Hiragana: all 46 characters with stroke order
Hiragana is the rounded script Japanese children learn first. It has 46 basic characters, each one a single sound, and it is used for grammar, verb endings and native words. Open a character to watch it written stroke by stroke, trace it on screen and print a practice sheet.
Stroke order is the order taught in Japanese schools: top to bottom, left to right, with horizontal strokes before vertical ones that cross them. The characters are arranged in the traditional gojuon table of vowels and consonant rows, and that is how they are grouped below.
Vowels
K row
S row
T row
N row
H row
M row
Y row
R row
W row
N
How to practise hiragana writing
Learn one row of the table at a time: あいうえお first, then the K row, then S, and so on. Five characters a session is plenty.
Say each sound out loud as you write it. Writing and saying together fixes the sound to the shape.
Pay attention to the end of each stroke. Some stop, some flick and some sweep off, and the ending is what separates look-alikes such as ぬ and め.
After the basic 46, add the dakuten (two ticks) and handakuten (a small circle) to make voiced sounds, then the small ゃ ゅ ょ combinations.
Pronunciation guide
| Letter | Name | Sound |
|---|---|---|
| あ | a | ah as in "father" |
| い | i | ee as in "see" |
| う | u | oo as in "moon", with relaxed lips |
| え | e | eh as in "bed" |
| お | o | oh as in "or", short |
| か | ka | k followed by ah (ah as in "father") |
| き | ki | k followed by ee (ee as in "see") |
| く | ku | k followed by oo (oo as in "moon", with relaxed lips) |
| け | ke | k followed by eh (eh as in "bed") |
| こ | ko | k followed by oh (oh as in "or", short) |
| さ | sa | s followed by ah (ah as in "father") |
| し | shi | shee, like "she" with a soft sh |
| す | su | s followed by oo (oo as in "moon", with relaxed lips) |
| せ | se | s followed by eh (eh as in "bed") |
| そ | so | s followed by oh (oh as in "or", short) |
| た | ta | t followed by ah (ah as in "father") |
| ち | chi | chee, like "cheese" |
| つ | tsu | tsoo, with the ts of "cats" |
| て | te | t followed by eh (eh as in "bed") |
| と | to | t followed by oh (oh as in "or", short) |
| な | na | n followed by ah (ah as in "father") |
| に | ni | n followed by ee (ee as in "see") |
| ぬ | nu | n followed by oo (oo as in "moon", with relaxed lips) |
| ね | ne | n followed by eh (eh as in "bed") |
| の | no | n followed by oh (oh as in "or", short) |
| は | ha | h followed by ah (ah as in "father") |
| ひ | hi | h followed by ee (ee as in "see") |
| ふ | fu | foo, said with the lips barely touching, between f and h |
| へ | he | h followed by eh (eh as in "bed") |
| ほ | ho | h followed by oh (oh as in "or", short) |
| ま | ma | m followed by ah (ah as in "father") |
| み | mi | m followed by ee (ee as in "see") |
| む | mu | m followed by oo (oo as in "moon", with relaxed lips) |
| め | me | m followed by eh (eh as in "bed") |
| も | mo | m followed by oh (oh as in "or", short) |
| や | ya | yah as in "yard" |
| ゆ | yu | yoo as in "you" |
| よ | yo | yoh as in "yoga" |
| ら | ra | rah, with a light tap of the tongue between r, l and d |
| り | ri | ree, with the same tapped r |
| る | ru | roo, with the same tapped r |
| れ | re | reh, with the same tapped r |
| ろ | ro | roh, with the same tapped r |
| わ | wa | wah as in "want" |
| を | wo | o. Today it is pronounced like お and used only as the object particle |
| ん | n | a nasal n that can sound like m or ng depending on the next sound |
A short history
Hiragana developed in the Heian period (794 to 1185) from cursive forms of Chinese characters, mostly used by women writers, which is why it is also called onnade, women's hand. The modern 46-character table was fixed by the government in 1900.