Hiragana

Hiragana (ひらがな) is the first and most fundamental Japanese writing system you must learn. Every Japanese word can be written in hiragana, making it the phonetic backbone of the language. Master hiragana in 1–2 weeks before attempting any Japanese grammar, vocabulary, or kanji study.

The Gojuuon Chart (五十音 — 50-sound chart)

The gojuuon organizes hiragana by vowel column and consonant row. Read columns left to right, rows top to bottom:

	a	i	u	e	o
∅	あ a	い i	う u	え e	お o
k	か ka	き ki	く ku	け ke	こ ko
s	さ sa	し shi	す su	せ se	そ so
t	た ta	ち chi	つ tsu	て te	と to
n	な na	に ni	ぬ nu	ね ne	の no
h	は ha	ひ hi	ふ fu	へ he	ほ ho
m	ま ma	み mi	む mu	め me	も mo
y	や ya	—	ゆ yu	—	よ yo
r	ら ra	り ri	る ru	れ re	ろ ro
w	わ wa	—	—	—	を wo
n	ん n

Total base characters: 46 (5 vowels + 40 consonant+vowel + ん)

Notes on irregular readings

• し is romanized as "shi" (not "si")
• ち is "chi" (not "ti")
• つ is "tsu" (not "tu")
• ふ is "fu" (not "hu")
• は (ha) is read as "wa" when used as a topic particle
• へ (he) is read as "e" when used as a direction particle
• を (wo) is used only as the object particle; pronounced "o" in modern speech

Dakuten (゛) Variants — Voiced Consonants

Adding two small strokes (dakuten ゛) to a character voices the consonant:

Base	k	s	t	h
a	か ka	さ sa	た ta	は ha
Voiced	が ga	ざ za	だ da	ば ba

	ga	gi	gu	ge	go
	が	ぎ	ぐ	げ	ご

	za	ji	zu	ze	zo
	ざ	じ	ず	ぜ	ぞ

	da	ji	zu	de	do
	だ	ぢ	づ	で	ど
Note: ぢ and づ are rarely used; じ and ず are the standard forms for "ji" and "zu".

	ba	bi	bu	be	bo
	ば	び	ぶ	べ	ぼ

Handakuten (゜) Variants — P-sounds

Adding a small circle (handakuten ゜) to the は-row creates the p-sounds:

	pa	pi	pu	pe	po
	ぱ	ぴ	ぷ	ぺ	ぽ

Combination Characters (Yōon)

Small versions of や, ゆ, よ combine with i-column characters to create compound sounds. The small character is written at half-size:

	ya	yu	yo
ki	きゃ kya	きゅ kyu	きょ kyo
shi	しゃ sha	しゅ shu	しょ sho
chi	ちゃ cha	ちゅ chu	ちょ cho
ni	にゃ nya	にゅ nyu	にょ nyo
hi	ひゃ hya	ひゅ hyu	ひょ hyo
mi	みゃ mya	みゅ myu	みょ myo
ri	りゃ rya	りゅ ryu	りょ ryo
gi	ぎゃ gya	ぎゅ gyu	ぎょ gyo
ji	じゃ ja	じゅ ju	じょ jo
bi	びゃ bya	びゅ byu	びょ byo
pi	ぴゃ pya	ぴゅ pyu	ぴょ pyo

Special Characters

• っ (small tsu): Geminate consonant marker. Doubles the following consonant. 切手 (kitte, stamp): き-っ-て = "kitte" with a brief pause/doubled t. Written as a small っ (half-size tsu).
• ー (long vowel mark): Used in katakana (not usually hiragana) to extend the previous vowel.
• 〜ん (n): The only standalone consonant in Japanese. Can appear before any character or at end of word. Before b/p/m, sounds like "m".

