Japanese Alphabets

Refer to Table 1-1. to 1-4. for hiragana, and Table 2. for katakana. You'll find the Hepburn system of romaji under each hiragana or katakana.

* Note: On this Web site, I use "wo" instead of "o" for を so that you can differentiate お(o) and を(wo).

** Note: For technical and other reasons, I may not follow the rules of the Hepburn system precisely, especially when dealing with long vowels. For example, under the rules, "yuki(ゆうき)," meaning courage, needs a macron over the letter "u." However, I can't put the macron for a technical reason. Therefore, ゆうき is spelled "yuuki" on this Web site. Read "Pronunciation of Japanese" below to learn about long vowels.

Table 1-1. HIRAGANA（ひらがな）
Goju-onzu（五十音図） - SEION（清音＝せいおん）

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

Short Vowels:

あ(a) is pronounced like "a" as in father.
い(i) is pronounced like "ee" as in cheese.
う(u) is pronounced like "u" as in root.
え(e) is pronounced like "e" as in pet.
お(o) is pronounced like "o" as in port.

*Note that all vowel sounds should be pronounced clearly, and that they are shorter than those of the English language.

Long Vowels:

In Japanese, some vowels are lengthened, and they are known as long vowels. For example, take a look at the word "suji." If you see the letter "u" as a short vowel, the meaning of the word is "a muscle; a tendon; a sinew; a line; a stripe"（すじ）, but if you make the "u" sound longer,(i.e."uu"), the meaning of the word changes into "a figure; a numeral"（すうじ）. Therefore, learners of Japanese need to be able to differentiate between long vowels and short vowels, though it may be confusing at first. On this Web site, the romaji notation for the long vowels is as follows:

aa
e.g. baasan（おばあさん; a grandma）

ii
e.g. ojiisan（おじいさん； a grandpa)

uu
e.g. tsuukin（つうきん； commutation)

ei (or ee)
e.g. meijin（めいじん； an expert)

ou (or oo) : e.g. oujo （おうじょ； a Royal princess)

Table 1-2. HIRAGANA（ひらがな）
Dakuon(濁音＝だくおん) & Handakuon(半濁音＝はんだくおん)

ぱ pa	ば ba	だ da	ざ za	が ga
ぴ pi	び bi	ぢ ji	じ ji	ぎ gi
ぷ pu	ぶ bu	づ zu	ず zu	ぐ gu
ぺ pe	べ be	で de	ぜ ze	げ ge
ぽ po	ぼ bo	ど do	ぞ zo	ご go

The dakuon(濁音) letters, shown in the white boxes above, have sonant marks at the top right. The enlarged are as follows:
ばびぶべぼ

The handakuon(半濁音) letters, shown in the colored boxes above, have small circles at the top right. Handakuon is the p-sound in the kana syllabary. The enlarged are as follows:
ぱぴぷぺぽ

Table 1-3. HIRAGANA（ひらがな）
Youon (拗音＝ようおん)
1. Seion (清音＝せいおん）

りゃ rya	みゃ mya	ひゃ hya	にゃ nya	ちゃ cha	しゃ sha	きゃ kya
りゅ ryu	みゅ myu	ひゅ hyu	にゅ nyu	ちゅ chu	しゅ shu	きゅ kyu
りょ ryo	みょ myo	ひょ hyo	にょ nyo	ちょ cho	しょ sho	きょ kyo

Table 1-4. HIRAGANA（ひらがな）
Youon (拗音＝ようおん)
2. Dakuon & Handakuon (濁音・半濁音)

ぴゃ pya	ぢゃ ja	じゃ ja	ぎゃ gya
ぴゅ byu	ぢゅ ju	じゅ ju	ぎゅ gyu
ぴょ pyo	ぢょ jo	じょ jo	ぎょ gyo

Table 2. KATAKANA（カタカナ）

ン n	ワ wa	ラ ra	ヤ ya	マ ma	ハ ha	ナ na	タ ta	サ sa	カ ka	ア a
	イ i	リ ri	イ i	ミ mi	ヒ hi	ニ ni	チ chi	シ shi	キ ki	イ i
	ウ u	ル ru	ユ yu	ム mu	フ fu	ヌ nu	ツ tsu	ス su	ク ku	ウ u
	エ e	レ re	エ e	メ me	ヘ he	ネ ne	テ te	セ se	ケ ke	エ e
	ヲ wo	ロ ro	ヨ yo	モ mo	ホ ho	ノ no	ト to	ソ so	コ ko	オ o

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Japanese Alphabets Hiragana, Katakana, and Kanji

Japanese Alphabets
Hiragana, Katakana, and Kanji