Hiragana chart
104 characters
Basic (gojūon)
46 characters
| Consonant | a | i | u | e | o |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | 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 wo | |||
| n |
Voiced (dakuten)
20 characters
Plosive (handakuten)
5 characters
Combinations (yōon)
33 characters
| Consonant | ya | yu | yo |
|---|---|---|---|
| ky | きゃ kya | きゅ kyu | きょ kyo |
| sh | しゃ sha | しゅ shu | しょ sho |
| ch | ちゃ cha | ちゅ chu | ちょ cho |
| ny | にゃ nya | にゅ nyu | にょ nyo |
| hy | ひゃ hya | ひゅ hyu | ひょ hyo |
| my | みゃ mya | みゅ myu | みょ myo |
| ry | りゃ rya | りゅ ryu | りょ ryo |
| gy | ぎゃ gya | ぎゅ gyu | ぎょ gyo |
| j | じゃ ja | じゅ ju | じょ jo |
| by | びゃ bya | びゅ byu | びょ byo |
| py | ぴゃ pya | ぴゅ pyu | ぴょ pyo |
Common questions
How many hiragana characters are there?
46 basic characters. Adding the voiced forms (dakuten and handakuten) and the combination characters (yōon) brings the full chart to 104 written forms, but those are modifications of the basic 46 rather than new shapes to memorise.
What is the difference between hiragana and katakana?
They represent the same sounds. Hiragana is used for grammar and native Japanese words; katakana is used for loanwords, foreign names, onomatopoeia and emphasis. Hiragana is rounded and flowing, katakana angular.
Why do some characters have two romaji spellings?
Two romanisation systems are in use. Hepburn spells characters as they sound to an English speaker (shi, chi, tsu, fu) and is what you will see in the wild; Kunrei-shiki is consistent with the chart's structure (si, ti, tu, hu) and appears in Japanese schools and some textbooks.
What are the small characters like っ and ゃ?
A small っ doubles the following consonant — きって (kitte) rather than きて (kite). A small ゃ, ゅ or ょ combines with an i-column character to make one syllable, as in きゃ (kya). Size is the only visual difference, so it matters.