The vowels
"a" as in Kawasaki
"e" as in Zen
"i" as in kimono
"o" as in Hiroshima
"u" as in sumo
Say the words evenly, without any particular stress.
eg. (kimono) say kimono, not kiMOno
Two vowels come together, take them one by one.
eg. (geisha) say ge-i-sha, not gay-sha
A vowel with a line over the top is equivalent to two vowels together, so hold it longer than a single vowel.
eg. (kyōto) say kyooto
The vowel sound almost disappears.
eg. (-masu) say -mass, not -masu; (-desu) say -dess, not -desu
The consonants
Most of the consonants sounds are the same as in English.
Except:
"g" as in "gain", not soft as in "gem".
"f" as in between "f" and "h", try saying (Fuji) without letting your top teeth touch your bottom lip.
"r" as in between "l" and "r", try saying (Narita) by flicking the top of your tongue on the roof of your mouth on all three consonants, that is, on "r" as well as on "n" and "t".
Words with double consonants in the middle should be held for twice the length of a single sound.
eg. (atta) say at-ta
The writting system
3 types: kanji, hiragana and karakana
Quoted from Berlitz Essential Japanese
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