Reference

Hiragana

The gojūon — “fifty sounds”, in practice forty-six. Read down the columns or across the rows; the grid is the same either way. This chart grows as rows are learned.

	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	·	·	·	·

Solid — learned Faint — not yet · — no such kana

Click any cell to hear it — including the faint ones, which is a cheap way to get the sounds in your ear before the shapes arrive. Escape stops playback.

Mnemonics for what is learned

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

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.

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.