The Japanese phonetic alphabet (和文通話表 wabuntsūwahyō, literally "Japanese character telecommunication chart") is a radiotelephony spelling alphabet, similar in purpose to the NATO phonetic alphabet, but designed to communicate Japanese kana rather than Latin letters. The alphabet was sponsored by the now-defunct Ministry for Posts and Telecommunications.
Each kana is assigned a code word, so that critical combinations of kana (and numbers) can be pronounced and clearly understood by those who transmit and receive voice messages by radio or telephone, especially when the safety of navigation or persons is essential.
There are specific names for kana, numerals, and special characters (i.e. vowel extender, comma, quotation mark, and parentheses).
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Every kana name takes the form of a X no Y (X の Y?). For example, ringo no ri (りんごのリ?) means "ri of ringo". Voiced kana do not have special names of their own. Instead, one simply states the unvoiced form, followed by "dakuten". /P/ sounds are named similarly, with "handakuten". Thus, to convey ba (ば?), one would say "hagaki no ha dakuten (はがきのハ 濁点?)". To convey pa (ぱ?), one would say "hagaki no ha handakuten (はがきのハ 半濁点?)".
| Kana | Spelling | Kana | Spelling | Kana | Spelling | Kana | Spelling | Kana | Spelling |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| あ/ア | 朝日のア Asahi no "a" |
い/イ | いろはのイ Iroha no "i" |
う/ウ | 上野のウ Ueno no "u" |
え/エ | 英語のエ Eigo no "e" |
お/オ | 大阪のオ Ōsaka no "o" |
| か/カ | 為替のカ Kawase no "ka" |
き/キ | 切手のキ Kitte no "ki" |
く/ク | クラブのク Kurabu no "ku" |
け/ケ | 景色のケ Keshiki no "ke" |
こ/コ | 子供のコ Kodomo no "ko" |
| さ/サ | 桜のサ Sakura no "sa" |
し/シ | 新聞のシ Shinbun no "shi" |
す/ス | すずめのス Suzume no "su" |
せ/セ | 世界のセ Sekai no "se" |
そ/ソ | そろばんのソ Soroban no "so" |
| た/タ | 煙草のタ Tabako no "ta" |
ち/チ | ちどりのチ Chidori no "chi" |
つ/ツ | つるかめのツ Tsurukame no "tsu" |
て/テ | 手紙のテ Tegami no "te" |
と/ト | 東京のト Tōkyō no "to" |
| な/ナ | 名古屋のナ Nagoya no "na" |
に/ニ | 日本のニ Nippon no "ni" |
ぬ/ヌ | 沼津のヌ Numazu no "nu" |
ね/ネ | ねずみのネ Nezumi no "ne" |
の/ノ | 野原のノ Nohara no "no" |
| は/ハ | はがきのハ Hagaki no "ha" |
ひ/ヒ | 飛行機のヒ Hikōki no "hi" |
ふ/フ | 富士山のフ Fujisan no "fu" |
へ/ヘ | 平和のヘ Heiwa no "he" |
ほ/ホ | 保険のホ Hoken no "ho" |
| ま/マ | マッチのマ Matchi no "ma" |
み/ミ | 三笠のミ Mikasa no "mi" |
む/ム | 無線のム Musen no "mu" |
め/メ | 明治のメ Meiji no "me" |
も/モ | もみじのモ Momiji no "mo" |
| や/ヤ | 大和のヤ Yamato no "ya" |
ゆ/ユ | 弓矢のユ Yumiya no "yu" |
よ/ヨ | 吉野のヨ Yoshino no "yo" |
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| ら/ラ | ラジオのラ Rajio no "ra" |
り/リ | りんごのリ Ringo no "ri" |
る/ル | るすいのル Rusui no "ru" |
れ/レ | れんげのレ Renge no "re" |
ろ/ロ | ローマのロ Rōma no "ro" |
| わ/ワ | わらびのワ Warabi no "wa" |
ゐ/ヰ | ゐどのヰ Ido no "i" |
ゑ/ヱ | かぎのあるヱ Kagi no aru "e" |
を/ヲ | 尾張のヲ (W)owari no "(w)o" |
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| ん/ン | 先生のン sensei no "n" |
゛ | 濁点 dakuten |
゜ | 半濁点 handakuten |
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To spell out numerals, one simply uses "数字の..." (sūji no...), and then states the name of the number. This is analogous to the English language practice of saying "the number nine" or "the number five", etc.
When a number can be named in multiple ways, one uses the most distinctive name. For example, 1 is spelled as "hito", since its more common reading "ichi" could be confused with "shichi", a reading of 7. 7, in turn, is spelled out as "nana", never "shichi", lest it be confused with 1 or 4 ("shi"). 4, in turn, is always spelled out "yon".
| Symbol | Spelling | Symbol | Spelling | Symbol | Spelling | Symbol | Spelling | Symbol | Spelling |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ー | 長音 Chōon |
、 | 区切り点 Kugiri ten |
∟ | 段落 Danraku |
（ | 下向括弧 Shitamuki kakko |
） | 上向括弧 Uwamuki kakko |