Learn Hiragana: The Complete Beginner’s Guide to Japanese Writing

Introduction

If you’re starting to learn Japanese, Hiragana (ひらがな) is your first big step. Hiragana is one of the three writing systems in Japanese (along with Katakana and Kanji), and it’s essential for reading, writing, and speaking the language.

In this guide, you’ll learn:
✔ What Hiragana is and how it’s used
✔ The 46 basic Hiragana characters
✔ Special Hiragana sounds (like きゃ, しゃ, が, ぱ…)
✔ How to pronounce them correctly
✔ Practice examples and common words

Let’s start your Hiragana journey!

1. What is Hiragana?

Hiragana is a phonetic writing system with 46 basic characters. Each character represents a syllable (like “ka,” “shi,” or “mu”). Hiragana is used to:

• Spell native Japanese words (words that originated in Japan, not borrowed from other languages like Chinese)
  • Examples: やま (yama – mountain), さくら (sakura – cherry blossom), みず (mizu – water), and common greetings like ありがとう (arigato – thank you).
• Write grammatical parts (like particles or verb endings)
• Add pronunciation hints (called furigana) to kanji

To see how these three scripts work together, let’s look at a real Japanese sentence. This example shows how hiragana is used for grammatical parts, as pronunciation guides for kanji, and alongside katakana for borrowed words.

私わたしは毎朝まいあさカフェに行いって、コーヒーを飲のみます。
Watashi wa maiasa kafe ni itte, kōhī o nomimasu.
I go to the cafe every morning and drink coffee.

Breakdown:

• Hiragana for Grammar: The characters は (wa), に (ni), を (o) are grammatical particles. The endings って (tte) and みます (mimasu) are parts of the verbs.
• Hiragana for Pronunciation (Furigana): The small hiragana above the kanji, like わたし (watashi) over 私, show the reader how to pronounce the character.
• Katakana: カフェ (kafe) and コーヒー (kōhī) are used because “cafe” and “coffee” are words borrowed from other languages.
• Kanji: 私 (I), 毎朝 (every morning), 行 (to go), and 飲 (to drink) are the core idea-conveying characters.

Clarity Without Spaces

Unlike English, Japanese sentences are written without spaces between words. So, how do people know where one word ends and the next begins?

The combination of hiragana, katakana, and kanji provides visual cues that help separate words and grammatical elements, making the sentence much easier to read and understand.

Let’s look at our example sentence again, but this time written only with hiragana and katakana. You can see how kanji helps make the sentence more compact and easier to parse at a glance.

• With Kanji (Easier to read): 私は毎朝カフェに行って、コーヒーを飲みます。
• Without Kanji (Harder to read): わたしはまいあさカフェにいって、コーヒーをのみます。

The Origin of Hiragana

Hiragana characters were not created from scratch. They evolved from a simplified, cursive style of writing complex kanji characters. Around the 9th century, people began using certain kanji just for their phonetic sound. Over time, these characters were simplified into the smooth, rounded forms we know as hiragana today.

For example, the hiragana あ (a) comes from the kanji 安 (an), and い (i) comes from the kanji 以 (i).

A Quick Note on Fonts

You might notice that some hiragana characters look slightly different depending on the typeface or handwriting. This can be confusing at first, but it’s similar to how the letter ‘a’ can look different in various English fonts.

This is especially common with characters like き (ki), さ (sa), and り (ri), where the strokes might be connected or separated. Don’t worry—they are still the same character and have the same pronunciation.

Let’s take a look at how the Hiragana “き (ki)” can appear slightly different depending on the font you use.

2. The 46 Basic Hiragana Characters

Here are the core characters you need to learn first:

💡 Pronunciation Note:
Some sounds use special Romanization to reflect real pronunciation better:

• し → shi (not si)
• ち → chi (not ti)
• つ → tsu (not tu)
• ふ → fu (not hu)
• を → pronounced as “o”, not “wo”

3. Special Hiragana Sounds

There are 23 more sounds with two types of diacritical marks:

• With a pair of diagonal strokes ( ゛ ), the unvoiced consonants k, s, t, h become voiced g, z, d, b respectively.
• With a small circle ( ゜ ), the unvoiced consonant h changes to p.
• ぢ and づ have the same pronunciation with じ and ず respectively, and their use is limited.
  • Example: はなぢ (鼻血 / nosebleed), てづくり (手作り / handmade)

4. Contracted Sounds (きゃ, しゃ, ちゃ, etc.)

When small や (ya), ゆ (yu), or よ (yo) follow certain characters ending in “i,” a new blended sound is formed:

• Small や, ゆ and よ can follow the sounds in the second row (い-vowel row, except い) to transcribe contracted sounds.
• The contracted sounds are pronounced as a single syllable.
• Example words:
  • いしゃ (医者 / doctor)
  • きょうと (京都 / Kyoto)
  • ちゅうごく (中国 / China)
  • ぎゅうにゅう (牛乳 / milk)
  • りょこう (旅行 / travel)
  • ひゃく (百 / hundred)
  • みょうじ (苗字 / family name)
  • びょうき (病気 / illness)

5. Double Consonants & the Small つ (っ)

A small character “っ” is used to transcribe double consonants such as tt or pp sounds.

