Can it read mixed kanji-hiragana-katakana text naturally?

Yes. AnySpeech's Japanese text to speech is trained on mixed-script text as it appears in real Japanese (newspapers, novels, subtitles). Kanji readings are disambiguated by context — 行く reads as いく (iku), while 銀行 reads as ぎんこう (ginkou), automatically.

Does it support keigo (敬語) for business Japanese?

Yes. AnySpeech is the only TTS platform offering voice matching across the 4 keigo levels — 丁寧語 / 尊敬語 / 謙譲語 / 丁重語. Pick the level in your script text; the engine delivers it in a voice tone that matches the register, suitable for corporate training, customer service and formal broadcasts.

Can it distinguish on'yomi vs kun'yomi for kanji?

Yes, for the top 20 most ambiguous kanji (生, 行, 下, 日, 上, 分, 間, 中, 大, 国 etc) our Japanese TTS engine picks the reading based on surrounding context. For rare cases, attach furigana or romaji in parentheses as a reading hint.

Is there a VTuber or anime-style voice option?

Yes. AnySpeech offers expressive Japanese voices suited for VTuber content, anime shorts and doujin production. Over 500 indie VTuber creators use AnySpeech for scripted clips. You can also clone your own voice for a fully custom character tone.

Can I input romaji instead of Japanese characters?

Japanese voices work best with Japanese script (kanji/kana). Pure romaji input is treated as foreign — use Japanese characters for authentic pronunciation. Mixed Japanese text with romaji names (e.g., "AnySpeech は…") works correctly.

Does it support Kansai dialect (関西弁)?

Standard Japanese (標準語) is fully supported. Kansai-ben is available through voice cloning: record a Kansai-native sample and AnySpeech generates Kansai-style output in that cloned voice. Pure stock Kansai voices are on our roadmap.

Can it read Japanese counters (匹, 枚, 本, 個) correctly?

Yes. Japanese counters (助数詞) are notoriously irregular — 1本 (ippon), 2本 (nihon), 3本 (sanbon) alternate between /h/ and /b/ and /p/. Our engine applies the correct euphonic changes automatically for the common counter classes.

Is Japanese text to speech free for commercial use?

Yes. All audio generated by AnySpeech — including Japanese TTS output — can be used commercially. No watermark, no attribution required. Free Basic voices have no time limit; paid Advanced and Pro voices unlock studio-grade quality for professional work.

🇯🇵 Japanese TTS

Japanese Text to Speech

Convert Japanese text to natural AI speech with 11+ voices. Supports Standard Japanese. Free Basic voice, premium options available.

Looking for completely free TTS? Try Free Text to Speech Tool →

Explore Our Japanese AI Voices

Listen to samples from our 7 Japanese voices

美咲

Female

健太

Male

大翔

Male

陽菜

Female

結衣

Female

翔太

Male

Browse All Voices

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What is Japanese Text to Speech?

Japanese text to speech (日本語読み上げ) is AI technology that converts written Japanese — kanji, hiragana, katakana, or any mix — into natural-sounding spoken audio. Unlike earlier robotic readers, modern Japanese text to speech uses neural models trained on native Japanese speakers, producing speech with accurate pitch accent, natural rhythm, and proper intonation across formality levels.

Japanese has linguistic features no generic TTS engine handles well. It is not a tonal language like Chinese — it uses pitch-accent patterns where 箸 (hashi, chopsticks) and 橋 (hashi, bridge) are distinguished only by pitch. It has four keigo politeness levels that shift the entire sentence structure. And its mixed-script writing system requires context-aware reading of kanji. AnySpeech's Japanese text to speech engine addresses all three — covered in detail below.

How to Convert Japanese Text to Speech

Enter Japanese Text

Type or paste your Japanese. Kanji, hiragana, katakana and mixed scripts are all supported. Use full-width punctuation (。、) for natural pauses.

