Japanese Writing System

There are three kinds of characters in Japanese: hiragana, katakana, and kanji. All three characters can be seen in a single sentence:

わたし なまえ

私 E A の AE名前 EA は エマ です。(My name is Emma.)

Kanji hiragana katakana

Hiragana and katakana, are like the alphabet and represent sounds. Hiragana has a roundish shape and is used for conjugation endings, function words, and native Japanese words not covered by kanji characters. Katakana, which has rather straight lines, is normally used for writing loanwords and foreign names. For example, English name “Emma” in the above sentence is written in katakana as エマ (e-ma). Kanji, or Chinese characters, represent not just sounds but also meanings. Mostly kanji are used for nouns and the stem of verbs and adjectives.

1) hiragana （ひらがな）

There are 46 basic hiragana syllables as you can see in the attached table.

There are 5 vowels: あ(a),い(i),う(u),え(e) and お(o) (you can see them in a different colour).

Each vertical line has its own consonant, and you can pronounce them with a combination of the consonant and vowels. For example, the second vertical line from the right starting with か has consonant ‘k’, therefore, it goes ‘ka’（か）, ‘ki’（き）, ‘ku’（く）, ‘ke’（け）, and ‘ko’（こ）.

You can check each sound and stroke order using the following link: http://genki.japantimes.co.jp/site/self/site/hiragana/hiragana.html

Once you are familiar with the sounds, please start writing them using the practice sheets provided. Use a pencil (ideally 2B) when practising. When you learn how to write them, make sure you follow their stroke orders.

2) katakana（カタカナ）

It is useful to remember that hiragana and katakana represent the same set of sounds.

You can learn and practise katakana using the following link: http://genki.japantimes.co.jp/site/self/site/gakusyu/katakana.html

If you find learning hiragana & katakana difficult, you might find the following video links useful.

Learn ALL Hiragana in 1 Hour: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6p9Il_j0zjc

Learn ALL Katakana in 1 Hour: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6DKRgtVLGA&t=54s