{ "model": { "rank": 7104, "code": "thing-q192509", "model_id": "vr.tr.romanization-of-japanese", "name": "romanization of Japanese", "purpose": "Let an agent explain the romanization of Japanese and its systems, relay rules and official usage from standards and government sources, describe input-method romaji, and help distinguish and convert between systems.", "family": "Thing Registry", "category": "Activities and processes", "status": "research-draft", "kind": "thing", "plane": "ACT", "domain": "ACT.PRC", "industry": "", "version": "", "url": "/models/thing/q192509/", "tier": 2, "score": 57, "payload": { "layer": "wikidata", "aliases": [ "transcription of the Japanese language in Esperanto", "wāpuro rōmaji" ], "aliasCount": 2, "merged": 2, "knownIn": 57, "facets": null, "markers": [], "lexicalClass": "", "senseRank": null, "alsoRegisteredAs": null, "source": { "dataset": "wikidata", "item": "Q192509", "url": "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q192509", "license": "CC0 1.0" } }, "research": { "vercy": "1.0-draft", "publication": { "status": "research-draft", "adjudicationStatus": "unreviewed", "publishableCanonical": false, "generatedAt": "2026-09-13T03:32:00Z", "providers": [ "Claude" ], "breadth": "written by Claude from model knowledge without web access - no source was read, every claim is a lead to verify", "pass": 2, "wave": 3, "engine": "claude" }, "metaModel": { "id": "THING-Q192509", "registryId": "vr.tr.romanization-of-japanese", "name": "romanization of Japanese", "version": "0.2.0-wave.3", "entryKind": "thing", "family": "Thing Registry", "domain": [ "ACT.PRC" ], "status": "research-draft" }, "canonicalUrl": "https://ver.cy/models/thing/q192509/", "model": { "registry_id": "vr.tr.romanization-of-japanese", "name": "romanization of Japanese", "purpose": "Let an agent explain the romanization of Japanese and its systems, relay rules and official usage from standards and government sources, describe input-method romaji, and help distinguish and convert between systems.", "definition": "The representation of Japanese in the Latin alphabet, using systems such as Hepburn romanization, which follows English-like consonant spellings and is most common internationally, Kunrei-shiki, the ISO 3602 standard taught in Japanese schools, and the older Nihon-shiki, together with wapuro romaji used for typing Japanese on keyboards and specialised transcriptions such as those adapted for Esperanto; romanization is used in signage, passports, dictionaries and language learning, and choices between systems remain debated.", "what_it_is_for": "Writing Japanese in the Latin alphabet.", "affordances": [ "explain the systems", "relay rules and official usage", "describe input romaji", "help convert between systems" ], "distinguishing_features": [ "Multiple competing systems", "Hepburn dominance abroad", "Kunrei-shiki in education", "Keyboard input use" ], "appearance": "Not a visible object; Japanese words in Latin letters.", "visual_identification": [ "Latin-alphabet writing of Japanese", "Hepburn, Kunrei-shiki, Nihon-shiki, wapuro romaji, Esperanto-adapted transcription", "Kana and kanji are the native scripts; transliteration into Cyrillic is a separate system" ], "physical_properties": [ { "quantity": "Hepburn system", "typical_range": "1867", "unit": "year", "note": "first edition of Hepburn dictionary" }, { "quantity": "Kunrei-shiki cabinet order", "typical_range": "1954", "unit": "year", "note": "" }, { "quantity": "ISO 3602", "typical_range": "1989", "unit": "year", "note": "" } ], "families_and_kinds": [ "Hepburn romanization and its variants", "Kunrei-shiki and ISO 3602", "Nihon-shiki", "wapuro romaji for input methods", "passport and road sign conventions", "specialised transcriptions such as for Esperanto", "historical Portuguese and Dutch systems" ], "related_models": [ { "relation": "is a kind of", "target": "romanization", "why": "in registry terms" }, { "relation": "is a kind of", "target": "transcription of Japanese", "why": "in registry terms" }, { "relation": "is standardised in", "target": "ISO 3602", "why": "as Kunrei-shiki" }, { "relation": "is most used as", "target": "Hepburn romanization", "why": "internationally" } ], "identifiers": [ { "scheme": "ISO", "value_or_pattern": "3602", "note": "Kunrei-shiki" }, { "scheme": "ISO", "value_or_pattern": "3602 Strict", "note": "Nihon-shiki" } ], "standards_and_regulation": [ "ISO 3602", "Japanese cabinet orders on romanization, including the 2024 move toward Hepburn", "Passport and road sign romanization rules", "ALA-LC romanization for libraries" ], "failure_modes_and_hazards": [ "Mixing systems inconsistently", "Losing long vowel distinctions", "Stale information on official policy" ], "in_scope": [], "out_of_scope": [], "characteristics": [] }, "sources": [], "structure": { "bundles": [ { "id": "understand", "name": "Understand", "description": "What romanization of Japanese is.", "rationale": "Definition.", "layers": [ { "id": "definition", "name": "Definition", "description": "Definition and systems.", "findings": [ { "id": "definition-finding", "name": "Definition", "description": "Definition.", "questions": [ { "text": "What is romanization of Japanese, and how do Hepburn, Kunrei-shiki and Nihon-shiki differ?", "kind": "definition" }, { "text": "Is the question about romanization, the native scripts or another transliteration?", "kind": "boundary" } ] } ] }, { "id": "rules", "name": "Rules", "description": "Rules and details.", "findings": [ { "id": "rules-finding", "name": "Rules", "description": "Rules.", "questions": [ { "text": "How are long vowels, syllabic n, double consonants and particles written in each system?", "kind": "definition" }, { "text": "Which entry fits the specific system?", "kind": "action" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "use", "name": "Use", "description": "Use in practice.", "rationale": "Practice.", "layers": [ { "id": "official", "name": "Official", "description": "Official usage.", "findings": [ { "id": "official-finding", "name": "Official", "description": "Official.", "questions": [ { "text": "Which systems do schools, passports, road signs and libraries use, from official sources?", "kind": "provenance" }, { "text": "Which references are standard?", "kind": "provenance" } ] } ] }, { "id": "input", "name": "Input", "description": "Keyboard input.", "findings": [ { "id": "input-finding", "name": "Input", "description": "Input.", "questions": [ { "text": "How does wapuro romaji work for typing Japanese, and how does it differ from formal systems?", "kind": "provenance" }, { "text": "Which entry fits Japanese input method?", "kind": "action" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "convert", "name": "Convert", "description": "Conversion and tools.", "rationale": "Practice.", "layers": [ { "id": "conversion", "name": "Conversion", "description": "Converting between systems.", "findings": [ { "id": "conversion-finding", "name": "Conversion", "description": "Conversion.", "questions": [ { "text": "How can text be converted between Hepburn and Kunrei-shiki, and what pitfalls arise?", "kind": "action" }, { "text": "Which sources are cited?", "kind": "provenance" } ] } ] }, { "id": "special", "name": "Special", "description": "Specialised transcriptions.", "findings": [ { "id": "special-finding", "name": "Special", "description": "Special.", "questions": [ { "text": "What specialised transcriptions exist, such as for Esperanto or linguistics?", "kind": "provenance" }, { "text": "Which entry fits the specific transcription?", "kind": "action" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "context", "name": "Context", "description": "History and debates.", "rationale": "Attribution.", "layers": [ { "id": "history", "name": "History", "description": "History.", "findings": [ { "id": "history-finding", "name": "History", "description": "History.", "questions": [ { "text": "How did romanization develop from Portuguese missionaries through Hepburn to cabinet orders and the 2024 policy shift?", "kind": "provenance" }, { "text": "Which entry fits the history of Japanese writing?", "kind": "action" } ] } ] }, { "id": "debates", "name": "Debates", "description": "Debates.", "findings": [ { "id": "debates-finding", "name": "Debates", "description": "Debates.", "questions": [ { "text": "What debates surround the choice of system, with positions attributed?", "kind": "provenance" }, { "text": "Is the presentation neutral?", "kind": "boundary" } ] } ] } ] } ] }, "openQuestions": [ "Should Hepburn and Kunrei-shiki be separate primary entries?", "How should standards and government sources be linked?", "The registry entry has merged aliases naming input romaji and an Esperanto transcription; should they be split off?" ], "statistics": { "bundles": 4, "layers": 8, "findings": 8, "questions": 16 } }, "draft": { "generator": "vr.draft.v3", "status": "draft-generated", "researched": false, "archetype": "abstract concept", "method": "Written from the archetype playbook - what this kind of thing needs beyond identity and provenance - and from the structure that recurred across 6,333 models already researched by two engines. Applied to this entry by rule. No source was read for this thing and no claim here is researched. This entry carries no facets of its own, so they were inferred from its domain - a guess about a whole domain applied to one thing.", "facetsInferred": true, "nextPass": "A researcher replaces this draft with a sourced specification. Treat every sentence below as a proposal to argue with.", "purpose": "Give an agent a durable, checkable way to recognise a romanization of Japanese, record what state it is in, and decide what may be done with it.", "whatItIs": "Let an agent explain the romanization of Japanese and its systems, relay rules and official usage from standards and government sources, describe input-method romaji, and help distinguish and convert between