Choose a Voice & Model

Select from 11+ dedicated Japanese voices. Basic, Standard, or Advanced/Pro (studio quality).

Generate Speech

Click Generate to create Japanese audio with correct pitch accent. Preview instantly before downloading.

Download MP3

Download your Japanese speech as MP3. Use it in YouTube videos, VTuber content, podcasts, or business presentations.

Unique feature

How Japanese Text to Speech Handles Pitch Accent

Japanese is not a tonal language — it is a pitch-accent language (高低アクセント). Each word has a fixed pitch pattern, and getting it wrong can literally change the meaning. AnySpeech's Japanese text to speech uses pitch-accent-aware synthesis across four standard patterns, trained on native Tokyo-standard speech.

Heiban (平板型) — Flat

L-H-H-H (no drop)

Flat pitch with no drop. Example: 桜 (sakura) LHHH. The most common pattern in modern Tokyo Japanese, used for roughly 50% of all words.

Atamadaka (頭高型) — Head-high

H-L-L

Pitch drops immediately after the first mora. Example: 箸 (hashi, chopsticks) HL vs 橋 (hashi, bridge) LH. One wrong pitch = wrong meaning.

Nakadaka (中高型) — Middle-high

L-H-H-L

Pitch rises then drops mid-word. Example: お母さん (okaasan) LHHHL. Common in longer words and family terms.

Odaka (尾高型) — Tail-high

L-H-H → L (on particle)

High pitch until the last mora, drops on the attached particle. Example: 弟 (otouto) LHHH → L when followed by が/を. Hardest pattern for learners.

The numbers: Tested against the NHK Japanese Pronunciation Dictionary (top 500 ambiguous word pairs), AnySpeech's Advanced Japanese voices reach 91% pitch accent accuracy — roughly 2× better than generic free TTS output on the same test set.

Unique feature

Keigo Support — Voice Matching Across 4 Politeness Levels

Japanese has a formal politeness system (敬語, keigo) with no direct equivalent in most other languages. The wrong register in a business video or customer-facing audio is not just awkward — it is rude. AnySpeech's Japanese text to speech is the only platform with voice matching across all four keigo levels, so the tone matches the words.

Keigo Level	Example ("Please take a look")	Typical Use
丁寧語 Teineigo (polite)	この書類をご覧ください	General polite speech, training videos, educational content
尊敬語 Sonkeigo (respectful)	この書類をご覧になってください	Speaking to clients, superiors, customer service
謙譲語 Kenjougo (humble)	この書類を拝見いただけますか	Business negotiations, humbling yourself to elevate listener
丁重語 Teichougo (formal)	こちらの書類をご確認申し上げます	Highly formal contexts — press briefings, formal broadcasts

Need a specific keigo tone in your own voice? Try Voice Cloning in Japanese.

Unique feature

Kanji, Hiragana & Katakana — Reading the Mixed Script

Japanese text mixes three scripts: kanji (Chinese characters), hiragana (phonetic cursive), and katakana (phonetic for loanwords). Many kanji have multiple readings — 音読み (on'yomi, Chinese-derived) versus 訓読み (kun'yomi, native Japanese) — and picking the right one requires context. AnySpeech handles the top 20 ambiguous kanji readings with context-aware disambiguation.

生

せい / い / なま

学生 (gakusei, student) vs 生きる (ikiru, to live) vs 生もの (namamono, raw food).

行

こう / ぎょう / い

銀行 (ginkou, bank) vs 行事 (gyouji, event) vs 行く (iku, to go).

下

か / げ / した

下降 (kakou, descend) vs 下品 (gehin, vulgar) vs 下 (shita, below).

日

にち / じつ / ひ

日曜 (nichiyou, Sunday) vs 平日 (heijitsu, weekday) vs 日 (hi, day/sun).

上

じょう / うえ / のぼ

上司 (joushi, boss) vs 上 (ue, above) vs 上る (noboru, to ascend).

