The is a radiotelephony spelling alphabet, similar in purpose to the NATO/ICAO radiotelephony alphabet, but designed to communicate the Japanese kana syllables 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).
Kana Every kana name takes the form of a . For example, means "ri of ringo". Voiced kana do not have special names of their own. Instead, one simply states the unvoiced form, followed by "ni dakuten". /p/ sounds are named similarly, with "ni handakuten". Thus, to convey , one would say "". To convey , one would say "". As no word begins with the syllabic n, the word , meaning end, is used for .
Kana Spelling Kana Spelling Kana Spelling Kana Spelling Kana Spelling あ/アAsahi no "a"い/イIroha no "i"う/ウUeno no "u"え/エEigo no "e"お/オŌsaka no "o"か/カKawase no "ka"き/キKitte no "ki"く/クKurabu no "ku"け/ケKeshiki no "ke"こ/コKodomo no "ko"さ/サSakura no "sa"し/シShinbun no "shi"す/スSuzume no "su"せ/セSekai no "se"そ/ソSoroban no "so"た/タTabako no "ta"ち/チChidori no "chi"つ/ツTsurukame no "tsu"て/テTegami no "te"と/トTōkyō no "to"な/ナNagoya no "na"に/ニNippon no "ni"ぬ/ヌNumazu no "nu"ね/ネNezumi no "ne"の/ノNohara no "no"は/ハHagaki no "ha"ひ/ヒHikōki no "hi"ふ/フFujisan no "fu"へ/ヘHeiwa no "he"ほ/ホHoken no "ho"ま/マMatchi no "ma"み/ミMikasa no "mi"む/ムMusen no "mu"め/メMeiji no "me"も/モMomiji no "mo"や/ヤYamato no "ya"ゆ/ユYumiya no "yu" よ/ヨYoshino no "yo"ら/ラRajio no "ra"り/リRingo no "ri"る/ルRusui no "ru"れ/レRenge no "re"ろ/ロRōma no "ro"わ/ワWarabi no "wa"ゐ/ヰ(W)ido no "(w)i"ゑ/ヱKagi no aru "e"を/ヲ(W)owari no "(w)o"ん/ンOshimai no "n"゛Dakuten゜Handakuten
Numerals Digits are identified with "" (sūji no.../Number X) followed by the name of the number, analogous to English phrases such as the number five.
When a number can be named in multiple ways, the most distinctive pronunciation is used. Thus 1, 7, 4 are pronounced hito, nana, yon rather than ichi, shichi, shi which could easily be confused with each other.
Digit Spelling Digit Spelling Digit Spelling Digit Spelling Digit Spelling1Sūji no hito2Sūji no ni3Sūji no san4Sūji no yon5Sūji no go6Sūji no roku7Sūji no nana8Sūji no hachi9Sūji no kyū0Sūji no maru
Special symbols Symbol Spelling Symbol Spelling Symbol Spelling Symbol Spelling Symbol Spelling ーChōon、Kugiri ten∟Danraku（Shitamuki kakko）Uwamuki kakko
Sources
ja:通話表#和文通話表
Footnotes