Japanese basics · Free online
Hiragana & Katakana Chart
Click a character to hear its pronunciation or watch the stroke order, with romaji beside each kana. Move from the basic chart to voiced sounds, combinations and extended Katakana when you are ready.
Basic kana
Start with a, i, u, e, o, or choose another chart.
Voiced sounds
The marks ゛ and ゜ change the sound: か→が, は→ば／ぱ. In modern standard Japanese, じ／ぢ and ず／づ are usually pronounced alike but spelled differently.
Combined sounds
Small ゃ, ゅ and ょ join the preceding kana into one beat: しょ is sho, not しよ (shiyo). Some combinations occur more often in sound words or loanwords; examples help put them in context.
Extended Katakana
Combinations such as ウィ, ファ and ティ occur in loanwords and foreign names. Read each pair as one sound. This selection includes some place and personal names, not every possible combination. V-sounds are also often written with バ-row kana, as in ヴァイオリン／バイオリン.
Why are there 46 characters in the basic chart?
Gojūon means “fifty sounds”, referring to the traditional row-and-column arrangement. The basic chart contains the 46 kana used in modern Japanese, leaving out the historical ゐ and ゑ. Once you know a, i, u, e, o, try the voiced sounds, combinations and extended Katakana tabs.
Hiragana or Katakana?
あ and ア both represent a; き and キ both represent ki. Hiragana appears in Japanese words, grammatical endings and reading guides. Katakana often writes loanwords and foreign names. If you want to read your name in Japanese, Katakana is a useful place to start.
A few spellings to notice
This chart uses shi, chi, tsu and fu for し, ち, つ and ふ. を is usually pronounced o today, although wo is useful when typing it. は and へ are pronounced wa and e when used as particles; the chart plays their standalone readings.
Watch once, then write it yourself
Follow the numbered strokes, then try the character on paper. Handwriting can look different from a printed font: parts of き and さ are often separated when written by hand. Use the large character to recognise the kana and the diagram to practise writing it.
How do you read small っ and ッ?
Small っ or ッ doubles the following consonant rather than adding a separate tsu sound. Compare きて (kite) with きって (kitte, postage stamp): hold briefly before the t in kitte. Small ゃ, ゅ and ょ work differently: しょ is one beat, while しよ is two.
Long vowels in Katakana
ビル (biru) means building; ビール (bīru) means beer. The mark ー adds another beat to the preceding vowel. In words such as ティー and フォーク, read the combined kana first, then hold its vowel for the extra beat.
Try reading your own name
Once a few Katakana look familiar, convert your name and sound out the result.