How are dakuten and handakuten sent in Japanese Wabun code?

For a voiced sound, send the base kana’s code followed by the dakuten “・・” as a separate character; for a semi-voiced sound, follow it with the handakuten “・・－－・”. For example, “ガ” is “カ (・－・・)” + “゛ (・・)”, and “パ” is “ハ (－・・・)” + “゜ (・・－－・)”. Small “ッ”, “ャ”, “ュ” and “ョ” use the same codes as full-size “ツ”, “ヤ”, “ユ” and “ヨ”, and the long-vowel mark “ー” has its own code, “・－－・－”.

What are “ホレ (HORE)” and “ラタ (RATA)”?

Because Wabun and International Morse code assign different characters to the same codes (・－ is イ in Wabun and A in International), these are signals for switching mid-transmission. Sending “ホレ” (－・・－－－) means Wabun from here on, and sending “ラタ” (・・・－・) switches back to International. In this tool, turning on “Add HORE/RATA” inserts them automatically before and after Japanese text, and the decoder also switches character sets on “ホレ” and “ラタ”.

How do you write “アイシテル (I love you)” and “ありがとう (thank you)” in Morse code?

In Japanese Wabun code, “アイシテル” is “－－・－－・－－－・－・・－・－－－・－－・” and “ありがとう” is “－－・－－－－・・－・・・・・・－・・・・－” (“が” is two characters: “カ” + dakuten). In English, “I LOVE YOU” in International code is “・・ / ・－・・－－－・・・－・ / －・－－－－－・・－”.

What is SOS in Morse code?

It is “・・・－－－・・・” (dit-dit-dit, dah-dah-dah, dit-dit-dit). Strictly speaking, it is defined not as the three letters S, O, S but as a distress signal sent continuously without gaps (・・・－－－・・・). When sent by light, it is three short, three long and three short flashes.

What is WPM, and what speed should I use?

WPM (words per minute) expresses Morse speed as how many times the word “PARIS” (50 dot units long) can be sent in a minute. A dot lasts 1.2 ÷ WPM seconds, so at 20 WPM it is 60 milliseconds. For listening practice, starting with the Farnsworth method — characters themselves at 15–20 WPM with extra space only between characters — makes it easier to learn each character as a “sound pattern” instead of counting dots and dashes.

What is the Koch method?

It is a way of learning to copy Morse code by ear devised by German psychologist Ludwig Koch. You start by distinguishing just 2 characters at your real target speed, and add one character at a time once your accuracy exceeds 90%. This avoids having to relearn the characters when you speed up after learning them slowly. In this tool, International characters are added in the order K, M, U, R, E, S… (the same as LCWO), and Wabun characters in order of shortest code first.

How many Wabun codes are there, and how can I memorize them?

There are codes for the 48 iroha characters (including ヰ, ヱ, ヲ and ン), plus dakuten, handakuten, the long-vowel mark, the Japanese comma and brackets. The shortest are “ヘ” (・) and “ム” (－), and longer codes belong to less frequently used characters. Each code plays when you tap it on the “Code chart” tab, so we recommend listening while looking at the chart, then switching “Listening practice” from “Show code” to “Listen” to memorize them.

Morse Code Translator & Trainer (with Japanese Wabun Code) | Play, Decode and Practice Listening to Hiragana & Katakana with Sound and Light

Q: What is SOS in Morse code?

It is “・・・ －－－ ・・・” (dit-dit-dit, dah-dah-dah, dit-dit-dit). Strictly speaking, it is defined not as the three letters S, O, S but as a distress signal sent continuously without gaps (・・・－－－・・・). When sent by light, it is three short, three long and three short flashes.

Morse Code Translator & Trainer (with Japanese Wabun Code) turns any text you type into Morse code: hiragana and katakana (kanji via their dictionary reading) become Japanese Wabun code, and letters, numbers and symbols become International Morse code, played back as sound and a flashing light. It correctly sends the dakuten mark “゛” (・・), the handakuten mark “゜” (・・－－・), the long-vowel mark “ー” (・－－・－) and the Japanese comma “、” as separate characters, and for text that mixes Japanese and Latin letters it can add the Wabun start signal “ホレ (HORE)” and end signal “ラタ (RATA)”. Paste codes like “・－” or “.-” and it decodes them back to text automatically (with Wabun/International switching). Adjust the speed (WPM), Farnsworth spacing and pitch, save as WAV, or send it as vibration on Android. It also includes keying practice that tells dots from dashes by how long you press the on-screen key, Koch-method listening practice that starts with 2 characters and adds one at a time, and tap-to-play charts of Wabun (kana) and International codes.

