What is l in Japan?

Understanding the Sound of 'L' in Japanese

In Japanese, there isn't a direct equivalent for the English letter 'L.' Instead, when using romanization, the letter 'R' is utilized. However, as others have pointed out, the pronunciation falls somewhere between 'R' and 'L.' In the Japanese writing systems, we see:

• Hiragana: ら (ra), り (ri), る (ru), れ (re), ろ (ro)
• Katakana: ラ (ra), リ (ri), ル (ru), レ (re), ロ (ro)

These characters represent the sounds most closely associated with 'L' in Japanese.