Reference

Hiragana

All 104 sounds: forty-six shapes, twenty-five of them marked, and thirty-three combinations. Every cell plays.

The gojūon

“Fifty sounds”, in practice forty-six. Read down the columns or across the rows; the grid is the same either way.

a i u e o
— あa いi うu えe おo
k かka きki くku けke こko
s さsa しshi すsu せse そso
t たta ちchi つtsu てte とto
n なna にni ぬnu ねne のno
h はha ひhi ふfu へhe ほho
m まma みmi むmu めme もmo
y やya · ゆyu · よyo
r らra りri るru れre ろro
w わwa · · · をwo
n んn · · · ·
· — no such kana

Click any cell to hear it, whether or not a lesson has reached it — a cheap way to get the sounds in your ear before the shapes arrive. Escape stops playback.

With a mark

Two short strokes at the top right — dakuten — voice the consonant. A small circle — handakuten — turns the は row into P, and goes on that row alone. Twenty-five sounds, no new shapes.

a i u e o
g がga ぎgi ぐgu げge ごgo
z ざza じji ずzu ぜze ぞzo
d だda ぢji づzu でde どdo
b ばba びbi ぶbu べbe ぼbo
p ぱpa ぴpi ぷpu ぺpe ぽpo
Two spare characters

ぢ is pronounced exactly like じ, and づ exactly like ず — in every position. They were distinct once; standard Japanese merged them and kept the spelling. Read them where they appear; write じ and ず otherwise.

Combinations

Any kana from the i column plus a half-size ゃ, ゅ or ょ. The pair is one syllable and one beat — きゃ is kya, not ki-ya.

+ ゃ + ゅ + ょ
き きゃkya きゅkyu きょkyo
ぎ ぎゃgya ぎゅgyu ぎょgyo
し しゃsha しゅshu しょsho
じ じゃja じゅju じょjo
ち ちゃcha ちゅchu ちょcho
に にゃnya にゅnyu にょnyo
ひ ひゃhya ひゅhyu ひょhyo
び びゃbya びゅbyu びょbyo
ぴ ぴゃpya ぴゅpyu ぴょpyo
み みゃmya みゅmyu みょmyo
り りゃrya りゅryu りょryo

Three of these break the pattern the way their plain rows always did: しゃ is sha rather than sya, ちゃ is cha, and じゃ is ja.

Two things that are not sounds

The small っ

A half-size つ. It is not pronounced — it holds the following consonant for one beat. きて is kite, two beats; きって is kitte, three. It only ever appears before k, s, t or p, and never ends a word.

Long vowels

Written by adding a kana, which adds a beat but not a syllable. A long O is usually おう — とうきょう, がっこう. A long E is usually えい — せんせい. A handful of words use おお instead, of which おおきい is the one you will meet first; those are learned by sight.

Mnemonics

Images are from Tofugu’s hiragana guide. They are scaffolding with an expiry date: the goal is to stop needing them.

Only the forty-six have them, because only the forty-six are shapes. A marked or combined character is a shape you already know plus a rule, so there is nothing left to picture.

あ a “ah”, as in father There is a capital A hiding inside it.
い i “ee”, as in eel Two eels side by side.
う u “oo”, as in food There is a U shape right in it.
え e “eh”, as in egg An exotic bird, feather on its head.
お o “oh”, as in oh Two letter o’s in there — and a tail あ lacks.
か ka “kah” A mosquito — wings, body, whine.
き ki “kee” A key. Two crossbars — さ has one.
く ku “koo” The open beak of a cuckoo.
け ke “keh” A strand of wiggly kelp.
こ ko “koh” Two co-habiting worms.
さ sa “sa”, as in salsa Two hands stirring salsa. One crossbar — き has two.
し shi “shee”, as in sheep A shepherd’s crook, for herding sheep. Not “si” — Japanese has no such sound.
す su “soo”, as in suit A swing looping over, throwing the kid off.
せ se “se”, as in sell A mouth with one vampire fang, for selling.
そ so “so”, as in soda A mouth slurping soda.
た ta “ta”, as in taco A fork, a taco and a lime garnish.
ち chi “chee”, as in cheese The forced smile when told to say cheese. Not “ti”.
つ tsu “tsu”, as in tsunami The swoosh of a tsunami. Not “tu”. No hat — う has one.
て te “te”, as in telescope A hand-held telescope. て also means hand.
と to “to”, as in toe A toe with a splinter in it.
な na “na”, as in nachos A nun praying at the cross for nachos.
に ni “nee”, as in needle A needle pulling thread.
ぬ nu “noo”, as in noodle Noodles. All curve, no corners — ね has corners.
ね ne “ne”, as in Nelly Nelly the cat. Corners on the left, looped tail.
の no “no”, as in nose A big pig nose, or a No Smoking sign.
は ha “ha”, as in ha ha An H plus a lowercase a. Said “wa” as a particle.
ひ hi “he”, as in heat He has a big nose.
ふ fu “foo”, softly blown A fool with a hula hoop. Never “hu”.
へ he “he”, as in help Mount Saint Helens — squat and flat. Said “e” as a particle.
ほ ho “ho”, as in hoe A chimney, and a four-armed Santa going ho ho ho.
ま ma “ma”, as in mark Your mama doing evil magic — head off, arms doubled.
み mi “me” Lucky 21. Who hit blackjack? Me.
む mu “moo” “Moo”, says the cow.
め me “me”, as in mess An eye with makeup. め also means eye.
も mo “mo”, as in more More worms on the hook.
や ya “ya”, as in yacht A yacht with an anchor. Or a yak’s face.
ゆ yu “you” A fish that is one big eyeball, watching you.
よ yo “yo”, as in yo-yo A Y and an O. Play yo-yo with it.
ら ra between “rah” and “la” A rabbit facing left, with droopy ears.
り ri between “reed” and “leek” Two reeds swaying in the wind.
る ru between “route” and “loop” A crazier route — it has a loop at the end. ろ does not.
れ re between “retch” and “led” A man kneeling, retching. Tail flicks out; ね loops.
ろ ro between “road” and “load” A plain old road. る with the loop taken off.
わ wa “wa”, as in wasabi A wasp flying straight up. Tail stops rather than loops.
を wo said “o”, as in origami Whoa! — a boomerang in the mouth. Called wo, said o; a particle.
ん n “n”, as in pen A lowercase n. One consonant, a full beat, never word-initial.
The first trap

あ and お are the pair beginners confuse most. The difference: あ has a crossbar through a curve; お has a hook with a detached stroke to its right. Look for the stray dot — only お has one.

Pronunciation notes

Japanese vowels are short and pure. English vowels glide — “oh” drifts toward “ow”. Japanese ones do not move. Clip them.

Every kana in the grid above is either a vowel or a consonant plus one of these five vowels. There are no exceptions in the main grid except ん, which is a consonant alone.

Not yet verified

These sound descriptions are English approximations, not recordings. An audio source is a known gap — see RESOURCES.md.