If you want to learn hiragana, you are starting Japanese from the right end. It is the first of the three writing systems, the most used in everyday life, and the one that unlocks everything else: grammar, reading, pronunciation. The good news is that there are only 46 basic signs, and you can remember them in one or two weeks.
Before you dive in, an important idea to set straight: hiragana is not an alphabet. Each sign stands for a syllable (most often a consonant plus a vowel), not a single isolated sound. This is what we call a syllabary. か reads "ka," not "k." That logic makes the whole set very regular, and therefore easier to memorize than it looks.
何What is hiragana and what is it for?
Japanese is written with three systems mixed together: hiragana, katakana, and kanji. Hiragana are signs with round, flowing shapes, of Japanese origin. They are used everywhere: for purely Japanese words, for grammar (verb endings, particles like は and が), and to write the reading of a kanji you do not yet know.
Concretely, the moment you can read hiragana, you can sound out a whole sentence out loud, even without understanding its meaning. That is what makes it the absolute priority for a beginner. As long as the kana are not in place, every word stays a wall; once they are, everything else becomes readable, and learning suddenly speeds up. Once hiragana feels easy, the natural next step is learning katakana, the second syllabary, which follows the very same grid of sounds. If you are still hesitating about the order, we answered it in detail in hiragana or katakana first.
A small historical note, because it helps to understand the shapes: hiragana grew out of cursive, simplified versions of Chinese characters. Hence their soft curves and fluid look, the opposite of the sharper katakana. You have nothing to memorize about this origin, but it explains why the two syllabaries look so different even though they write the same sounds.
表The 46 basic hiragana, row by row
The syllabary follows a very logical grid: five vowels, then consonants that combine with those same vowels, always in the same order (a, i, u, e, o). Learn them by rows, that is the key.
- Vowels: 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
- Final N: ん n
Notice the small pronunciation irregularities: し is said "shi" (not "si"), ち is "chi," つ is "tsu," and ふ sits between "fu" and "hu." These are the only real surprises in the grid. As for を, it works almost only as the object particle, and is pronounced "o."
濁Dakuten and handakuten: the little marks that change the sound
You do not need to learn new shapes for the "voiced" sounds. You simply add two small strokes (the dakuten, ゛) or a small circle (the handakuten, ゜) at the top right of the kana. The shape stays the same, only the sound changes.
- G (か → が): が ga · ぎ gi · ぐ gu · げ ge · ご go
- Z (さ → ざ): ざ za · じ ji · ず zu · ぜ ze · ぞ zo
- D (た → だ): だ da · ぢ ji · づ zu · で de · ど do
- B (は → ば): ば ba · び bi · ぶ bu · べ be · ぼ bo
- P (は → ぱ, with the circle): ぱ pa · ぴ pi · ぷ pu · ぺ pe · ぽ po
So there is nothing new to draw: if you know か, you already know が. The same logic applies across the whole row. The only set that takes the little circle is the "p" set, derived from the "h" row.
拗The combinations: きゃ, しゃ, and friends
For sounds like "kya" or "sho," you attach a small や, ゆ, or よ (written smaller) after a kana from the "i" column. The "i" disappears out loud and merges with the following sound.
- きゃ kya · きゅ kyu · きょ kyo
- しゃ sha · しゅ shu · しょ sho
- ちゃ cha · ちゅ chu · ちょ cho
- にゃ nya · にゅ nyu · にょ nyo
- みゃ mya · みゅ myu · みょ myo
- りゃ rya · りゅ ryu · りょ ryo
Watch the trap: きょ (a small よ, a single syllable "kyo") is not きよ (a full-size よ, two syllables "ki-yo"). The size of the second kana changes everything. On screen or on paper, the small character is clearly smaller than usual.
促The small っ: the doubled consonant
A small つ written in reduced size (っ) is not pronounced. It marks a brief pause that doubles the following consonant. Compare:
きて ・ きって
kite ・ kitte
come ・ stamp
In きって, the small っ creates a slight catch before the "t," like a held breath. To the ear, it is a completely different word. This little sign is everywhere in Japanese, so spot it early.
読Reading your first real words
Charts are a starting point, not the goal. The fastest way to make hiragana stick is to read actual words the moment you know a couple of rows. Reading forces your brain to retrieve each sign in context, which is exactly the effort that builds lasting memory. Try sounding these out slowly, one kana at a time, then say the whole word:
- あさ (asa) ・ morning. Two of the very first signs you learn.
- くち (kuchi) ・ mouth. Notice ち reads "chi," not "ti."
- つくえ (tsukue) ・ desk. The tricky つ ("tsu") in the wild.
- ひらがな (hiragana) ・ the name of the system, written in itself.
- おはよう (ohayō) ・ good morning, a phrase you will use daily.
If a word resists, do not stare at the chart. Break it into its rows, recall each sign from the grid logic (a, i, u, e, o), and rebuild the sound. After a dozen words, you will notice you are reading rather than decoding. That shift, from effort to recognition, is the whole point, and it comes faster than most beginners expect.
