Hiragana Chart: Learn All 46 Basic Hiragana with Romaji & Pronunciation

Learning Hiragana is one of the best first steps when you start learning Japanese.

At first, the characters may look unfamiliar. But you do not need to memorize everything at once.

There are 46 basic Hiragana characters.

The easiest way to learn them is simple:

One row at a time.

In this guide, you will learn:

• All 46 basic Hiragana characters
• Romaji pronunciation
• Simple Japanese example words
• Dakuten and Handakuten
• Small ゃ・ゅ・ょ
• Small っ
• Basic reading practice

Let's begin.

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What Is Hiragana?

Japanese uses three main writing systems:

• Hiragana（ひらがな）
• Katakana（カタカナ）
• Kanji（漢字）

For beginners, Hiragana is the best place to start.

Hiragana is used in everyday Japanese words, grammar, particles, and verb endings.

For example:

こんにちは
konnichiwa
Hello

ありがとう
arigatou
Thank you

おはよう
ohayou
Good morning

Once you can read Hiragana, learning Japanese becomes much easier.

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Full Hiragana Chart

Use this chart whenever you forget a character.

You do not need to memorize this whole chart today.

Start with the first row:

あ　い　う　え　お

Then move to the next row when you are ready.

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How to Use This Guide

A simple way to study Hiragana is:

1. Look at the character.
2. Say the sound aloud.
3. Write it several times.
4. Read a simple word using the character.
5. Review it again the next day.

Five or ten minutes every day is enough to make progress.

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Part 1: The 46 Basic Hiragana

Lesson 1 — あ Row

These are the five basic Japanese vowel sounds.

Hiragana	Romaji	Approximate Sound
あ	a	ah
い	i	ee
う	u	oo
え	e	eh
お	o	oh

Read them aloud:

あ　い　う　え　お

a　i　u　e　o

Examples:

あさ — asa — morning
いえ — ie — house
うみ — umi — sea
えき — eki — station
おと — oto — sound

Practice

Try reading this without looking at the Romaji:

あ　い　う　え　お

→ Individual Lesson: Hiragana Lesson 1: あ・い・う・え・お

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Lesson 2 — か Row

Hiragana	Romaji
か	ka
き	ki
く	ku
け	ke
こ	ko

Read:

か　き　く　け　こ

ka　ki　ku　ke　ko

Examples:

かお — kao — face
き — ki — tree
くち — kuchi — mouth
けさ — kesa — this morning
ここ — koko — here

→ Individual Lesson: Hiragana Lesson 2: か・き・く・け・こ

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Lesson 3 — さ Row

Be careful with し.

It is pronounced shi, not “si.”

Hiragana	Romaji
さ	sa
し	shi
す	su
せ	se
そ	so

Read:

さ　し　す　せ　そ

sa　shi　su　se　so

Examples:

さかな — sakana — fish
しお — shio — salt
すし — sushi — sushi
せかい — sekai — world
そら — sora — sky

→ Individual Lesson: Hiragana Lesson 3: さ・し・す・せ・そ

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Lesson 4 — た Row

This row has two special sounds:

ち = chi
つ = tsu

Hiragana	Romaji
た	ta
ち	chi
つ	tsu
て	te
と	to

Read:

た　ち　つ　て　と

ta　chi　tsu　te　to

Examples:

たまご — tamago — egg
ちず — chizu — map
つき — tsuki — moon
て — te — hand
とり — tori — bird

→ Individual Lesson: Hiragana Lesson 4: た・ち・つ・て・と

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Lesson 5 — な Row

Hiragana	Romaji
な	na
に	ni
ぬ	nu
ね	ne
の	no

Read:

な　に　ぬ　ね　の

na　ni　nu　ne　no

Examples:

なつ — natsu — summer
にく — niku — meat
ぬの — nuno — cloth
ねこ — neko — cat
のむ — nomu — to drink

→ Individual Lesson: Hiragana Lesson 5: な・に・ぬ・ね・の

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Lesson 6 — は Row

Be careful with ふ.

It is usually written as fu, but the sound is softer than the English “f.”

Hiragana	Romaji
は	ha
ひ	hi
ふ	fu
へ	he
ほ	ho

Read:

は　ひ　ふ　へ　ほ

ha　hi　fu　he　ho

Examples:

はな — hana — flower
ひと — hito — person
ふね — fune — ship
へや — heya — room
ほし — hoshi — star

Important

When は is used as a grammar particle, it is pronounced wa.

Example:

わたしは たけしです。
Watashi wa Takeshi desu.
I am Takeshi.

→ Individual Lesson: Hiragana Lesson 6: は・ひ・ふ・へ・ほ

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Lesson 7 — ま Row

Hiragana	Romaji
ま	ma
み	mi
む	mu
め	me
も	mo

Read:

ま　み　む　め　も

ma　mi　mu　me　mo

Examples:

まど — mado — window
みず — mizu — water
むし — mushi — insect
め — me — eye
もの — mono — thing

→ Individual Lesson: Hiragana Lesson 7: ま・み・む・め・も

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Lesson 8 — や Row

The や row has only three basic characters.

Hiragana	Romaji
や	ya
ゆ	yu
よ	yo

Read:

や　ゆ　よ

ya　yu　yo

Examples:

やま — yama — mountain
ゆき — yuki — snow
よる — yoru — night

→ Individual Lesson: Hiragana Lesson 8: や・ゆ・よ

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Lesson 9 — ら Row

The Japanese R sound is made with a quick, light tap of the tongue.

Do not worry if it is difficult at first.

Hiragana	Romaji
ら	ra
り	ri
る	ru
れ	re
ろ	ro

Read:

ら　り　る　れ　ろ

ra　ri　ru　re　ro

Examples:

らく — raku — easy
りんご — ringo — apple
るす — rusu — absence
れきし — rekishi — history
ろく — roku — six

→ Individual Lesson: Hiragana Lesson 9: ら・り・る・れ・ろ

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Lesson 10 — わ・を・ん

The final basic Hiragana characters are:

Hiragana	Romaji
わ	wa
を	wo
ん	n

わ is pronounced wa.

を is usually used as a grammar particle. It is written as wo, but in modern Japanese it is normally pronounced o.

Example:

みずを のみます。
Mizu o nomimasu.
I drink water.

ん represents the sound n.

Examples:

ほん — hon — book
にほん — nihon — Japan
せんせい — sensei — teacher

→ Individual Lesson: Hiragana Lesson 10: わ・を・ん

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You Learned the 46 Basic Hiragana!

If you can recognize the characters above, you have completed an important first step.

You do not need to read them perfectly yet.

Go back to the Hiragana chart whenever you forget a character.

That is completely normal.

Next, let's look at some extra Hiragana sounds.