Fwd: [VWS] Wabun Code

[Alex Fraser]

 From the Vienna Wireless list server.   I wonder if the Chinese have 
one too, I'll have to ask AI....


-------- Forwarded Message --------
Subject: 	[VWS] Wabun Code
Date: 	Sat, 15 Aug 2026 07:47:11 -0400
From: 	aimonema via VWS General Discussions <VWS-General at googlegroups.com>
Reply-To: 	VWS-General at googlegroups.com
To: 	VWS-General at googlegroups.com
CC: 	'Mike Washvill' <mike.w at coldwar.org>



Great Question asked at last night’s meeting regarding how Japanese Hams 
operate using CW....    From a Google search:

“Japanese amateur radio operators (hams) use Morse code (known as CW, or 
continuous wave) to talk to other operators locally and around the 
world. For international contacts, they use standard English Morse code, 
but for domestic chats with each other, they often use the Wabun Code.

Our speaker, Mike Washvill, did a great job answering the question, but 
some more (non AI generated) research From Wikipedia, reads:

*Wabun code* (和文モールス符号, /wabun mōrusu fugō/; Morse code for Japanese 
text) is a form of Morse code 
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morse_code> used to send the Japanese 
language <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_language> in kana 
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kana> characters.^[1] 
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wabun_code#cite_note-1> Unlike 
International Morse Code 
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Morse_Code>, which 
represents letters of the Latin script 
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latin_script>, in Wabun each symbol 
represents a Japanese kana <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kana>.[2] 
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wabun_code#cite_note-2> For this reason, 
*Wabun code* is also sometimes called *Kana code*.

The decoder is:

*Chart*

Kana in Iroha <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iroha> order.

*Mora <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mora_(linguistics)>***

	

*Code***

	

*ITU*^[4] 
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wabun_code#cite_note-ITU-R-M-1677-4> **

		

*Mora***

	

*Code***

	

*ITU***

		

*Mora***

	

*Code***

	

*ITU***

		

*Mora***

	

*Code***

	

*ITU***

い   i

	

  ▄ ▄▄▄

	

A

	

わ   wa

	

  ▄▄▄ ▄ ▄▄▄

	

K

	

ゐ   wi

	

  ▄ ▄▄▄ ▄ ▄ ▄▄▄

		

さ   sa

	

  ▄▄▄ ▄ ▄▄▄ ▄ ▄▄▄

	

ろ   ro

	

  ▄ ▄▄▄ ▄ ▄▄▄

		

か   ka

	

  ▄ ▄▄▄ ▄ ▄

	

L

	

の   no

	

  ▄ ▄ ▄▄▄ ▄▄▄

		

き   ki

	

  ▄▄▄ ▄ ▄▄▄ ▄ ▄

	

は   ha

	

  ▄▄▄ ▄ ▄ ▄

	

B

	

よ   yo

	

  ▄▄▄ ▄▄▄

	

M

	

お   o

	

  ▄ ▄▄▄ ▄ ▄ ▄

	

&

	

ゆ   yu

	

  ▄▄▄ ▄ ▄ ▄▄▄ ▄▄▄

	

に   ni

	

  ▄▄▄ ▄ ▄▄▄ ▄

	

C

	

た   ta

	

  ▄▄▄ ▄

	

N

	

く   ku

	

  ▄ ▄ ▄ ▄▄▄

	

V

	

め   me

	

  ▄▄▄ ▄ ▄ ▄ ▄▄▄

	

=

ほ   ho

	

  ▄▄▄ ▄ ▄

	

D

	

れ   re

	

  ▄▄▄ ▄▄▄ ▄▄▄

	

O

	

や   ya

	

  ▄ ▄▄▄ ▄▄▄

	

W

	

み   mi

	

  ▄ ▄ ▄▄▄ ▄ ▄▄▄

	

へ   he

	

  ▄

	

E

	

そ   so

	

  ▄▄▄ ▄▄▄ ▄▄▄ ▄

		

ま   ma

	

  ▄▄▄ ▄ ▄ ▄▄▄

	

X

	

し   shi

	

  ▄▄▄ ▄▄▄ ▄ ▄▄▄ ▄

	

と   to

	

  ▄ ▄ ▄▄▄ ▄ ▄

	

É

	

つ   tsu

	

  ▄ ▄▄▄ ▄▄▄ ▄

	

P

	

け   ke

	

  ▄▄▄ ▄ ▄▄▄ ▄▄▄

	

Y

	

ゑ   we

	

  ▄ ▄▄▄ ▄▄▄ ▄ ▄

	

ち   chi

	

  ▄ ▄ ▄▄▄ ▄

	

F

	

ね   ne

	

  ▄▄▄ ▄▄▄ ▄ ▄▄▄

	

Q

	

ふ   fu

	

  ▄▄▄ ▄▄▄ ▄ ▄

	

Z

	

ひ   hi

	

  ▄▄▄ ▄▄▄ ▄ ▄ ▄▄▄

	

り   ri

	

  ▄▄▄ ▄▄▄ ▄

	

G

	

な   na

	

  ▄ ▄▄▄ ▄

	

R

	

こ   ko

	

  ▄▄▄ ▄▄▄ ▄▄▄ ▄▄▄

		

も   mo

	

  ▄▄▄ ▄ ▄ ▄▄▄ ▄

	

/

ぬ   nu

	

  ▄ ▄ ▄ ▄

	

H

	

ら   ra

	

  ▄ ▄ ▄

	

S

	

え   e

	

  ▄▄▄ ▄ ▄▄▄ ▄▄▄ ▄▄▄

		

せ   se

	

  ▄ ▄▄▄ ▄▄▄ ▄▄▄ ▄

	

る   ru

	

  ▄▄▄ ▄ ▄▄▄ ▄▄▄ ▄

	

(

	

む   mu

	

  ▄▄▄

	

T

	

て   te

	

  ▄ ▄▄▄ ▄ ▄▄▄ ▄▄▄

		

す   su

	

  ▄▄▄ ▄▄▄ ▄▄▄ ▄ ▄▄▄

	

を   wo

	

  ▄ ▄▄▄ ▄▄▄ ▄▄▄

	

J

	

う   u

	

  ▄ ▄ ▄▄▄

	

U

	

あ   a

	

  ▄▄▄ ▄▄▄ ▄ ▄▄▄ ▄▄▄

		

ん   n

	

  ▄ ▄▄▄ ▄ ▄▄▄ ▄

	

+

And pulling the string a bit more, the Iroha order is

The */Iroha/* (いろは) is a Japanese 
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_language> poem. Originally the 
poem was attributed to Kūkai <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%C5%ABkai>, 
the founder of Shingon Buddhism 
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shingon_Buddhism>, but more modern 
research has found the date of composition to be later in the Heian 
period <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heian_period> (794–1179).^ The 
first record of its existence dates from 1079. It is famous because it 
is a perfect pangram <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perfect_pangram>, 
containing each character of the Japanese syllabary 
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kana> exactly once. Because of this, it 
is also used as an ordering 
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collation> for the syllabary, in the same 
way as the /A/, /B/, /C/, /D/... sequence of the Latin alphabet.

Source: Wabun code - Wikipedia <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wabun_code>

Thought you’d never ask ...

Mike, WA8AHZ

**

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