systems.", "characteristics": { "substance": "activity", "origin": "conceptual", "agency": "inert" }, "whatYouCanDoWithIt": [ "observed and measured" ], "distinguishingFeatures": [ "Names folded into this entry, which a task may need to split apart again: transcription of the Japanese language in Esperanto, wāpuro rōmaji.", "2 finer distinctions are held as aliases rather than separate entries, because telling them apart needs a task that asks for it.", "Described in 57 Wikipedia languages, which is a measure of how widely the thing is known, not of how important it is." ], "openQuestionsForResearch": [ "Which of the bundles below does a real task actually need, and which are ceremony?", "What does this thing have that the facets do not capture at all?", "Which neighbouring kind is most often confused with a romanization of Japanese, and on what evidence are they told apart?" ], "whatItIsMadeOf": "something that happens over time", "physicalCharacter": [ "Does nothing on its own; everything it does, something else did to it.", "These come from the domain this entry sits in rather than from the entry itself, so treat them as a first guess about the whole domain applied to one thing." ], "whatCanBeDoneWithIt": [ "observe it, measure it, record its state" ], "howItIsRecognised": [ "Nothing to see. What is recognised is an instance of it, and which instances count is exactly what is argued about." ], "relatedModels": [ { "relation": "covers", "note": "Finer kinds folded into this entry because telling them apart needs a task that asks for it. Each is a model waiting to be split out when one does.", "targets": [ "transcription of the Japanese language in Esperanto", "wāpuro rōmaji" ] } ], "standing": "Described in 57 Wikipedia languages, which measures how widely it is written about rather than how important or how common it is. 2 finer distinctions are held inside this entry as names rather than as separate models.", "structure": { "bundles": [ { "id": "identity-and-classification", "name": "Identity, naming and classification", "description": "How an agent tells one romanization of Japanese from another, and a romanization of Japanese from things that resemble it.", "rationale": "Recognition comes before every other claim. Without stable identity nothing else in the model can be trusted to be about the same thing twice.", "layers": [ { "id": "naming-and-identifiers", "name": "Names and identifiers", "description": "The names this thing goes by and the identifiers that survive translation and time.", "findings": [ { "id": "preferred-name-and-aliases", "name": "Preferred name, aliases and local names", "description": "Which name to use, which names mean the same thing, and which merely sound similar.", "questions": [ { "id": "preferred-name-and-aliases-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the name of a romanization of Japanese, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "preferred-name-and-aliases-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the name of a romanization of Japanese, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "preferred-name-and-aliases-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the name of a romanization of Japanese is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] }, { "id": "stable-identifiers", "name": "Stable identifiers and external keys", "description": "Identifiers that keep pointing at this kind of thing across systems and languages.", "questions": [ { "id": "stable-identifiers-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes an identifier for a romanization of Japanese, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "stable-identifiers-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about an identifier for a romanization of Japanese, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "stable-identifiers-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once an identifier for a romanization of Japanese is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "classification-and-granularity", "name": "Classification and granularity", "description": "Where a romanization of Japanese sits among kinds, and how finely a task needs to cut it.", "findings": [ { "id": "kind-and-parents", "name": "Kind, parents and neighbouring kinds", "description": "The classes this thing belongs to and the ones it is next to.", "questions": [ { "id": "kind-and-parents-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the kind of a romanization of Japanese, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "kind-and-parents-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the kind of a romanization of Japanese, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "kind-and-parents-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the kind of a romanization of Japanese is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] }, { "id": "distinguishing-features", "name": "Distinguishing features", "description": "What separates a romanization of Japanese from the things most often confused with