Japanese 597C/660 Problems and Methods of Translation

Writing About Japan in English

Tools for Writing in English

Chicago Manual of Style This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
The widely-used citation and style guide for scholarly writing.
Available on campus to all, or off-campus to UMass Amherst students, staff and faculty with an UMass Amherst IT NetID (user name) and password.

Merriam-Webster Dictionary & Thesaurus
Check your spelling and usage in Merriam-Webster.

Oxford English Dictionary This link opens in a new window
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Online version of the irreplaceable OED, for word definitions, usage, and etymologies.
Available on campus to all, or off-campus to UMass Amherst students, staff and faculty with an UMass Amherst IT NetID (user name) and password.

Romanization

Romanization of Japanese

There are many types of romanization. Your Japanese language professor, your linguistics professor, your literature professor and you might all follow a standardized form of romanization that is different from one another. In Professor Seaman's class, she will expect you to use Modified Hepburn romanization. This is also the standard followed by the library. The Kenkyusha dictionary used to be the deciding form of Modified Hepburn until its most recent release when it started using kana instead of romaji :(

What does this mean? Tōkyō not Tookyoo or Toukyou. Shinbun not sinbun or sinnbun or shimbun.

To learn more about the many flavors of romaji, please read the Wikipedia article.