Katakana is one of the three writing systems used in Japanese, alongside hiragana and kanji. Like hiragana it’s a phonetic script, meaning each character represents a sound.
What is the purpose of katakana?
It’s mainly used for writing foreign words and names, like “coffee” (コーヒー, kōhī) or “Michael” (マイケル, Maikeru).
It’s also used for onomatopoeia (sound effects), scientific terms, or for emphasis, kind of like italics in English.
What does katakana look like?
Katakana characters are more angular and sharp compared to the rounded shapes of hiragana.
For example:
- Hiragana “a” (あ) vs. Katakana “a” (ア).
Where will you see katakana?
- On menus for foreign dishes like “pizza” (ピザ, piza).
- In loanwords, like “internet” (インターネット, intānetto).
- In manga or advertising for dramatic sound effects or emphasis.
Learning katakana is useful because it helps you read a lot of modern Japanese that borrows from other languages.
It’s not as hard as it looks—there are only 46 basic characters, just like hiragana!
Now that you know what katakana is, let’s learn them.