Japanese Pronunciation

The Japanese language has only 5 vowels: a, i, u, e, o. They are terse vowels, pronounced clearly and sharply. If one pronounces the vowels in the following sentence one will have their approximate sounds. Please note: the "u" is pronounced with no forward movement of the lips.

Ah (a), we (i) soon (u) get (e) old (o).

Listen to the audio files for the 46 basic Japanese sounds.