A Beautiful Guide to Japanese Writing
Katakana is one of the Japanese syllabaries, typically used for foreign words, names, and onomatopoeia. It came from abbreviated parts of Kanji, around 9th century AD. You'll notice that these characters are angular and sharp, contrasting with the smooth, cursive style of Hiragana. Below is the complete set of basic Katakana characters with examples!
Romanization: "a"
Example: アメリカ (amerika) - America
Romanization: "i"
Example: イギリス (igirisu) - England
Romanization: "u"
Example: ウイルス (uirusu) - Virus
Romanization: "e"
Example: エレベーター (erebētā) - Elevator
Romanization: "o"
Example: オレンジ (orenji) - Orange
Romanization: "ka"
Example: カフェ (kafe) - Café
Romanization: "ki"
Example: キス (kisu) - Kiss
Romanization: "ku"
Example: クッキー (kukkī) - Cookie
Romanization: "ke"
Example: ケーキ (kēki) - Cake
Romanization: "ko"
Example: コーヒー (kōhī) - Coffee
Romanization: "sa"
Example: サラダ (sarada) - Salad
Romanization: "shi"
Example: シャツ (shatsu) - Shirt
Romanization: "su"
Example: スポーツ (supōtsu) - Sports
Romanization: "se"
Example: セーター (sētā) - Sweater
Romanization: "so"
Example: ソフト (sofuto) - Software
Romanization: "ta"
Example: タクシー (takushī) - Taxi
Romanization: "chi"
Example: チーズ (chīzu) - Cheese
Romanization: "tsu"
Example: ツイッター (tsuittā) - Twitter
Romanization: "te"
Example: テレビ (terebi) - Television
Romanization: "to"
Example: トマト (tomato) - Tomato
Romanization: "na"
Example: ナイフ (naifu) - Knife
Romanization: "ni"
Example: ニュース (nyūsu) - News
Romanization: "nu"
Example: ヌードル (nūdoru) - Noodle
Romanization: "ne"
Example: ネット (netto) - Net (Internet)
Romanization: "no"
Example: ノート (nōto) - Notebook
Romanization: "ha"
Example: ハンバーガー (hanbāgā) - Hamburger
Romanization: "hi"
Example: ヒーロー (hīrō) - Hero
Romanization: "fu"
Example: フルーツ (furūtsu) - Fruits
Romanization: "he"
Example: ヘリコプター (herikoputā) - Helicopter
Romanization: "ho"
Example: ホテル (hoteru) - Hotel
Romanization: "ma"
Example: マスク (masuku) - Mask
Romanization: "mi"
Example: ミルク (miruku) - Milk
Romanization: "mu"
Example: ムービー (mūbī) - Movie
Romanization: "me"
Example: メニュー (menyū) - Menu
Romanization: "mo"
Example: モーター (mōtā) - Motor
Romanization: "ya"
Example: ヤフー (yahū) - Yahoo
Romanization: "yu"
Example: ユニフォーム (yunifōmu) - Uniform
Romanization: "yo"
Example: ヨーグルト (yōguruto) - Yogurt
Romanization: "ra"
Example: ラジオ (rajio) - Radio
Romanization: "ri"
Example: リモコン (rimokon) - Remote Control
Romanization: "ru"
Example: ルール (rūru) - Rule
Romanization: "re"
Example: レモン (remon) - Lemon
Romanization: "ro"
Example: ロボット (robotto) - Robot
Romanization: "wa"
Example: ワイン (wain) - Wine
Romanization: "wo"
Example: ヲ (o) - Object marker (rare)
Romanization: "n"
Example: ペン (pen) - Pen