to generate the full Wabun code output in the result panel. All kana in your input are encoded at once.
Plays the translated Wabun code as real CW (Continuous Wave) Morse audio tones — the same beep-based signal used by radio operators worldwide. Each kana plays in sequence with correct ITU dot-dash timing at your set WPM and Hz.
Pauses audio playback mid-message. Click 再生 (Play) again to resume from exactly where it stopped. Useful for following along with the on-screen Wabun reference chart character by character.
Fully stops playback and resets to the start of the message. Use this when you want to restart from the very first kana character rather than resuming from a mid-message pause.
Loops the audio continuously until you press Stop. This is the most important ear-training feature — repeat a short message until each kana’s Wabun pattern is recognised automatically by sound, without looking at the chart.
Toggles audio tone output on or off. When active, every Play action produces CW beep tones through your speakers. Turn it off to use the Light or Vibration output modes silently.
Flashes your screen in the Wabun dot-dash timing for each kana — a brief flash for dots, a longer flash for dashes. Use this for visual demonstrations, accessibility learning, or training yourself to recognise Morse timing through sight rather than sound.
Pulses your mobile device’s haptic motor with the Wabun code timing — short pulses for dots, long pulses for dashes. Lets you physically feel each kana’s Morse pattern. Essential for users with hearing impairments, silent environments, or for tactile Morse learning.
Downloads your Wabun audio translation as an audio file using your exact WPM, Hz pitch, and Volume settings. Adjust those three sliders before clicking Save Audio if you need a specific output. Use the saved file for offline practice, sharing with a study partner, classroom exercises, or embedding in escape room puzzle audio.
Generates a unique shareable URL that encodes your Japanese input text, the Wabun output, and all current audio settings. Anyone who opens the link sees and hears exactly what you configured — no account required on either side.
Controls how fast the Morse code plays in Words Per Minute. The default of 20 WPM is the standard amateur radio CW operating speed. For beginners learning to identify kana sounds by ear, reduce to 5–10 WPM so you can hear each dot and dash clearly. For experienced Japanese CW operators, set to 25–35 WPM to match on-air speeds. The ITU PARIS standard defines one word as 50 time units — at 20 WPM, one word takes exactly 3 seconds. For best learning results, use the Farnsworth method: set character speed high but word spacing slower, so you learn to hear patterns as sounds rather than counting individual elements.
Sets the audio frequency of the CW tone in Hertz. The default 600 Hz sits comfortably in the middle of the human hearing range. Lower values produce a deeper, lower-pitched beep. Higher values produce a sharper, higher-pitched tone. Most experienced operators prefer between 550–700 Hz for extended comfortable listening. The Hz setting also applies to downloaded audio files.
Sets the Morse audio playback volume completely independently of your device system volume. The default is 80%. Drag this down for quieter environments or up for ear-training sessions where clarity matters. This slider also controls the volume level of audio files produced by the 保存 (Save Audio) button.
Below the settings sits the complete Wabun reference chart — a scrollable grid showing all 48 basic kana characters alongside their Romaji pronunciation and exact Wabun dot-dash sequences, organised in the traditional gojūon order. This is the same encoding the tool uses for every translation. The chart doubles as a study tool, a quick lookup for individual kana codes, and a reference for verifying decoded output. It is the most comprehensive Japanese Morse code chart available in a browser-based translator.
Tip: The chart has a scrollbar on the right — scroll down to see all voiced kana (dakuten ゛): が ga, ざ za, だ da, ば ba, and semi-voiced kana (handakuten ゜): ぱ pa, ぴ pi, ぷ pu, ぺ pe, ぽ po — each with their own distinct Wabun codes. These are tested in Japanese amateur radio licence examinations.
This translator accepts all three Japanese input formats. Here is what each one is and when to use it.
The primary Japanese phonetic script — smooth, rounded characters used for native Japanese words and grammatical endings. 46 basic characters plus modified forms. Use this mode when your source text is written in standard Hiragana. Example: こんにちは (konnichiha).
