Hiragana

Hiragana is one part of the Japanese writing system along with Katakana, Kanji and Romaji (the latin representation of hiragana and katakana).

Katakana and Hiragana are both kana system, where each character generally represents a Japanese syllable. Words that are written in kana can be pronounced phonetically.

Hiragana is used to write okurigana (kana suffixes to inflect verbs and adjectives), particles that indicated various grammatical meanings, for obscure kanji readings or to present an informal feel.

Hiragana is also used to write furigana, a reading aid that shows the pronunciation of kanji characters.

Hiragana soundboard

Click on any of hiragana characters in the following table to hear it's pronounciation. To see how to write hiragana there is a section below.

あa いi うu えe おo んn
かka きki くku けke こko きゃkya きゅkyu きょkyo
さsa しshi すsu せse そso しゃsha しゅshu しょsho
たta ちchi つtsu てte とto ちゃcha ちゅchu ちょcho
なna にni ぬnu ねne のno にゃnya にゅnyu にょnyo
はha ひhi ふfu へhe ほho ひゃhya ひゅhyu ひょhyo
まma みmi むmu めme もmo みゃmya みゅmyu みょmyo
らra りri るru れre ろro りゃrya りゅryu りょryo
わwa ゐ wi ゑ we をwo

Hiragana has two diacritics which modify the hiragana to produce a new character and pronunciation - the dakuten ( ﾞ ) and handakuten ( ﾟ ). Click on any of the hiragana characters in the following table to hear it's pronounciation.

がga ぎgi ぐgu げge ごgo ぎゃgya ぎゅgyu ぎょgyo
ざza じji ずzu ぜze ぞzo じゃja じゅju じょjo
だda ぢji づdzu でde どdo ぢゃja ぢゅju ぢょjo
ばba びbi ぶbu べbe ぼbo びゃbya びゅbyu びょbyo
ぱpa ぴpi ぷpu ぺpe ぽpo ぴゃpya ぴゅpyu ぴょpyo
How to write Hiragana

Click on any of the hiragana characters in the following table to see an animation of how to write the character in the correct stroke order.

あ い う え お
か き く け こ
さ し す せ そ
た ち つ て と
な に ぬ ね の
は ひ ふ へ ほ
ま み む め も
ら り る れ ろ
わ ゐ ゑ を
や ゆ よ ん