Sakura

Sakura katana is the name of the protagonist from sugoi quest for kokoro. She slaps.

The authentic Japanese pronunciation is "Sā-\'kə'/-ra" (the "SAH" part is stressed, not the 'kə'). This is how it's commonly pronounced by Japanese speakers; the accepted way. It's not meant to be said as "sah-\'KOO'/-ṙah" (the "ku" in Sakura is not supposed to be stressed as 'KOO', it should be said as 'kə'). I hope the pronunciation of this beautiful name gets corrected on BtN.

Much of the dispute about which syllable to stress for Sakura is due to the fact that Japanese does not, in fact, have stress. It's a pitch accent language. I think the pitch pattern for Sakura is as follows: L-H*L. Correct me if I'm wrong. Personally, since there is no stress in Japanese, I feel it's fine to pick whichever syllable you want to stress when pronouncing this name in English, but that's just me. Stressing the second syllable would make the most sense to me though as that's the syllable with high pitch.

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As for the phoentics, in IPA Sakura is pronounced [sa.ku.ɾa]

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Note that /a/ is not the same as the "a" in "father" which is /ɑ/ in English. The IPA vowel /a/ is closer to the "a" in "cat" and the "u" in "fun." Note also that "u" in Japanese is actually between IPA /u/ (rounded) and /ɯ/ (unrounded). So basically it's like an English /u/ ("oo" like in "shoe" or "you") only your lips are in less of an "O" shape. The Japanese "r" is an alveolar tap /ɾ/ which to me sounds more like an English "d" than an "r" or an "l" but actually is none of the three. Basically you lightly flick your tongue against the roof of your mouth to form the Japanese "r" sound.

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For spoken pronunciations go to either of these links:
http://www.forvo.com/word/%E3%81%95%E3%81%8F%E3%82%89/#ja
http://www.forvo.com/word/Sakura/#ja.

Pronounced "sah-koo-rah".

Its real pronunciation is SAW-ku-rah.

Pronouncing this name 'suh-KUR-uh' is incorrect. It is pronounced 'sah-koo-rah' or 'sah-koo-ruh,' and in romanji, spelled Sakura, there is no other way to spell it, and there is no other way to pronounce it.

My my, there certainly -are- a lot of people arguing over the pronunciation ^.~
Some Americans (and others) pronounce the name "SAH-ku-ra" and some pronounce it "sah-KU-ra" and both are considered acceptable by most everyone, but I'm quite positive the Japanese pronunciation is "sa-ku-ra", with no stresses.
The Japanese don't stress their syllables, instead changing the pitch of their voice.
R's in Japanese are strange. They are mixed between L's, R's, and D's. To create the sound takes practice, and your tongue is nearly rolled, like in Spanish, but not quite. And example of the sound is found in the English dub of Naruto, whenever Sasuke says Naruto's name. He usually makes his R's like the Japanese. Usually.

Please for the love of god! It is pronounced "Sah-Koo-Rah"! But if you want to go deeper into the Japanese language, the "R" on "rah" is a mix between the letter l and r. There is no other way to say it!

My friend told me Sakura is pronounced: sa-ker-la. I'm sure this is incorrect though.

Although, for the most part, SAKURA is pronounced sa-ku-RA, it's also pronounced 'Sakara'.

Contrary to popular belief, it is pronounced "SAH-kur-ah" not "sah-KUR-ah". And I did too believe that she should be booted from the anime/manga "Naruto" but later on in the series she gets really good and isn't quite as useless and pathetic anymore.

This name is only spelt one way, Sakura, and only pronounced one way too, 'sah-kur-ah'. It is an extremely traditional Japanese name, kind of like Elizabeth in English. Trying to pronounce or spell it any differently is an insult to the Japanese people!

A friend of mine once said that the pronunciation of Sakura was "SAW-kur-uh", not "suh-KUR-ah".