New here? What katakana is.

Step 5

Learn the characters

Same grid as hiragana, including ヨ. The ア, カ, サ, タ, ナ, ハ, マ, ヤ, ラ, ワ, and ン rows have a mnemonic and stroke order. The other characters stay placeholders.

ヲ is rare. The particle is almost always hiragana を. Loanwords also use extra combinations later, such as ファ and ティ. Learn this grid first.

Basic characters

46 sounds. Read across a row, then down. The ア, カ, サ, タ, ナ, ハ, マ, ヤ, ラ, ワ, and ン rows have a mnemonic and stroke order.

ア行

ア

a

ah — Find the capital A in ア.

Stroke order for ア

イ

i

ee — An eagle.

Stroke order for イ

ウ

u

oo — Looks like the hiragana う.

Stroke order for ウ

エ

e

eh — An I-beam an engineer would use.

Stroke order for エ

オ

o

oh — An opera singer, “Ohhhhh ♪”

Stroke order for オ

カ行

カ

ka

kah — Looks like the hiragana か.

Stroke order for カ

キ

ki

kee — A key.

Stroke order for キ

ク

ku

koo — A cook’s hat.

Stroke order for ク

ケ

ke

keh — The letter K.

Stroke order for ケ

コ

ko

koh — Two 90° corners

Stroke order for コ

サ行

サ

sa

sah — A sardine and a salmon on a skewer.

Stroke order for サ

シ

shi

shee — She has a weird face.

Stroke order for シ

ス

su

soo — A Superman suit.

Stroke order for ス

セ

se

seh — Looks like the hiragana せ.

Stroke order for セ

ソ

so

soh — A needle and a thread to sew.

Stroke order for ソ

タ行

タ

ta

tah — Tako (“kite”) with a taco on it.

Stroke order for タ

チ

chi

chee — A cheerleader doing a cheer.

Stroke order for チ

ツ

tsu

tsoo — Two needles and a thread.

Stroke order for ツ

テ

te

teh — A telephone pole.

Stroke order for テ

ト

to

toh — A totem pole.

Stroke order for ト

ナ行

ナ

na

nah — A narwhal.

Stroke order for ナ

ニ

ni

nee — A couple of needles.

Stroke order for ニ

ヌ

nu

nu — Some noodles.

Stroke order for ヌ

ネ

ne

neh — A horse jumping a hurdle. “Neigh!”

Stroke order for ネ

ノ

no

noh — A really long nose

Stroke order for ノ

ハ行

ハ

ha

hah — A rice paddy hat.

Stroke order for ハ

ヒ

hi

hee — He is saying “He he hee!”

Stroke order for ヒ

フ

fu

foo — A flag that’s triangle-shaped.

Stroke order for フ

ヘ

he

heh — Looks like the hiragana へ.

Stroke order for ヘ

ホ

ho

hoh — A holy cross with holy light coming off it.

Stroke order for ホ

マ行

マ

ma

mah — Look at all the angles and all the math stuff.

Stroke order for マ

ミ

mi

mee — Three missiles.

Stroke order for ミ

ム

mu

moo — Looks like a cow’s face.

Stroke order for ム

メ

me

meh — An X over someone’s め (eye)

Stroke order for メ

モ

mo

moh — Looks like the hiragana も.

Stroke order for モ

ヤ行

ヤ

ya

yah — Looks like the hiragana や

Stroke order for ヤ

ユ

yu

yoo — You have a hook for a hand.

Stroke order for ユ

ヨ

yo

yoh — A yogi doing some yoga.

Stroke order for ヨ

ラ行

ラ

ra

rah — A raptor wearing sunglasses like a rapper.

Stroke order for ラ

リ

ri

ree — Looks like the hiragana り.

Stroke order for リ

ル

ru

roo — Two routes.

Stroke order for ル

レ

re

reh — Look at the beautiful red hair Rei has!

Stroke order for レ

ロ

ro

roh — A square-shaped road.

Stroke order for ロ

ワ行

ワ

wa

wah — A question mark. “What???”

