Hiragana and Katakana Chart
Every basic Japanese kana with its romaji, plus dakuten and combination sounds. Click a character to copy it, then practise with random kana below until you can read them all.
Click a character to copy it.
Basic kana (gojūon)
Dakuten and handakuten
Combination kana (yōon)
Random kana practice
Alphabet
Picking from 46 letters.
る
ru
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Hiragana and katakana side by side
The 46 basic kana with Hepburn romaji, in the traditional gojūon order (a, ka, sa, ta, na…).
| Hiragana | Katakana | Romaji |
|---|---|---|
| あ い う え お | ア イ ウ エ オ | a, i, u, e, o |
| か き く け こ | カ キ ク ケ コ | ka, ki, ku, ke, ko |
| さ し す せ そ | サ シ ス セ ソ | sa, shi, su, se, so |
| た ち つ て と | タ チ ツ テ ト | ta, chi, tsu, te, to |
| な に ぬ ね の | ナ ニ ヌ ネ ノ | na, ni, nu, ne, no |
| は ひ ふ へ ほ | ハ ヒ フ ヘ ホ | ha, hi, fu, he, ho |
| ま み む め も | マ ミ ム メ モ | ma, mi, mu, me, mo |
| や ゆ よ | ヤ ユ ヨ | ya, yu, yo |
| ら り る れ ろ | ラ リ ル レ ロ | ra, ri, ru, re, ro |
| わ を ん | ワ ヲ ン | wa, wo, n |
A simple kana practice routine
- Learn the five vowels first. あ い う え お (a i u e o) appear in every other row, so they make the rest easier.
- Drill with romaji hidden. Turn off Show romaji, generate one character, read it, then check. Five minutes a day beats an hour once a week.
- Then add the dakuten. Two small marks turn か (ka) into が (ga); a small circle turns は (ha) into ぱ (pa). Once the basic chart is easy, these take a day.
- Mix in katakana once hiragana is easy. Same sounds, different shapes. Watch the classic look-alikes: シ (shi) and ツ (tsu), ソ (so) and ン (n).
Want Latin letters instead? Use the random letter generator, or the Greek letter generator.