The Japanese Writing System
Japanese uses three interlocking scripts, and most written Japanese combines all three:
| Script | Japanese | Primary Use |
| Hiragana | ひらがな | Native Japanese words and grammar |
| Katakana | カタカナ | Loanwords, foreign names, emphasis |
| Kanji | 漢字 | Content words (nouns, verb stems, etc.) |
Hiragana and katakana are phonetic syllabaries — each character represents a single syllable sound, similar in function to an alphabet. Kanji are logographic characters borrowed from Chinese, each carrying its own meaning.
Hiragana (ひらがな)
The word hiragana literally means “ordinary kana” or “simple kana.” It is the foundation of Japanese literacy and the first script learners study. Hiragana is used for:
- Native Japanese vocabulary
- Grammatical elements such as verb endings and particles
- Pronunciation guides (furigana) placed above kanji
The Basic Hiragana Chart
| a | i | u | e | o | |
| Vowels | あ | い | う | え | お |
| K | か | き | く | け | こ |
| S | さ | し | す | せ | そ |
| T | た | ち | つ | て | と |
| N | な | に | ぬ | ね | の |
| H | は | ひ | ふ | へ | ほ |
| M | ま | み | む | め | も |
| Y | や | — | ゆ | — | よ |
| R | ら | り | る | れ | ろ |
| W | わ | — | — | — | を |
| N | ん |
💡 Note that し = shi, ち = chi, つ = tsu, and ふ = fu — these don’t follow the standard consonant + vowel pattern, so they are worth memorizing individually.
Basic Expressions and Phrases
| Japanese | Romaji | English |
| こんにちは | Konnichiwa | Hello |
| おはよう | Ohayou | Good morning (casual) |
| げんきですか？ | Genki desu ka? | How are you? |
| げんきです。 | Genki desu. | I’m fine. |
| ちょうしはどうですか？ | Choushi wa dou desu ka? | How’s everything going? |
| いいです。 | Ii desu. | It’s good. |
| ありがとう。 | Arigatou. | Thanks. (casual) |
| ありがとうございます。 | Arigatou gozaimasu. | Thank you. (polite) |
⚠️ Spelling note: “Hello” is こんにちは, ending in は (the particle wa), not こんにちわ. This is one of the most common writing mistakes for beginners.
Dakuten and Handakuten — Voiced and Semi-Voiced Sounds
Japanese has a system of diacritic marks that modify the pronunciation of certain consonants. These small marks are added to the upper-right corner of a kana character and change the base sound entirely.
- Dakuten (濁点) — two small diagonal strokes (゛) that voice a consonant (making it harder and fuller in the throat)
- Handakuten (半濁点) — a small circle (゜) that converts h sounds into p sounds
Voiced Consonant Pairs
K → G
| Base | Reading | Voiced | Reading |
| か | ka | が | ga |
| き | ki | ぎ | gi |
| く | ku | ぐ | gu |
| け | ke | げ | ge |
| こ | ko | ご | go |
S → Z
| Base | Reading | Voiced | Reading |
| さ | sa | ざ | za |
| し | shi | じ | ji |
| す | su | ず | zu |
| せ | se | ぜ | ze |
| そ | so | ぞ | zo |
T → D
| Base | Reading | Voiced | Reading |
| た | ta | だ | da |
| ち | chi | ぢ | (ji) |
| つ | tsu | づ | (zu) |
| て | te | で | de |
| と | to | ど | do |
💡 Note: ぢ and づ are rarely used in modern Japanese. In practice, じ and ず are used instead in almost all cases. You may encounter ぢ and づ in a small number of specific words.
H → B
| Base | Reading | Voiced | Reading |
| は | ha | ば | ba |
| ひ | hi | び | bi |
| ふ | fu | ぶ | bu |
| へ | he | べ | be |
| ほ | ho | ぼ | bo |
H → P (handakuten)
| ぱ | ぴ | ぷ | ぺ | ぽ |
| pa | pi | pu | pe | po |
💡 P-sounds are relatively uncommon in native Japanese words but appear frequently in loanwords: パン (pan = bread), ピアノ (piano).
Contracted Sounds — 拗音（ようおん）
As covered in Lesson 0, 拗音 are formed by combining an い-row kana with a small ゃ, ゅ, or ょ to produce a single blended syllable. Here is the complete reference chart including voiced and semi-voiced variants:
| Base | ＋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 |