Stroke Order Principles

Japanese stroke order follows general rules (important for legibility and later kanji):

1. Top to bottom: strokes flow from top to bottom
2. Left to right: within the same level, go left to right
3. Horizontal before vertical: for crossing strokes, horizontal goes first (in most cases)
4. Outside before inside: for enclosing shapes, draw the frame, then the contents

Example stroke orders

あ (a) — 3 strokes:

1. Horizontal stroke (top, left to right)
2. Curved stroke (down-left, curving right)
3. Curved stroke (bottom, right side circle)

き (ki) — 4 strokes:

1. Short horizontal (top left)
2. Long horizontal (crossing)
3. Vertical (center, down)
4. Curved ending (bottom right)

す (su) — 2 strokes:

1. Cross stroke (horizontal then vertical)
2. Curved loop (right side)

Mnemonics for Tricky Characters

Some hiragana characters are confusing for beginners. These associations help:

Char	Romaji	Mnemonic
あ	a	Looks like an "a" with a loop — an athlete swinging arms
お	o	Like あ but with an extra cross stroke — think "oh!" face
か	ka	Looks like a katana blade pointing down
き	ki	Looks like a key shape turned sideways
く	ku	Arrow pointing right — koo! like an arrow whooshing
さ	sa	Looks like a cross with a wave — a samurai's stroke
し	shi	Like a bent hook — a fish hook going down
す	su	Like a loop with a cross — super-loopy
ち	chi	Looks like a small figure — cheeky little person
つ	tsu	Like く but fatter, horizontal — a tsunami wave
て	te	A horizontal line with a curve — a tent pole
ぬ	nu	Looks like め (me) but rounder — noodle loops
ね	ne	Looks like a person sitting — nestle in a chair
は	ha	Looks like a stick figure — happy person
ひ	hi	Looks like a backwards "E" — hey!
ほ	ho	Looks like は but with an extra stroke — holiday version
む	mu	A cow face with horns — moo
め	me	Like an eye — me looking back at you
も	mo	A hook with two dashes — more strokes
ゆ	yu	Looks like a "yu"ping face
り	ri	Two vertical strokes — right there, simple
を	wo	Looks like a rocket or お with extra stroke — wow!
ん	n	Like an angular "n" — neat

Learning Strategy

Week 1: Master Hiragana

Day 1–2: Vowels + か-row Learn: あいうえお + かきくけこ Practice: Write each 10 times; use a recognition app to drill

Day 3–4: さ-row + た-row Learn: さしすせそ + たちつてと Practice: Read simple words: さかな (fish), たべる (eat), きて (come here)

Day 5–6: な-row + は-row Learn: なにぬねの + はひふへほ

Day 7: ま-row + や-row + ら-row + わ-row + ん Learn: まみむめも + やゆよ + らりるれろ + わをん

Week 2: Dakuten, handakuten, and combinations Learn: が-row through ぱ-row, then all combination characters (きゃ etc.)

Practice methods

1. Writing: Fill sheets of graph paper with each character, top to bottom, left to right
2. Recognition drilling: Hiragana Quest app, or Quizlet hiragana decks
3. Reading aloud: Find hiragana-only texts and read them out loud — this builds the sound-character link
4. Typing: Type hiragana on a Japanese keyboard (romaji input mode) — reinforces the reading

Mastery test

You have mastered hiragana when you can:

• Read any hiragana character in under 1 second without hesitation
• Write any hiragana character from its romaji without looking it up
• Read a hiragana-only sentence at a natural pace

Common Mistakes

• Confusing ぬ (nu) and め (me): The bottom loop direction differs — ぬ curves right, め curves left
• Confusing る (ru) and ろ (ro): る has a loop at the bottom; ろ does not
• Confusing は (ha) and ほ (ho): ほ has an extra horizontal stroke
• Confusing り (ri) and い (i): り has a tail on the second stroke; い does not
• Reading を as "wo" aloud: In modern Japanese, を is always pronounced "o" — the particle は the wa/o distinction only matters in romanization

What Comes After Hiragana

Once hiragana is solid (end of week 1–2), immediately begin:

1. Katakana — same sounds, new shapes; takes another 1–2 weeks
2. N5 vocabulary words — you can now read most of the simpler words
3. Basic grammar (Tae Kim, Genki I) — you can read the Japanese examples
4. Begin learning kanji — the longest journey starts here

Do not wait until hiragana is "perfect" to move on. Learning katakana and starting grammar reinforces hiragana knowledge through repetition.