Basics

Japanese from the start

Learn to read kana, hear every letter, and read short guides to how Japanese works.

233Letters to learn

2Charts

35Guides

Hiragana

Hiragana is the first script to learn. Each of its 46 basic letters is a syllable, and together they can spell every word in Japanese. Hiragana writes grammar endings, particles and words without common kanji, and shows how kanji are read.

Read the guide: How Japanese is written

Review these lettersSign up to learn them with spaced repetition, as you do words.

Tap a letter to hear it and see how it's written.

Basic

46 letters

Each row adds a consonant to the five vowels: k + a = か ka.

aiueo

Dakuten and handakuten

25 letters

Two small marks change a consonant: ゛ (dakuten) voices it, k → g, s → z, t → d and h → b, and ゜ (handakuten) turns h into p.

aiueo

Combinations (yōon)

33 letters

A small ゃ, ゅ or ょ after a letter of the i column makes one syllable: き + ゃ = きゃ kya, not ki-ya.

yayuyo

Small っ and long vowels

8 letters

Length changes meaning in Japanese: おばさん obasan is an aunt, おばあさん obāsan a grandmother. Hold a long vowel or a doubled consonant for an extra beat.