Learn Hiragana

A Beautiful Guide to Japanese Writing

Hiragana Basics

Hiragana is one of the Japanese syllabaries used for native words and grammatical elements. It evolved from cursive forms of Kanji, around 9th century AD. Below is the complete set of basic Hiragana characters with examples!

あ

Romanization: "a"

Example: あさ (asa) - Morning

い

Romanization: "i"

Example: いぬ (inu) - Dog

う

Romanization: "u"

Example: うみ (umi) - Sea

え

Romanization: "e"

Example: えき (eki) - Station

お

Romanization: "o"

Example: おちゃ (ocha) - Tea

か

Romanization: "ka"

Example: かさ (kasa) - Umbrella

き

Romanization: "ki"

Example: きり (kiri) - Fog

く

Romanization: "ku"

Example: くつ (kutsu) - Shoes

け

Romanization: "ke"

Example: けし (keshi) - Eraser

こ

Romanization: "ko"

Example: こども (kodomo) - Child

さ

Romanization: "sa"

Example: さかな (sakana) - Fish

し

Romanization: "shi"

Example: しお (shio) - Salt

す

Romanization: "su"

Example: すし (sushi) - Sushi

せ

Romanization: "se"

Example: せかい (sekai) - World

そ

Romanization: "so"

Example: そら (sora) - Sky

た

Romanization: "ta"

Example: たこ (tako) - Octopus

ち

Romanization: "chi"

Example: ちず (chizu) - Map

つ

Romanization: "tsu"

Example: つき (tsuki) - Moon

て

Romanization: "te"

Example: てがみ (tegami) - Letter

と

Romanization: "to"

Example: とり (tori) - Bird

な

Romanization: "na"

Example: なつ (natsu) - Summer

に

Romanization: "ni"

Example: にほん (nihon) - Japan

ぬ

Romanization: "nu"

Example: ぬま (numa) - Swamp

ね

Romanization: "ne"

Example: ねこ (neko) - Cat

の

Romanization: "no"

Example: のみもの (nomimono) - Drink

は

Romanization: "ha"

Example: はな (hana) - Flower

ひ

Romanization: "hi"

Example: ひかり (hikari) - Light

ふ

Romanization: "fu"

Example: ふね (fune) - Boat

へ

Romanization: "he"

Example: へや (heya) - Room

ほ

Romanization: "ho"

Example: ほん (hon) - Book

ま

Romanization: "ma"

Example: まど (mado) - Window

み

Romanization: "mi"

Example: みず (mizu) - Water

む

Romanization: "mu"

Example: むし (mushi) - Bug

め

Romanization: "me"

Example: めがね (megane) - Glasses

も

Romanization: "mo"

Example: もり (mori) - Forest

や

Romanization: "ya"

Example: やま (yama) - Mountain

ゆ

Romanization: "yu"

Example: ゆき (yuki) - Snow

よ

Romanization: "yo"

Example: よる (yoru) - Night

ら

Romanization: "ra"

Example: らじお (rajio) - Radio

り

Romanization: "ri"

Example: りんご (ringo) - Apple

る

Romanization: "ru"

Example: るす (rusu) - Absence

れ

Romanization: "re"

Example: れい (rei) - Zero

ろ

Romanization: "ro"

Example: ろぼ (robo) - Robot

わ

Romanization: "wa"

Example: わたし (watashi) - I/Me

を

Romanization: "wo"

Example: を (o) - Object marker

ん

Romanization: "n"

Example: てん (ten) - Point