Learning Hiragana Row by Row with the Gojūon Chart

Hiragana is the first script most learners master, and it is the backbone of written Japanese. Every hiragana stands for a syllable, and the whole set is arranged in a neat table called the gojūon ("fifty sounds").

The basic chart

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

Plus the single consonant ん (n). Together these make the 46 basic hiragana.

A few sounds differ from the pattern: し is shi, ち is chi, つ is tsu and ふ is fu.

Adding marks

Two small marks change the sound:

• Dakuten (゛) voices a consonant: か ka → が ga, さ sa → ざ za, た ta → だ da, は ha → ば ba.
• Handakuten (゜) turns h into p: は ha → ぱ pa.

Small kana

• Small ゃ ゅ ょ combine with the previous kana: き + ゃ = きゃ (kya), し + ゅ = しゅ (shu), ち + ょ = ちょ (cho).
• A small っ doubles the next consonant: きって (kitte, stamp), ざっし (zasshi, magazine).

Three special characters

• は is ha, but as a particle it's read wa: わたしは (watashi wa).
• を is o, used only as a particle.
• へ is he, but as a particle it's read e.

How to learn

1. Learn one row a day, and write each character several times.
2. Use stories or pictures to remember shapes.
3. Read simple words: あき (aki, autumn), さくら (sakura), すし (sushi).
4. Test yourself by covering the romaji.

Look-alikes to watch

• い and り
• ぬ and め
• は and ほ
• わ and れ

Tips

1. Stroke order matters for neat, readable writing.
2. Reading comes first; writing follows.
3. Use the dictionary to check readings of unfamiliar words.

Look up any word with English Japanese Dictionary →