it.", "questions": [ { "id": "distinguishing-features-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes what distinguishes a romanization of Japanese, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "distinguishing-features-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about what distinguishes a romanization of Japanese, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "distinguishing-features-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once what distinguishes a romanization of Japanese is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "state-and-lifecycle", "name": "State and lifecycle", "description": "The states a romanization of Japanese passes through and the events that move it between them.", "rationale": "Most decisions about a thing depend on what state it is in now, which is a claim with a time on it, not a property.", "layers": [ { "id": "lifecycle-stages", "name": "Lifecycle stages", "description": "From coming into existence to ceasing to be one of these.", "findings": [ { "id": "stages-and-transitions", "name": "Stages and transitions", "description": "The stages worth naming and what moves a romanization of Japanese between them.", "questions": [ { "id": "stages-and-transitions-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the lifecycle of a romanization of Japanese, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "stages-and-transitions-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the lifecycle of a romanization of Japanese, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "stages-and-transitions-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the lifecycle of a romanization of Japanese is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "observations-and-status", "name": "Observations and current status", "description": "What is observed about a romanization of Japanese, how often and by whom.", "findings": [ { "id": "observation-record", "name": "Observation record", "description": "How an observation of a romanization of Japanese is recorded so that it can be superseded rather than overwritten.", "questions": [ { "id": "observation-record-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes an observation of a romanization of Japanese, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "observation-record-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about an observation of a romanization of Japanese, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "observation-record-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once an observation of a romanization of Japanese is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "process-and-outcome", "name": "Process, inputs and outcome", "description": "How a romanization of Japanese proceeds, what it needs and what it leaves behind.", "rationale": "An activity is known by its steps and its results, and both have to be recordable while it is still running.", "layers": [ { "id": "steps-and-sequence", "name": "Steps and sequence", "description": "The steps of a romanization of Japanese, their order and what may run in parallel.", "findings": [ { "id": "steps-and-preconditions", "name": "Steps, preconditions and completion", "description": "What has to be true before each step of a romanization of Japanese and what marks it done.", "questions": [ { "id": "steps-and-preconditions-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes a step of a romanization of Japanese, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "steps-and-preconditions-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about a step of a romanization of Japanese, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "steps-and-preconditions-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once a step of a romanization of Japanese is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "inputs-and-results", "name": "Inputs, resources and results", "description": "What a romanization of Japanese consumes and what it produces.", "findings": [ { "id": "inputs-and-outputs", "name": "Inputs, outputs and side effects", "description": "The resources a romanization of Japanese takes and the results it leaves, wanted or not.", "questions": [ { "id": "inputs-and-outputs-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the inputs and results of a romanization of Japanese, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "inputs-and-outputs-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the inputs and results of a romanization of Japanese, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "inputs-and-outputs-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the inputs and results of a romanization of Japanese is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "definitions-in-contest", "name": "Definitions and who holds them", "description": "What romanization of Japanese is taken to mean, and by whom.", "rationale": "When a field disagrees about a concept, the disagreement is the content. A model that picks one