Hepburn romanization revisited: two Japanese romanization styles and discovery

Abstract

Japanese romanization history begins in the late 19th century and keeps evolving in two styles, one of which is the Japanese-government preferred, the other of which is English-speaking-country preferred. The latest revision of the ALA-LC Japanese Romanization Table (2022) adopts these two styles: ISO 3602 and Hepburn romanization. Regardless of the adoption, a lot of Japanese romanization appearing in library metadata does not make good sense to English speakers because it is “phonologically incorrect” for them. The table is based on Hepburn romanization with some ISO 3602 utilized. In the real world, Hepburn romanization is prevalently used in personal, corporate-body or geographic names. Therefore, as far as Japanese romanization is concerned, the real-world scenario sometimes contradicts what the library metadata displays. In this presentation, the past literature and research on Hepburn romanization in library metadata as well as the history of Japanese romanization and the ALA-LC Japanese Romanization Table is reviewed and examined. In addition, the research goals and plans, and future research prospects are presented. The entire research outcome will shed light on the best approach to Japanese romanization for libraries, in order to improve discoverability for a variety of users and user needs.