Hiragana Complete Guide: All 46 Characters with Pronunciation

2026年4月23日

Hiragana (ひらがな) is the first Japanese alphabet every learner masters. Its 46 base characters cover every sound in Japanese, and once you know them, you can read any Japanese word written phonetically.

TOC

The 5 Vowels — Start Here

Every hiragana syllable ends in one of five vowel sounds: a, i, u, e, o. These five characters are the foundation of everything.

Hiragana	Romaji	Sound like…
あ	a	“a” in “father”
い	i	“ee” in “feet”
う	u	“oo” but with less lip rounding
え	e	“e” in “bed”
お	o	“o” in “go”

The Full Hiragana Chart

Row	a	i	u	e	o
Vowels	あ	い	う	え	お
K	か	き	く	け	こ
S	さ	し(shi)	す	せ	そ
T	た	ち(chi)	つ(tsu)	て	と
N	な	に	ぬ	ね	の
H	は	ひ	ふ(fu)	へ	ほ
M	ま	み	む	め	も
Y	や	—	ゆ	—	よ
R	ら	り	る	れ	ろ
W	わ	—	—	—	を(wo)
N (alone)	ん

Irregular Pronunciations to Watch

し = “shi” (not “si”)
ち = “chi” (not “ti”)
つ = “tsu” (not “tu”)
ふ = “fu” (a softer sound, not like English “foo”)
を = “o” in modern Japanese (the “w” is silent)
ん = “n/m/ng” depending on what follows it

Voiced Sounds: Adding dakuten ( ゛)

Many rows have voiced counterparts created by adding two small dots (゛) called dakuten:

Unvoiced	Voiced	Examples
か(ka)	が(ga)	かぎ(kagi, key), ざんねん(zannen, too bad)
さ(sa)	ざ(za)	ざっし(zasshi, magazine)
た(ta)	だ(da)	だれ(dare, who)
は(ha)	ば(ba)	バナナ→ばな(bana…)

How to Learn Hiragana Efficiently

Learn in rows (5 characters at a time), not randomly
Write each character by hand — muscle memory accelerates recognition
Associate shapes with pictures: り looks like a person leaning, る has a tail like a “R”
Use spaced repetition apps (Anki works great for kana)
Practice reading real words from day 1 — don’t wait until you know all 46

Practice: Read These Words

Once you know the basic chart, try reading these common words:

あした (ashita) — tomorrow
これ (kore) — this
なまえ (namae) — name
すき (suki) — like
たべる (taberu) — to eat
のむ (nomu) — to drink
いく (iku) — to go

Yuka & Rei Start from Zero: The Hiragana Journey

Learning kana feels abstract until you see how real learners talk about it. Here is Yuka working through the tricky parts — and Rei making the explanations click. Their questions are probably the same ones you have.

Yuka

Rei, I want to learn hiragana but there are 46 characters. How long does it actually take to learn them all?

Rei

With daily practice, most people learn all 46 base hiragana in 1–2 weeks. The key is spaced repetition — study a row of 5, review the next day, add another 5. Don’t try to do all 46 at once. Slow and steady beats marathon sessions.

Yuka

Which hiragana row should I learn first?

Rei

Start with the あ row — あいうえお. These five vowels are the foundation of everything. Every other hiragana combines a consonant with one of these five vowel sounds. Once these are automatic, every other row clicks into place faster.

Yuka

Is there a trick for remembering the shape of characters?

Rei

Many learners use visual mnemonics. あ looks like someone sitting in a chair with their arms out. か looks like a karate kick. Look up a hiragana mnemonic chart — once you see the ‘story’ in the shape, you’ll never forget it.

5 Practice Examples — Read These Aloud

These examples use the characters from this article in real words. Say each one aloud and try to recall the article’s rules as you read.

あ・い・う・え・お — The five Japanese vowels. Memorise these before anything else.
あめ (ame) — rain
いえ (ie) — house / home
うえ (ue) — above / up
おかあさん (okaasan) — mother (notice the double あ for the long vowel)

Your Turn! Write Your Own Example in the Comments

The fastest way to remember kana is to write words you already know in Japanese script. Try writing your name, your hometown, or your favourite food using the characters from this article.

Share what you wrote in the comments — other learners will see it, and writing for an audience makes the learning stick twice as fast. Log in to save your comment history and join the Top Commenters ranking!

Keep Learning: Kana Hub | Grammar | All Kana Articles | Start Learning Japanese