The Hiragana ↔ Katakana converter transforms Japanese kana between the two phonetic scripts. Hiragana (ひらがな) and katakana (カタカナ) represent the same sounds but are used in different contexts: hiragana for native words and grammar, katakana for loanwords, names and emphasis. This tool converts in either direction instantly and leaves kanji and other characters untouched.
How it works
In Unicode, the main hiragana characters sit in the range U+3041–U+3096 and the matching katakana characters sit in U+30A1–U+30F6. Because the two blocks are laid out in the same order, every corresponding kana is separated by a constant offset of 0x60 (96 in decimal). Converting a character is therefore just adding or subtracting that offset from its code point when it falls inside the relevant range. Characters outside the kana ranges — kanji, Latin letters, digits, punctuation and spaces — are copied through unchanged.
Notes and example
The fixed-offset method covers all standard and small kana, so a combination such as きゃ (kya) becomes キャ and reverses cleanly. A mixed sentence like 日本語のテスト converts only the kana, leaving the kanji 日本語 and the conversion-neutral parts intact. The prolonged sound mark ー is shared by both scripts and is preserved as-is. Everything runs locally in your browser — your text is never uploaded.