Japanese Pronunciation Guide

e Pronounced like the first part of the "ay"-sound in "say", i.e. without the final "y"-sound. The "e" in "get" is also a fair approximation. The German "ä" and the Danish "æ" are better approximations.
ei/ee Pronounced as a Japanese "e" (see above), but twice as long in duration. Note that in hiragana text this long vowel often occurs when a syllable (e.g. "ke") is followed by an "i". In such cases the "i" is misleading and should not be pronounced as an "i" - it only serves to prolong the "e" sound.
i Pronounced like the "ee" in "feet", but short in duration. It is NOT pronounced like the "i" in "him". Often the "i" is not pronounced in the syllable "shi" when it is followed by another syllable.
o Pronounced like the first part of the "o"-sound in "old", i.e. without the final "u"-sound. The Danish "å" is also a good approximation.
ou/oo Pronounced as a Japanese "o" (see above), but twice as long in duration. Note that in hiragana text this long vowel often occurs when a syllable (e.g. "ko") is followed by a "u". In such cases the "u" is misleading and should not be pronounced as a "u" - it only serves to prolong the "o" sound.
g Pronounced like the "g" in "get" when it occurs at the beginning of words.
Pronounced like the "ng" in "sing" in all other cases.
Some people always pronounce it like the "g" in "get".
n Pronounced like "n" at the beginning of syllables, or when followed by any of the consonants ch, d, j, n, r, t, z, and sometimes s(h) (even when these consonants belong to the next word) - note that these consonants are all produced with the tip of the tongue (except s(h)).
Pronounced like "m" when followed by m, b, or p (these consonants are all produced with the lips).
Pronounced like the "ng" in "sing" in all other cases.
r Pronounced almost like the "rd" in "weirdo" (with an American-style "r").
z Pronounced like "dz" at the beginning of words.
Pronounced like "z" in all other cases.