Stroke order for ワ

ヲ

wo

woh — A dog woofing so hard its tongue is flying out.

Stroke order for ヲ

ン

ン

n

n — A man with one eye. “Mnn, why only one eye?”

Stroke order for ン

Dakuten

Two short marks voice the sound. か becomes が. ぢ and づ are the same sounds as じ and ず in Tokyo Japanese. Learn the shapes anyway.

ガ行

ガ

ga

Mnemonic

Stroke order

ギ

gi

Mnemonic

Stroke order

グ

gu

Mnemonic

Stroke order

ゲ

ge

Mnemonic

Stroke order

ゴ

go

Mnemonic

Stroke order

ザ行

ザ

za

Mnemonic

Stroke order

ジ

ji

Mnemonic

Stroke order

ズ

zu

Mnemonic

Stroke order

ゼ

ze

Mnemonic

Stroke order

ゾ

zo

Mnemonic

Stroke order

ダ行

ダ

da

Mnemonic

Stroke order

ヂ

ji

Mnemonic

Stroke order

ヅ

zu

Mnemonic

Stroke order

デ

de

Mnemonic

Stroke order

ド

do

Mnemonic

Stroke order

バ行

バ

ba

Mnemonic

Stroke order

ビ

bi

Mnemonic

Stroke order

ブ

bu

Mnemonic

Stroke order

ベ

be

Mnemonic

Stroke order

ボ

bo

Mnemonic

Stroke order

Handakuten

A small circle makes the は row into p sounds.

パ行

パ

pa

Mnemonic

Stroke order

ピ

pi

Mnemonic

Stroke order

プ

pu

Mnemonic

Stroke order

ペ

pe

Mnemonic

Stroke order

ポ

po

Mnemonic

Stroke order

Yōon

A small ゃ, ゅ, or ょ after an i-row kana is one beat, not two. きょ is kyo, one mora.

キ + ャュョ

キャ

kya

Mnemonic

Stroke order

キュ

kyu

Mnemonic

Stroke order

キョ

kyo

Mnemonic

Stroke order

シ + ャュョ

シャ

sha

Mnemonic

Stroke order

シュ

shu

Mnemonic

Stroke order

ショ

sho

Mnemonic

Stroke order

チ + ャュョ

チャ

cha

Mnemonic

Stroke order

チュ

chu

Mnemonic

Stroke order

チョ

cho

Mnemonic

Stroke order

ニ + ャュョ

ニャ

nya

Mnemonic

Stroke order

ニュ

nyu

Mnemonic

Stroke order

ニョ

nyo

Mnemonic

Stroke order

ヒ + ャュョ

ヒャ

hya

Mnemonic

Stroke order

ヒュ

hyu

Mnemonic

Stroke order

ヒョ

hyo

Mnemonic

Stroke order

ミ + ャュョ

ミャ

mya

Mnemonic

Stroke order

ミュ

myu

Mnemonic

Stroke order

ミョ

myo

Mnemonic

Stroke order

リ + ャュョ

リャ

rya

Mnemonic

Stroke order

リュ

ryu

Mnemonic

Stroke order

リョ

ryo

Mnemonic

Stroke order

ギ + ャュョ

ギャ

gya

Mnemonic

Stroke order

ギュ

gyu

Mnemonic

Stroke order

ギョ

gyo

Mnemonic

Stroke order

ジ + ャュョ

ジャ

ja

Mnemonic

Stroke order

ジュ

ju

Mnemonic

Stroke order

ジョ

jo

Mnemonic

Stroke order

ビ + ャュョ

ビャ

bya

Mnemonic

Stroke order

ビュ

byu

Mnemonic

Stroke order

ビョ

byo

Mnemonic

Stroke order

ピ + ャュョ

ピャ

pya

Mnemonic

Stroke order

ピュ

pyu

Mnemonic

Stroke order

ピョ

pyo

Mnemonic

Stroke order

Small tsu

ッ is not one of the 46. It holds a beat and doubles the next consonant. がっこう is ga, a stop, ko, u.

ッ

doubles the next consonant

Mnemonic

Stroke order