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First, I'd like to mention that I've seen [this
question](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/11000/how-is-
determined-whether-a-sound-should-be-romanized-into-an-l-versus-an-r), which
is related but doesn't quite seem to be a duplicate.

I've covered some Hiragana lessons and it seems there is no L in Japanese. The
Japanese R seems to be a bit closer to L than the English R, but still, the
Japanese accent stereotype doesn't seem to be far fetched. For example, the
nice lady in [this tutorial](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGrBHiuPlT0)(at
the very beginning) says:

> Konnichiwa, let's start(u) tuday's reson.

But on the other hand, [when she speaks about
numbers](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOUqVC4XkOY)(0:38), she pronounces the
number 6 with a clear L sound: /lok(u)/, although [the romaji spelling seems
to be](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_numerals) _roku_

From the linked question I understood that the difference between L and R
sounds in Japanese is not clearcut. My question is: what exactly does "not
clearcut" mean? Does it mean that certain words are pronounced with r (such as
_suru_ ) and others with l (such as _roku_ )? Or is it a dialect thing? Or is
it personal preference, i.e. some people from the same region will say
/rok(u)/ while others will say /lok(u)/?

I actually have a similar question about /dz/ and /j/ sounds (in particular, I
can't understand how is 10 supposed to be pronounced). If the answer is
similar, please mention that, otherwise I'll ask a separate question.
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pronunciation
R sound vs L sound
First of all, let's make a distinction between romaji (which only has r) and
actual pronunciation, which alternates between l and r.

The truth is that l and r are in free distribution in Japanese, ie. both
sounds are possible surface realizations of the same underlying sound (similar
to how t in top and in stop are different in English but are considered to be
the same sound by native speakers).

In general, the sound is a flapped r, but you will find an increasing rate of
occurrence of l: 1) in woman, 2) in slower speech, 3) at the beginning of
words. If dialectal or regional considerations come into play, I haven't heard
or noticed anything to that effect.
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The sound called /r/ in Japanese is not quite the same sound as the L or R
sounds of English. And as you've correctly observed, there's more than one way
to pronounce /r/ in Japanese. There are a couple technical terms from
linguistics that might help:

  * /r/ is considered a **_phoneme_**. That means it's considered a single sound, even if it's technically pronounced a little bit differently sometimes.
  * The individual pronunciations are called **_allophones_**.

With the /r/ sound, there are two main allophones to consider. (The following
is based on _The Sounds of Japanese_ by Timothy Vance, page 89):

  1. The first one is the one described in the answer istrasci links to; it's called an [**_apico-alveolar tap_**](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alveolar_tap), and it's written with the IPA symbol [ɾ]. This sound involves quickly tapping the tongue on the roof of the mouth, specifically on the [**_alveolar ridge_**](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alveolar_ridge) (the ridge located behind the teeth). The **_apico-_** part of the name means that you use specifically the tip of your tongue, not the blade. 

  2. The second one is what Timothy Vance refers to as a **_non-tap allophone_**. In this version of /r/, the tongue is _already resting on the roof of the mouth_ , so all you do is pull your tongue off instead of tapping. And this is the allophone you heard in _roku_. (For whatever reason, Vance chooses not to give this allophone a separate symbol, so I'll refer to it by name instead.)

This **_non-tap allophone_** occurs when it's the first sound you say (called
**_utterance-initial position_** ). And that's why you heard it in _roku_ ,
because she wasn't saying anything before she started to say the /r/ sound.
The non-tap allophone also occurs **_immediately after an /N/ sound_** , as in
the words _benri_ or _jinrui_.

The **_tap allophone_** occurs in any other position, which in Japanese
amounts to **_intervocalic position_** (meaning between vowel sounds).

* * *

Understanding the two allophones described above is important, but there's
also some personal variation in exactly how the /r/ sound is pronounced. It
varies from speaker to speaker, and it may vary a bit even for a single
speaker. Although I described a [**_central
tap_**](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alveolar_tap) above, which is written
[ɾ], the Japanese /r/ isn't specifically central. It can instead be a
[**_lateral tap_**](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alveolar_lateral_flap), which
is written [ɺ]. I think it's possible that you may perceive the lateral tap as
sounding more like an English L sound.

Unfortunately, I've been unable to find any references that describe exactly
when [ɾ] is used and when [ɺ] is used. They're described as being in [**_free
variation_**](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_variation) in Japanese, which
means that speakers can use either central or lateral versions of /r/ in any
context without it being considered strange or in error. However, it's often
true that sounds described as being in "free variation" are [**_not actually
selected at random_**](http://dialectblog.com/2011/10/29/free-variation-isnt-
so-free/), and I suspect this may be true of Japanese as well.

It's possible that these or other variations in the Japanese /r/ may lead you
to think that sometimes it sounds more like L, and sometimes it sounds more
like R. That's fine, of course, but it's important that you realize all these
sounds are simply **_one phoneme_** in Japanese. That is, no matter how you
pronounce /r/, it's still mentally /r/ to a native speaker of Japanese. And
the more you study Japanese, the more you're likely to feel the same way.

In my opinion, you should focus on learning when to use the tap allophone, and
when to use the non-tap allophone. I wouldn't worry as much about the other
sorts of variation. If you do that, then I think the idea of an L versus R
contrast in Japanese will disappear for you, and before long, it'll just be
/r/ to you, too.
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