Text ⇄ Morse code

Hiragana, katakana and kanji are converted to Japanese Wabun code, and letters and numbers to International Morse code. Paste codes like “・－” or “.-” and they are decoded back to text automatically.

Text to convert

Examples:

Morse code

・・ / ・－・・－－－・・・－・ / －・－－－－－・・－ / －・－－・・－－－・－・－－・・－－・・・・・・－・－－・－

I・・

L・－・・O－－－V・・・－E・

Y－・－－O－－－U・・－

(－・－－・J・－－－A・－P・－－・A・－N－・E・S・・・E・)－・－－・－

Send time 16.6 s (18 chars · 15 WPM, dot 80 ms · dash 240 ms)

Speed, sound & notation settings

Character speed15WPM

Fast enough to send “PARIS” 15 times a minute (about 75 characters/min in International code). Amateur radio CW commonly uses 15–25 WPM.

Overall speed (Farnsworth)15WPM

Keeps the character speed and only lengthens the gaps between characters and words. When learning by ear, fast characters with long gaps work best.

Pitch700Hz

Volume60%

Notation:Wabun:

ABOUT

About Morse Code Translator & Trainer (with Japanese Wabun Code) | Play, Decode and Practice Listening to Hiragana & Katakana with Sound and Light

Morse Code Translator & Trainer (with Japanese Wabun Code) converts text to Morse code and plays it with sound and light, decodes Morse back into text, and lets you practice by ear and by hand. Hiragana and katakana (kanji via their dictionary reading) are sent in Japanese Wabun code; letters, numbers and symbols in International Morse code. Wabun code assigns codes to the 48 characters of the iroha syllabary: voiced sounds are sent as two characters, “base kana + dakuten (・・)”, semi-voiced sounds as “base kana + handakuten (・・－－・)”, and small “ッ” and “ャ” are sent as their full-size kana. Because the same “・－” means イ in Wabun but A in International code, operators send “ホレ (HORE)” (－・・－－－) to start Wabun and “ラタ (RATA)” (・・・－・) to switch back to International. Speed is measured in WPM, the number of times “PARIS” can be sent per minute; at 15 WPM a dot lasts 80 milliseconds.

How to use Morse Code Translator & Trainer (with Japanese Wabun Code) | Play, Decode and Practice Listening to Hiragana & Katakana with Sound and Light

1Type text in hiragana, katakana, kanji or letters and numbers into the “Convert & play” field (paste “・－” codes to decode instead)
2Check the code shown below and press “Play with sound & light” to listen (on Android you can also send it as vibration)
3Adjust the speed (WPM), overall speed (Farnsworth) and pitch, and use “Save as WAV” to make an audio file if needed
4When decoding, choose Japanese (kana) or International (letters & numbers)
5On the “Tap a key” tab, press the on-screen key (or the space bar on a computer) to key in Morse and have it decoded
6On the “Listening practice” tab, start with 2 characters and add one at a time once your accuracy exceeds 90%

Great for

Turn your or a friend’s name, or “アイシテル (I love you)” and “ありがとう (thank you)”, into Morse code for a message or design
Decode Morse code (・－) from a puzzle, escape room or cipher in Japanese Wabun code
Practice listening and keying to get started with CW (telegraphy) in amateur radio
Create Morse code sound effects for videos, games or plays as WAV files with a chosen speed and pitch
Practice SOS and Japanese Wabun code with a quick-reference chart for scouting or disaster drills
See how dakuten, handakuten and the long-vowel mark are sent in Morse code

Good to know

Wabun has no codes for the Japanese full stop “。” or the brackets “「」”, so they are treated as word breaks. Characters without a code, such as unsupported kanji or emoji, are skipped and the skipped characters are shown.
Kanji are sent using their usual dictionary reading. If the reading differs, as with names, re-enter the text in hiragana.
Numbers within Japanese text are sent using International number codes (they don’t overlap with Wabun codes).
Speed is in WPM, where one word is PARIS (50 dot units): a dot is 1.2 ÷ WPM seconds, a dash is 3 dots, the gap within a character is 1 dot, between characters 3 dots, and between words 7 dots. The Farnsworth setting lengthens only the gaps between characters and words.
Vibration works in browsers that support the Vibration API, such as Chrome on Android (Safari on iPhone is not supported).
Your text, settings and practice scores are stored only in this device’s browser and are never sent to a server (the kanji reading dictionary is also used within the browser).

