Syntax:

Parameters:

• <english>. Optional. The word as translated into English. Note that this will sometimes be the actual Japanese word due to it being adopted into English.
• <kanji/kana>. Required when <rōmaji> is empty or omitted. The word as written using Japanese script (kanji, kana).
• <rōmaji>. Required when <kanji/kana> is empty. Transliteration of the Japanese word, using Hepburn Romanization.
• lead=yes. Optional. This should be used for the first instance of Japanese, usually in the lead. It gives the reader an idea what kind of non-English writing they are viewing.
• <extra>. Optional. Can be used to add a gloss (particularly if there is no English form). Can also be expressed as a named parameter, extra=
• <extra2>. Optional. Can also be expressed as a named parameter, extra2=. It is only useful in ";" definitions (extra2 will be displayed without bold, whereas text following the template will get the bold).

Regular use

Use in lead

Without English

Without English, use in lead

With extra to add a literal translation

With extra2

Without extra2

User style can be set by adding code similar to

@media screen, tv {
	*[lang="ja"] {
		color: green;
	}
}

to common.css.

This template emits one error message of its own:

error: {{nihongo}}: Japanese or romaji text required

One of the positional parameters <kanji/kana> ({{{2}}}), the 'Japanese' referred to in the error message or <rōmaji> ({{{3}}}) is required for proper operation of this template. Articles with these errors are collected in Category:Nihongo template errors (0).

This error often occurs because the template is malformed:

{{Nihongo|東京タワー}} instead of {{Nihongo||東京タワー}}; 東京タワー is in {{{1}}} (<english>) instead of {{{2}}} (<kanji/kana>). To resolve this error, add the missing pipe (|) or consider using {{lang}} or {{transl}}

Because this template uses {{lang}} and {{transl}} which emit their own error messages, see the help text for those at:

Category:Lang and lang-xx template errors – for error messages emitted by {{lang}}

Category:Transliteration template errors – for error messages emitted by {{transl}}

This cannot be used within a Wikilink in an article or in any template or other page that is transcluded into an article.

• {{Langx|ja|...}},{{lang|ja|...}}, similar templates in the Lang-x template for marking up Japanese text
• {{Nihongo3}}, essentially the same as this template, but gives rōmaji first and English inside the parentheses
• {{Nihongo krt}}, essentially the same as this template, but gives kanji first with rōmaji and English inside the parentheses
• {{Nihongo foot}}, same as this version, but puts everything but the English into a footnote
• {{Nihongo2}}, also displays the kanji properly, but without adding anything in parentheses, without rōmaji and without the extra parameters
• {{in lang|ja}}, to label sources written in Japanese
• {{Japanese script needed}}, to request expert assistance with Japanese script