To get トゥンクトゥンク out of a Japanese input method, type twunkutwunku. The トゥ part is twu. Type tunku instead and you get つんく (Tsunku); type tonku and you get とんく (Tonku). Neither brings up トゥンクトゥンク among the conversion candidates. That small ゥ appears 2 times in the name, so you need twu both times.
GREEN×EXPO 2027, the Yokohama Green Expo, opens on 19 March 2027, and its official mascot’s name trips people up whenever they write it in Japanese, on social media or in a search box. We cover the story behind the name in our profile of Tunku Tunku; this article only covers how to type it. It assumes your computer or phone is already set to Japanese input; switching a device into Japanese input mode is a separate topic we don’t cover here.
Typing it on a computer (romaji input)
| Type | Produces | Works on |
|---|---|---|
| twu | とぅ (small tu) | Microsoft IME, Google Japanese Input, Japanese Input on Mac |
| t’u | とぅ | Google Japanese Input |
| to, then xu or lu | とぅ (と and small ぅ typed separately) | all three of the above |
| tu, tsu | つ | all three of the above |
twu is the shortest. Type out とぅんくとぅんく (twunkutwunku) in full and then convert, and トゥンクトゥンク appears among the candidates. If it doesn’t, pressing F7 on Windows, or Control and K together on a Mac, turns whatever you typed straight into full-width katakana.
twu producing とぅ holds across Microsoft IME, Google Japanese Input, and Japanese Input on Mac. Mozc, the open-source project behind Google Japanese Input, lists both twu and t’u for とぅ, and xu and lu for small ぅ, in its romaji table. Apple’s own reference table for Mac also lists twu. Microsoft’s page listing its romaji spellings had been taken down as of September 2026, so we can’t point to an official Microsoft table, but you can confirm that twu produces とぅ by typing it yourself.
Why tunku doesn’t work
In the Japanese romaji input tables, tu is assigned to つ, and so is tsu. Getting と with a small ぅ attached needs a different spelling, twu. Adding a w this way follows the same pattern as wi for うぃ or kwa for くぁ: adding w to the consonant of the と row gives とぅ.
The Association’s official English spelling is Tunku Tunku, chosen to read close to “Tunku” in English, not built as a Japanese input spelling. Typing the English spelling as-is gives you つんく (Tsunku) instead.
Typing it on a smartphone (flick input)
On the 12-key flick keyboard, a small ぅ starts as an う that you then shrink.
- Flick the た key down for と.
- Flick the あ key up for う.
- Press the key marked 小 (“small”), the same key used for dakuten (゛゜), next to the わ key. う becomes ぅ.
- Flick the わ key down for ん.
- Flick the か key up for く.
- Repeat steps 1 to 5 to spell out とぅんくとぅんく.
- Choose トゥンクトゥンク from the conversion candidates. If it isn’t listed, look among the candidates marked カタカナ or the full-width katakana options.
The small っ and ゃ use the same key. The small ゥ in Tunku Tunku isn’t a special case, it’s just a sound you don’t normally need that key for.
If your phone’s Japanese keyboard uses a QWERTY-style romaji layout instead of flick, twu works the same way as on a computer. Apple’s reference table is written for Mac; whether the iPhone’s romaji keyboard follows the same table is unconfirmed.
Saving it to your dictionary
If you type it often, registering it in your input method’s user dictionary is the surest fix. Set the reading to つんく or とんく and the word to トゥンクトゥンク, and typing tunku or tonku will then bring it up as a candidate. There’s no need to register it under the reading とぅんく, since anyone who can type twu already gets it through conversion.
Where to register it: on Windows, the Microsoft IME icon in the taskbar has an “Add word” option. On iPhone, it’s under Settings, General, Keyboard, User Dictionary. On Android’s Gboard, it’s under Settings, Word list. Menu names vary slightly by version.
Spelling: トゥンクトゥンク in Japanese, Tunku Tunku in English
The Association’s spelling is トゥンクトゥンク, with no middle dot. Writing it as トウンクトウンク, ツンクツンク, or トゥンク・トゥンク can make it harder to find in search. The English spelling, Tunku Tunku, is two words.
The same goes for searching. The romaji forms tunku tunku and tunkutunku match the Association’s own English spelling, so they work as search terms as they are. To search in katakana, match the spelling exactly; if you can’t type it, search tunku tunku first and copy the name from what comes up.
Articles and news that use the name are collected on our Tunku Tunku feature page.