記How to memorize hiragana in one or two weeks
The sheer number looks scary, but the rhythm saves you. Here is a method that works, built on three simple principles.
- One or two rows a day. Five new signs, no more. At that pace, the basic syllabary fits in about ten days, with no overload.
- Mnemonics for the stubborn shapes. An image hooked onto a kana sticks better than empty repetition. き looks like a key, め suggests an eye with its loop, ふ has the silhouette of a hunched figure. Invent your own: those are the strongest.
- Active reading. As soon as you know a few rows, read real words out loud. すし (sushi), ねこ (neko, cat), やま (yama, mountain). Recognizing a kana inside a word anchors it far more than staring at it alone on a card.
Do not get stuck "reciting" hiragana in the order of the grid. You end up memorizing the sequence, not each sign on its own. Shuffle the order, test yourself on random kana, and read real words as soon as you can.
復Spaced repetition so you never lose them again
Learning hiragana is fast; keeping them requires reviewing at the right moment. That is the whole point of spaced repetition: reviewing a sign just before you would forget it, at intervals that stretch out over time. You work less, and you retain more. We cover this idea in our guide on learning Japanese by yourself, where consistency does the heavy lifting.
In practice, five minutes of review every day beat one long weekly session, by far. A daily habit survives busy weeks, whereas a big appointment is the first thing to get dropped.
誤The classic look-alikes to know in advance
Some pairs of hiragana resemble each other to the point of confusion. Spotting them early saves you weeks of hesitation.
- ね / れ / わ: three signs that share the same vertical base on the left. What changes is the right side: ね has a loop, れ has a leg that drops down, わ an open curve.
- さ / ち: almost mirror images of each other. さ (sa) opens toward the bottom right, ち (chi) is flipped, like a backward "5."
- る / ろ: る has a small loop at the end, ろ stops short with no loop.
- は / ほ: ほ carries one extra horizontal bar at the top.
The right reflex: when two kana trip you up, write them side by side and stare precisely at the element that tells them apart. That detail, and that alone, is what your brain needs to hold onto.
筆Should you learn to write them by hand?
This question divides people, so let us be concrete. If your goal is to read Japanese (subtitles, menus, textbooks, apps), you do not need to know how to draw each hiragana with a pen. Reading alone is enough to move forward, and it is reading that unlocks vocabulary and grammar.
That said, writing each sign a few times genuinely helps memory. The gesture engages another kind of memory, more physical, that reinforces visual recognition. No need to fill pages: tracing a kana five or six times while saying it out loud is enough to carve it deeper. Respect the stroke order (broadly: top to bottom, left to right), not out of perfectionism, but because that order makes your signs legible and your hesitations rarer.
Our advice for a beginner in a hurry: prioritize reading, and write by hand only the kana that resist you. You get the best of both worlds without turning learning into a calligraphy chore.
問The questions everyone asks
A few questions come up almost every time. Here are short, clear answers.
How many hiragana do you need to know? The 46 basic ones are the foundation. With dakuten, handakuten, and combinations, you reach a little over a hundred variations, but they all derive from the 46: you are not learning a hundred drawings, you are learning 46 drawings and a few rules.
Are hiragana harder than katakana? Neither is harder in itself: same grid, same number. Hiragana often feel easier to remember simply because you run into them constantly, so you review them without meaning to.
Can you learn Japanese without hiragana, using only romaji? At the very start, romaji helps with pronunciation. But clinging to it quickly becomes a ball and chain: nearly all serious resources, and real Japanese, are written in kana and kanji. The sooner you drop romaji, the faster you progress.
Should I learn hiragana before vocabulary? Ideally, get one or two weeks ahead on hiragana, then attack vocabulary: you can then read each new word in its real writing, which reinforces the kana along the way.
音Getting the pronunciation right from day one
One quiet advantage of hiragana is that it teaches you correct pronunciation almost for free. Because each sign is a fixed syllable, there are no silent letters and no guessing how a word sounds: you read exactly what is written. Lock in a few habits early and you will sound natural without any extra effort.
Keep the vowels short, clean, and consistent: あ is always "a" as in "father," い always "ee," う a tight "oo," え a clear "eh," お a rounded "oh." They never drift the way English vowels do. Give every syllable roughly equal length and weight, rather than stressing one part of the word as we do in English. And treat the final ん as its own beat, a held "n" that fills a full syllable. Read your practice words out loud from the very first day: hearing yourself is what turns reading into speaking, and it costs you nothing but the breath.
次What comes after hiragana?
Once you read hiragana effortlessly, two paths open up. You can move on to katakana, the second syllabary, which follows exactly the same grid of sounds: it will be much faster. Or you can dive into basic vocabulary and grammar, now readable since everything is partly written in hiragana. Most beginners do both in parallel. For a full path in the right order, our guide on learning Japanese by yourself lays it all out.
At Hibi, you meet hiragana directly inside real everyday words and sentences, with pronunciation and spaced repetition built in, rather than in tables you recite and forget. Hibi is launching soon on the App Store, and you can see what it is about on the Hibi page. Five minutes a day, and within two weeks you will be reading your first Japanese words without thinking about it.