Halfwidth Katakana Ma

Enter マ, then convert it to halfwidth katakana. In Microsoft Japanese IME, select the input and press F8; its documentation lists that shortcut for halfwidth katakana as of 2026. In another IME, choose its halfwidth-katakana conversion mode.

The JIS C 6220 standard, published in 1969 and later renamed JIS X 0201, included katakana in a limited single-byte character set for early computing and telecommunications. Space and compatibility mattered, and voiced marks such as dakuten were separate characters. The encoding choice later carried into Shift-JIS alongside the fuller JIS X 0208 set; it did not create a new pronunciation of ma.

When should I use halfwidth kana?

Check the field's instructions: as of 2026, a Japanese bank form requests halfwidth kana for company-name readings and addresses, while a public research institute's contact form requests fullwidth katakana. The receiving system decides whether ﾏ or マ fits that field.

For ordinary Japanese writing, マ is the standard form. Use ﾏ when a legacy-compatible field, fixed-width export, or explicit instruction calls for halfwidth kana.

Why does ﾏ look different from マ?

They are width variants with the same reading. Unicode maps ﾏ to マ for compatibility. In fixed-pitch East Asian typography, a halfwidth character is designed to take half an em; its actual display width still depends on the font and layout.

NFKC and NFKD normalization can fold the halfwidth/fullwidth distinction for matching. That can remove a width distinction a legacy field needs, so check before normalizing data intended for such a field.