The angular Japanese phonetic script primarily used for foreign loanwords, technical terms, onomatopoeia and emphasis. Each Katakana character maps to the same Wabun code as its Hiragana equivalent because they represent the same sounds. Use this mode when your text is in Katakana. Example: コーヒー (koohii — coffee).
Japanese text written using the Roman alphabet. Ideal for users who cannot type in Japanese script, beginners, and non-native Japanese learners. The tool converts your Romaji input to the correct kana sound and then to Wabun. Example: type “konnichiwa” and get the correct Wabun for こんにちは.
Note: Hiragana and Katakana represent identical sounds, so they always produce identical Wabun output. あ and ア both encode to -·-··. Only your selected input mode needs to match the characters you are typing — the Wabun result will be the same either way.
The history of Japanese Morse code begins in 1854, when Dutch technical staff introduced telegraph technology to Japan and created the first kana Morse codes for Japanese characters. These early codes, provided by the Dutch during Japan’s first encounter with the electric telegraph, established that the kana syllabary could be transmitted via dots and dashes — though they were not yet optimised for frequency or transmission efficiency.
Japan’s first working telegraph line, connecting Tokyo and Yokohama, opened in 1869. Through the 1880s, engineers of the Imperial Japanese Telegraph Bureau refined these early codes, solving the core challenge of representing 46 basic kana sounds plus voiced and semi-voiced diacritics with code lengths efficient enough to match International Morse transmission speeds. The key design principle was frequency-weighted encoding: the most commonly used kana sounds received the shortest dot-dash sequences. By the 1890s, Wabun code had been adopted across Japan’s national telegraph network as the standard domestic encoding system, while International Morse was reserved for foreign correspondence.
The modern Wabun standard gained international recognition when the ITU included Wabun in its recommendations in 1938. The standard was formally codified for radio operations by Japan’s Radio Regulatory Commission in 1950, and later published under JIS C 0803 in 1961 — defining the key arrangement and character set for telegraph equipment. An updated version, JIS C 6220 (1969), renamed JIS X 0201 in 1987, added full Katakana and Roman character support for electronic data interchange while maintaining backward compatibility with existing Wabun encodings.
Today, Wabun code is used by Japanese amateur radio (ham radio) operators for CW (Continuous Wave) shortwave contacts on domestic bands, and is an active topic in Japanese amateur radio licence examinations. An estimated 3,900+ amateur radio stations in Japan operate Wabun CW. This translator implements the complete Wabun standard — all 48 basic kana, voiced variants (dakuten ゛), semi-voiced variants (handakuten ゜), and the ITU prosigns DO and SN for switching between Wabun and International Morse in mixed transmissions.
Both systems use dots and dashes — but they encode entirely different writing systems and cannot be used interchangeably.
Mixing both in one transmission: A Japanese operator sending a message with both kana and Roman characters uses prosign DO to signal the start of Wabun, and SN to return to International Morse. This ITU switching convention is standardised and well-understood by all trained CW operators.
From Japanese ham radio operators to language students, historians and puzzle designers.
Ham radio operators in Japan use Wabun code (QOD6) for CW domestic contacts on shortwave bands. Use this tool to encode messages before going on air, decode received Wabun CW, and practice ear-training at your target WPM using the Repeat function. The 20 WPM default matches typical Japanese Wabun CW operating speeds.
Encoding kana through Wabun reinforces phonetic recognition — each character becomes associated with a unique pattern you see, hear and feel at the same time. Use Romaji input if you are still learning to type in Japanese script. The built-in kana chart doubles as a full Hiragana and Katakana reference for phonetics study.
Wabun code was used in Japanese military, diplomatic and commercial communications throughout the early 20th century. This translator provides accurate, complete Wabun encoding for deciphering archived Japanese Morse messages, verifying historical telegraph records, and researching Japanese telecommunications history.