definition silently destroys the information.", "layers": [ { "id": "competing-definitions", "name": "Competing definitions", "description": "The main readings and the traditions behind them.", "findings": [ { "id": "definition-map", "name": "Definitions and their holders", "description": "Each definition with the school or body that holds it.", "questions": [ { "id": "definition-map-q01", "text": "Which definitions of romanization of Japanese are in use, and which tradition or body holds each?", "kind": "definition" }, { "id": "definition-map-q02", "text": "What turns on the difference between them in practice?", "kind": "boundary" } ] } ] }, { "id": "operationalisation", "name": "Operationalisation", "description": "How it is measured or applied when it has to be.", "findings": [ { "id": "operational-record", "name": "Measures and proxies", "description": "Instruments and indicators used to stand in for it.", "questions": [ { "id": "operational-record-q01", "text": "How is romanization of Japanese operationalised or measured in practice, and by what instrument?", "kind": "measurement" }, { "id": "operational-record-q02", "text": "What does that operationalisation leave out, and when does that matter?", "kind": "boundary" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "instances-and-use", "name": "Instances, use and consequence", "description": "What counts as an instance of romanization of Japanese and what follows from calling something that.", "rationale": "Applying a concept is an act with consequences, so a model must say what the label licenses and what it does not.", "layers": [ { "id": "instances", "name": "What counts as an instance", "description": "Clear cases, borderline cases and non-cases.", "findings": [ { "id": "instance-tests", "name": "Tests for an instance", "description": "What would settle whether something falls under it.", "questions": [ { "id": "instance-tests-q01", "text": "What would settle whether something is an instance of romanization of Japanese?", "kind": "boundary" }, { "id": "instance-tests-q02", "text": "Which borderline cases are argued about, and on what grounds?", "kind": "definition" } ] } ] }, { "id": "consequence", "name": "Consequence of application", "description": "Rights, duties or decisions that follow from the label.", "findings": [ { "id": "consequence-record", "name": "What the label licenses", "description": "What an agent may do once something is classified this way.", "questions": [ { "id": "consequence-record-q01", "text": "What follows practically once something is treated as romanization of Japanese?", "kind": "action" }, { "id": "consequence-record-q02", "text": "What must an agent not infer from the label alone?", "kind": "action" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "provenance-and-evidence", "name": "Provenance, evidence and time", "description": "Where every claim about a romanization of Japanese came from and when it held.", "rationale": "A claim without a source and a time cannot be superseded, only overwritten, and an agent that overwrites loses the ability to explain itself.", "layers": [ { "id": "source-and-authority", "name": "Source and authority", "description": "Who said it, on what evidence, and how strongly.", "findings": [ { "id": "claim-provenance", "name": "Claim provenance and confidence", "description": "The authority behind each claim about a romanization of Japanese and how confident it is.", "questions": [ { "id": "claim-provenance-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes a claim about a romanization of Japanese, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "claim-provenance-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about a claim about a romanization of Japanese, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "claim-provenance-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once a claim about a romanization of Japanese is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "time-and-versions", "name": "Time, versions and supersession", "description": "When a claim was true, when it was learnt, and what replaced it.", "findings": [ { "id": "validity-and-supersession", "name": "Validity period and supersession", "description": "How an old claim about a romanization of Japanese is retired without being erased.", "questions": [ { "id": "validity-and-supersession-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the validity of a claim about a romanization of Japanese, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "validity-and-supersession-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the validity of a claim about a romanization of Japanese, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "validity-and-supersession-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the validity of a claim about a romanization of Japanese is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] } ] } ] }, "statistics": { "bundles": 6, "layers": 12, "findings": 14, "questions": 38 } } } }