How to Add Japanese Furigana Above Kanji in Word

Furigana is the small phonetic text placed above or beside Kanji characters to indicate their pronunciation. Many Japanese language learners, translators, and document creators need to add Furigana in Word for readability or teaching materials. Word includes a built-in feature called Phonetic Guide that automates this task for any selected text. This article explains how to use the Phonetic Guide to add Furigana above Kanji in Word and covers common formatting issues you may encounter.

How the Phonetic Guide Feature Works for Furigana

Word's Phonetic Guide is part of the East Asian language support tools. It reads the selected Kanji text and attempts to generate the correct Furigana reading using the built-in Japanese dictionary. The feature is not a simple character overlay. It creates a special field code that combines the base Kanji text and the Furigana text into a single inline object. The Furigana appears above the Kanji in a smaller font size by default.

Before you can use the Phonetic Guide, you must have the Japanese language editing tools enabled in Word. On Windows, this requires the Japanese keyboard layout or language pack installed. Word detects the language of the selected text and activates the Phonetic Guide button only when Japanese text is selected. If the button is grayed out, Word does not recognize the text as Japanese.

Prerequisites for Using Phonetic Guide

Your system must have the Japanese language pack installed. In Windows 10 or Windows 11, go to Settings > Time and Language > Language and add Japanese as a language. After installation, restart Word. The Phonetic Guide button becomes available when you select text that Word identifies as Japanese Kanji. The feature works in Word 2016, Word 2019, Word 2021, and Word for Microsoft 365. Word Online does not support the Phonetic Guide.

Steps to Add Furigana Above Kanji in Word

1. Select the Kanji text
   Click and drag to highlight the Kanji characters you want to add Furigana to. You can select a single character, a word, or an entire sentence. Only Japanese Kanji text will trigger the Phonetic Guide button.
2. Open the Phonetic Guide dialog
   Go to the Home tab on the ribbon. In the Font group, click the Phonetic Guide button. It looks like a small letter A above a larger letter A with a dotted underline. Alternatively, press Alt+H, then F, then R, then G in sequence.
3. Review the suggested Furigana readings
   The dialog displays each Kanji character in a separate row with a text box for the reading. Word automatically fills in the reading based on the dictionary. If the reading is incorrect, type the correct Furigana in the text box. Use hiragana or katakana as needed.
4. Adjust alignment and font size
   In the dialog, use the Alignment dropdown to choose how the Furigana aligns with the Kanji: Center, 0-1-0, 0-2-1, or 1-2-1. Center is the default and works for most cases. Use the Font Size dropdown to set the Furigana size. The default is 5 points smaller than the base text. Increase the size if the Furigana is too small to read.
5. Apply the Furigana
   Click the OK button in the Phonetic Guide dialog. The Furigana appears above the selected Kanji text. The text remains editable as a single unit. To edit the Furigana later, select the text and reopen the Phonetic Guide dialog.

Common Issues When Adding Furigana in Word

Phonetic Guide Button Is Grayed Out

The button remains disabled when the selected text is not recognized as Japanese. Verify that the text uses Japanese characters. If the text is Kanji but the button is still grayed out, go to File > Options > Language and confirm that Japanese is listed under Editing Languages. If not, click Add a Language and install Japanese. Restart Word after installing the language pack.

Furigana Appears Beside the Kanji Instead of Above

This happens when the Phonetic Guide is applied to a single character or a very short word with the wrong alignment setting. Select the text again, open the Phonetic Guide dialog, and change the Alignment to Center. If the issue persists, the document may be in a compatibility mode that does not support East Asian layout. Save the document in the .docx format instead of .doc.

Furigana Disappears After Saving and Reopening

This occurs when the document is opened in an older version of Word that does not support the Phonetic Guide field code. Always save the file in the .docx format. If you share the document with someone using Word 2010 or earlier, convert the Furigana to plain text by selecting the text and pressing Ctrl+Shift+F9 to unlink the field code. Note that this makes the Furigana no longer editable as a phonetic guide.

Furigana Overlaps With the Kanji or Other Lines

Word does not automatically adjust line spacing to accommodate Furigana. If the Furigana is large or the line spacing is tight, the reading text may overlap with the line above. Select the paragraph, go to Home > Paragraph > Line Spacing Options, and increase the line spacing to At Least 1.5 lines or set a fixed value like 24 points. Alternatively, reduce the Furigana font size in the Phonetic Guide dialog.

Phonetic Guide vs Manual Furigana: Key Differences

Item	Phonetic Guide	Manual Furigana
Method	Built-in Word feature using field codes	Manually typed text with formatted font size and position
Editing ease	Can be updated by reopening the dialog	Must be retyped or repositioned manually
Alignment	Automatic alignment options in the dialog	Requires manual use of superscript or text boxes
Compatibility	Works in .docx files; limited in older versions	Works in any document format
Appearance	Furigana placed directly above each Kanji	May not align perfectly with each Kanji

Using the Phonetic Guide is faster and produces more accurate placement. Manual Furigana gives you full control but requires more effort to align correctly.

You can now add Furigana above any Kanji text in Word using the Phonetic Guide. Try the feature on a sample sentence to see how the alignment and font size settings change the appearance. For documents with many Kanji, use the Phonetic Guide on the entire selection at once to save time. If you need to export the Furigana to a plain text format, unlink the field codes with Ctrl+Shift+F9 after finalizing the document.