The function keys F6-F10 are used to convert input to various formats:
F6: convert to Hiragana
ホワイト → ほわいと
F7: convert to full width Katakana
ほわいと → ホワイト
F8: convert to half width Katakana. Probably not desired
ホワイト → ホワイト
F9: convert the current input to full width romaji. Probably not desired, too. Press again for all-capitals, then again for proper noun capitalization:
ホワイト → howaito → HOWAITO → Howaito
F10: convert to half width romaji. Press again for all-capitals, and again for proper noun capitalization:
ホワイト → howaito → HOWAITO → Howaito
If you forget the above then just use Windows+forward slash (/) which is the shortcut for "Begin IME reconversion".
If you only want to convert the next input to romaji you can just type a capital character.
Some other useful shortcuts for typing Japanese on English keyboard
- Ctrl+Caps Lock: switch to Hiragana
- Alt+Caps Lock: if in alphanumeric mode change to Hiragana, then switch to Katakana
- Shift+Caps Lock: switch between full-width Hiragana ↔ full-width alphanumeric (romaji)
- Alt+` (Grave Accent/Backtick): switch between kana ↔ half-width alphanumeric (romaji)
- Alt+Shift: switch between languages (IMEs)