A double consonant nn as in さんねん (sannen, “three years”) is transcribed with ん + a initial-n hiragana (なにぬねの).

• Without the small っ, the meaning completely changes! Example:
  • きって (kitte / stamp) ⇔ きて (kite / Come on)
  • さっき (sakki / just now) ⇔ さき (saki / ahead)
  • かった (katta / won) ⇔ かた (kata / shoulder)
• The small っ (a smaller version of つ tsu) is called a “sokuon / 促音.” It isn’t pronounced as “tsu.” Instead, it indicates a short pause or a “doubled” consonant sound, and it always counts as one full beat by itself.
  • 来て (kite – come here)
    • き (ki) + て (te)
    • This word has 2 beats.
  • 切手 (kitte – postage stamp)
    • き (ki) + っ (pause) + て (te)
    • The small っ adds a full beat of length for the pause.
    • This word has 3 beats.

6. Long Vowels (Chōon / 長音)

What Are Long Vowels?

A long vowel (chōon) is a vowel sound that is held for twice as long as a normal vowel. Think of it as adding an extra beat to the sound. This concept is crucial in Japanese because changing the length of a vowel can completely change the meaning of a word.

All five vowels in Japanese—あ (a), い (i), う (u), え (e), and お (o)—can be lengthened. When you see a long vowel, you simply hold the vowel sound for double the time.

Why Are They So Important?

Failing to pronounce a long vowel correctly can lead to misunderstandings. Be careful not to accidentally call a young aunt a grandmother!

• おばさん (obasan) = aunt (o-ba-san)
• おばあさん (obāsan) = grandmother (o-baaa-san)

Here’s another classic example:

• おじさん (ojisan) = uncle (o-ji-san)
• おじいさん (ojiisan) = grandfather (o-jiii-san)

How to Write Long Vowels in Hiragana

The writing rules for long vowels are straightforward, but there’s a special pattern for “e” and “o” sounds that you need to know.

The Basic Rule (for あ, い, う sounds)

To make an “a,” “i,” or “u” sound long, you simply add the same vowel character after it.

• a sound + あ: おかあさん (okāsan – mother)
• i sound + い: ちいさい (chiisai – small)
• u sound + う: すうじ (sūji – number)

The Special Rule (for え, お sounds)

This is where beginners often get confused. Instead of adding the same vowel, you usually add a different one.

For “e” sounds, add い.

When you see a character ending in “e” followed by い, don’t pronounce the “i” separately. The い just tells you to lengthen the “e” sound.

• Example: せんせい (sensei – teacher)
• Pronunciation: se-n-see (NOT sen-se-i)

For “o” sounds, add う.

Similarly, when a character ending in “o” is followed by う, the う makes the “o” sound longer.

• Example: がっこう (gakkō – school)
• Pronunciation: ga-k-koo (NOT gak-ko-u)

A Few Exceptions

While the rules above cover most cases, there are exceptions. For example, おねえさん (onēsan – older sister) uses え to lengthen the “e” sound, and おおきい (ōkii – big) uses お to lengthen the “o” sound. You’ll learn these as you encounter more vocabulary.

Long Vowels and Rhythm

Remember that every character, including the one that creates a long vowel, counts as one full beat.

• ここ (koko) – “here” → 2 beats (ko + ko)
• こうこう (kōkō) – “high school” → 4 beats (ko + u + ko + u)

Mastering long vowels is a key step toward achieving a natural Japanese rhythm and pronunciation.

7. Practice Time!

Try reading these Hiragana words aloud:

にほん (Japan)

かわいい (Cute)

くるま (Car)

さんぽ (Stroll)

しゅっしん (Hometown)

じゅぎょう (Class)

がっこう (School)

りゅうがくせい (Exchange student)

📝 Tip: Record yourself and compare it with a native speaker!

8. FAQ – Frequently Asked Questions

Conclusion: Your First Step into Japanese

Hiragana is the foundation of Japanese literacy. Once you master it, you’ll be able to read and write basic Japanese, pronounce words correctly, and move on to Katakana and Kanji with more confidence.

💪 Next Steps:

• Practice writing 5 characters a day
• Read easy words out loud
• Use Hiragana in short phrases