Halfwidth Katakana Small I

Use a Japanese IME, then convert the text to half-width Katakana.

Microsoft Japanese IME instructions checked on 2026-09-14 list F8 for converting the input string to half-width Katakana. Convert only the target text if the rest should remain full-width.

Why is ｨ narrower than ィ?

It is a legacy width form of the same small kana.

The electronic ancestor of this narrow katakana set was introduced by JIS C 6220 in 1969, later renamed JIS X 0201. It adapted an ISO 646-style code for Japanese and provided one-byte kana for early systems that could not carry the full Japanese character set. This was a format for electronic interchange, not a new pronunciation.

Later Japanese character sets added full-width kana, hiragana, and kanji, leaving JIS X 0201 kana as the narrow option in mixed-width text. Unicode maps ｨ to full-width ィ as a width compatibility form: the kana value stays the same, while the encoded form and display width differ.

Will a Japanese form accept ｨ?

Only if the field allows half-width kana.

Japan Pension Service guidance updated in 2025 says its e-Gov electronic-application route does not accept half-width kana, while its CSV route uses JIS8 half-width characters. A valid Unicode character can still be outside a form's accepted character set.

For ordinary Japanese prose, or a field that does not ask for 半角カナ, use ィ. Use ｨ when the field specifically requires half-width text.