Wabun code is an advanced cipher layer for Japanese-language escape rooms and ARG puzzles. Encode a kana clue in Wabun, use Save Audio to produce an audio file, and embed it in your puzzle. Combine with other tools on this platform — Russian Morse, Wingdings, or standard Morse — for multi-layer challenges.
Japanese amateur radio licence examinations test Wabun code knowledge. This tool and its built-in reference chart give you a complete, accurate resource — all 48 basic kana codes, voiced and semi-voiced variants, WPM ear-training at examination speeds, and the prosigns DO and SN for mixed-script transmission rules.
This is one of the only free browser-based Wabun translators supporting all three Japanese input scripts simultaneously with real-time audio, a scrollable 48-kana chart, Save Audio, and Share links — all running locally with zero server uploads. Use it as an authoritative Wabun code reference implementation.
Everything you need to know about Wabun code, how the translator works, and how Japanese Morse differs from International Morse.
Japanese Morse code — officially Wabun code (和文モールス符号), also called kana code — is a Morse encoding system for the Japanese kana syllabary. Each dot-dash pattern represents one complete Japanese kana sound (mora) such as “ka,” “su,” or “ni,” not a Latin letter. Wabun covers 48 basic kana, voiced variants (dakuten ゛), semi-voiced variants (handakuten ゜), and prosigns for switching between Japanese and International Morse. The ITU recognised Wabun in 1938 and it was formalised under JIS C 0803 in 1961.
International Morse code (ITU-R M.1677-1) encodes the 26 Latin letters, 10 digits and punctuation. Wabun code encodes the 48 Japanese kana sounds. The dot-dash patterns are completely independent — the same sequence can mean a Latin letter in International Morse and a completely different Japanese kana in Wabun. They are separate systems and cannot be used interchangeably. When mixing both in one radio transmission, operators use the prosign DO to begin Wabun and SN to return to International Morse.
Hiragana and Katakana are two Japanese phonetic scripts representing identical sounds with different visual character shapes. Because Wabun code is sound-based, both produce identical Wabun output for the same sound. Romaji is Japanese text written in the Roman alphabet (e.g. “konnichiwa”). The translator converts Romaji to the correct kana sound before Wabun encoding. All three formats are fully supported and produce accurate Wabun code.
Click the ↩ Reverse button to swap the input and output panels. The Morse result panel becomes the input. Enter your Wabun code using dots (·) and dashes (-) with a single space between each kana code and a slash (/) between words. Click 翻訳 (Translate) and the decoded Japanese kana appears in what was previously the input panel.
Yes, the OCR engine can read clearly printed handwritten text with moderate accuracy. Block capital letters in dark ink on a white background work best. Cursive or stylized handwriting significantly reduces recognition accuracy. For handwritten Morse code dots and dashes, use the “Morse Code in Image” mode and ensure the dots and dashes are clearly drawn and evenly spaced.
DO and SN are ITU-standardised procedural signs (prosigns) used when a single Morse transmission needs to carry both Wabun (Japanese) and International Morse content. The prosign DO (–·· —–—) signals to the receiving operator that the following code should be decoded as Wabun rather than International Morse. The prosign SN (···–·) signals a return to International Morse. This switching convention is a required component of Japanese amateur radio licence examinations and is widely used in Japanese CW ham radio operations.
Yes. Click 保存 (Save Audio) to download your Wabun translation as an audio file. The file uses your exact Speed (WPM), Pitch (Hz) and Volume settings at the time you click save — adjust those three sliders first. Use saved audio files for offline practice, sharing with a study partner, classroom exercises, or embedding audio into escape room puzzles.
Yes — completely free. No account, no signup, no download, and no usage limits whatsoever. The translator, audio playback, reference chart, Save Audio and Share features all run entirely inside your browser. No text you enter is ever sent to a server or stored anywhere.
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