Questions this tool answers

Use Morse Code Translator & Trainer (with Japanese Wabun Code) | Play, Decode and Practice Listening to Hiragana & Katakana with Sound and Light for searches like these:

Convert a hiragana name to Morse code
See a chart of Japanese Wabun Morse code in kana order
Learn how dakuten and handakuten are sent in Morse code
Decode ・－ Morse code into Japanese
Listen to Morse code or save it as WAV
Find out what HORE and RATA mean
Practice copying amateur radio CW by ear
Practice keying Morse on a phone

FAQ

How are dakuten and handakuten sent in Japanese Wabun code?: For a voiced sound, send the base kana’s code followed by the dakuten “・・” as a separate character; for a semi-voiced sound, follow it with the handakuten “・・－－・”. For example, “ガ” is “カ (・－・・)” + “゛ (・・)”, and “パ” is “ハ (－・・・)” + “゜ (・・－－・)”. Small “ッ”, “ャ”, “ュ” and “ョ” use the same codes as full-size “ツ”, “ヤ”, “ユ” and “ヨ”, and the long-vowel mark “ー” has its own code, “・－－・－”.
What are “ホレ (HORE)” and “ラタ (RATA)”?: Because Wabun and International Morse code assign different characters to the same codes (・－ is イ in Wabun and A in International), these are signals for switching mid-transmission. Sending “ホレ” (－・・－－－) means Wabun from here on, and sending “ラタ” (・・・－・) switches back to International. In this tool, turning on “Add HORE/RATA” inserts them automatically before and after Japanese text, and the decoder also switches character sets on “ホレ” and “ラタ”.
How do you write “アイシテル (I love you)” and “ありがとう (thank you)” in Morse code?: In Japanese Wabun code, “アイシテル” is “－－・－－　・－　－－・－・　・－・－－　－・－－・” and “ありがとう” is “－－・－－　－－・　・－・・　・・　・・－・・　・・－” (“が” is two characters: “カ” + dakuten). In English, “I LOVE YOU” in International code is “・・ / ・－・・－－－・・・－・ / －・－－－－－・・－”.
What is SOS in Morse code?: It is “・・・－－－・・・” (dit-dit-dit, dah-dah-dah, dit-dit-dit). Strictly speaking, it is defined not as the three letters S, O, S but as a distress signal sent continuously without gaps (・・・－－－・・・). When sent by light, it is three short, three long and three short flashes.
What is WPM, and what speed should I use?: WPM (words per minute) expresses Morse speed as how many times the word “PARIS” (50 dot units long) can be sent in a minute. A dot lasts 1.2 ÷ WPM seconds, so at 20 WPM it is 60 milliseconds. For listening practice, starting with the Farnsworth method — characters themselves at 15–20 WPM with extra space only between characters — makes it easier to learn each character as a “sound pattern” instead of counting dots and dashes.
What is the Koch method?: It is a way of learning to copy Morse code by ear devised by German psychologist Ludwig Koch. You start by distinguishing just 2 characters at your real target speed, and add one character at a time once your accuracy exceeds 90%. This avoids having to relearn the characters when you speed up after learning them slowly. In this tool, International characters are added in the order K, M, U, R, E, S… (the same as LCWO), and Wabun characters in order of shortest code first.
How many Wabun codes are there, and how can I memorize them?: There are codes for the 48 iroha characters (including ヰ, ヱ, ヲ and ン), plus dakuten, handakuten, the long-vowel mark, the Japanese comma and brackets. The shortest are “ヘ” (・) and “ム” (－), and longer codes belong to less frequently used characters. Each code plays when you tap it on the “Code chart” tab, so we recommend listening while looking at the chart, then switching “Listening practice” from “Show code” to “Listen” to memorize them.

Special Thanks

SOLO GUILD | サービス作るAIエンジニア

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