Hiragana chart and beginner's guide

Hiragana is the first Japanese script almost everyone learns. Each of its soft, rounded characters stands for one sound, and together they can spell any Japanese word.

Tap any character below to open its page with an example word and audio, or use the interactive chart to hear each one and mark the ones you know.

The basic hiragana chart

The 46 basic characters are laid out in a grid called the gojūon (“fifty sounds”). Columns are the five vowels a, i, u, e, o. Rows add a consonant: k, s, t, n, h, m, y, r and w, with ん (n) on its own at the end.

Dakuten and handakuten

Two small marks in the top-right corner change a character's sound. Two dashes (゛, dakuten) make it voiced: か ka becomes が ga. A small circle (゜, handakuten) turns the h row into p: は ha becomes ぱ pa.Read the full dakuten guide.

Yōon combinations

A small ゃ, ゅ or ょ after an i-column character blends the two into one syllable: き ki + ゃ → きゃ kya.More about yōon.

What hiragana is used for

• Native Japanese words, especially ones without a common kanji, like これ (kore, this).
• Grammar. Verb endings such as the る in たべる (taberu, to eat), and particles like は, を and に that glue a sentence together.
• Reading aids. Small hiragana called furigana sit above hard kanji to show how they're read.
• Children's books and beginner material, which are written mostly in hiragana.

Where hiragana came from

Hiragana grew out of quickly brushed, cursive kanji used for their sounds, around the 9th century. あ comes from the kanji 安, い from 以 and か from 加. Over time the shapes simplified into the flowing characters used today.

How to learn hiragana

1. Learn a row at a time. Five characters a day is plenty. Say each one aloud as you see it.
2. Test yourself, don't just reread. Hide the romaji on the chart, or useflashcards, and try to recall each sound before you check.
3. Mix in review. Run a short quiz on everything learned so far each day.
4. Watch the look-alikes. さ/ち, ぬ/め, ね/れ/わ and る/ろ trip everyone up. See kana that look alike.
5. Read real words early. Sounding out ねこ (neko, cat) beats another round of single characters.

Readings to watch for

• し is “shi”, ち is “chi”, つ is “tsu” and ふ is “fu”, not “si”, “ti”, “tu” or “hu”.
• The particles は, へ and を are read “wa”, “e” and “o”.
• ぢ and づ sound just like じ and ず and are rare.
• A small っ doubles the next consonant: きって (kitte, stamp). See small tsu and long vowels.