Furigana tip: For rare names or place names, attach furigana (ruby text) or romaji in parentheses — e.g., 香具山（かぐやま）— and our Japanese text to speech engine will use the hinted reading.

Japanese Voices & Variants

AnySpeech offers 11+ dedicated Japanese voices across Basic and Standard models, plus all multilingual Advanced and Pro voices that can read Japanese at studio quality. Beyond standard NHK-style reads, the platform supports VTuber-style and announcer-style delivery for content creators.

🇯🇵

Standard Japanese

標準語 — NHK Tokyo broadcast standard

Used in news, e-learning, business
Clear pitch accent
11+ dedicated voices across 4 models
Both male and female

🎙️

VTuber / Anime Style

Expressive delivery for character content

Playful and energetic reads
Popular for VTuber clips
Works for doujin and fan content
Upgradable via Voice Cloning

📻

Announcer Style

電車アナウンス / 公共放送 style

Clear enunciation
Even pacing for information delivery
Great for station announcements
Training videos and IVR

Japanese Text to Speech Use Cases

Built for the Japanese content economy — from VTuber studios to corporate training. Every use case below is validated with real AnySpeech customers shipping Japanese audio to production.

VTuber Voice-over

Generate Japanese voice clips for VTuber shorts, reaction videos and character banter. Used by 500+ indie VTuber creators for content production.

Light Novel Audio (ライトノベル)

Convert web novel chapters into audio — perfect for なろう系 serialized fiction, both narration and character lines across keigo levels.

Doujin / Fan Content

Add natural Japanese voices to same-author (同人) animation, visual novels, or fan-made anime edits. Commercial use allowed.

Corporate Training Videos

Generate 研修動画 (training videos) with consistent keigo delivery. Used by Japanese HR teams for compliance and onboarding content.

YouTube / TikTok / Niconico

Produce voiceovers for Japanese social platforms. Works for ゆっくり style edits, tutorial videos, and ニコニコ動画 commentary.

Announcement / Station Style

電車アナウンス-style voice for transit tutorials, facility tours, bilingual signage. Clear and neutral delivery.

Tips for Better Japanese TTS Results

Attach furigana for rare kanji

For place names, personal names, or uncommon kanji, add ruby text or romaji in parentheses — 香具山（かぐやま）— so the engine picks the intended reading.

Use katakana for emphasis

Katakana naturally signals foreign words or emphasis. Writing キレイ (instead of 綺麗) gives sharper delivery. Don't overuse — it sounds unnatural in long prose.

Use full-width Japanese punctuation

Use 。(maru) and 、(ten) rather than Western. and,. Full-width punctuation gives the TTS engine better pause cues and feels natural to Japanese listeners.

Match counters to the object

Japanese counters (助数詞) matter: 1本 (ippon) for cylindrical, 1枚 (ichimai) for flat, 1匹 (ippiki) for small animals. Our engine reads counters correctly when paired with the right object word.

Pick the keigo level before generating

Write in the keigo register that matches your audience: 敬体 (です/ます) for general, 尊敬語 for customers, 丁重語 for formal broadcasts. The voice you pick should match — see the Keigo table above.

Why Choose AnySpeech for Japanese Text to Speech

Japanese is under-served by generic TTS platforms. AnySpeech is one of the few tools built with the language's actual linguistic features in mind, not just bolted on as language 73 of 100.

Pitch-accent-aware synthesis — 91% accuracy vs NHK reference, while most tools ignore pitch entirely.
Keigo voice matching across 4 politeness levels — only Western-built platform to offer this framework.
Context-aware kanji disambiguation for the top 20 ambiguous characters (生 / 行 / 下 / 日 / 上 etc).
Free Basic Japanese voices with no signup — ondoku3 and CoeFont require accounts for full access.
Commercial use allowed — lighter license than VOICEVOX, clearer than many Japanese tools.
Voice Cloning in Japanese — carry the same brand voice across keigo levels without re-hiring a seiyuu.