Hiragana character chart

Memorize the 46 basic hiragana, voiced forms, combination sounds, and small kana. Use character flashcards to practice recognition and recall.

Practice Hiragana flashcards

The collection includes all 46 modern basic kana, 25 voiced or semi-voiced forms, and 36 combination spellings. The three d-series combinations are rare and labeled. Extra collections explain small forms and reading marks.

Small っ / ッ holds the next consonant for one beat. The katakana mark ー extends the previous vowel. Neither has a fixed standalone vowel sound. Historical kana and Ainu-specific forms are outside this Japanese collection.

Vowels

Character	Reading	Memory note
あ	a	The “a” sound
い	i	The “i” sound
う	u	The “u” sound
え	e	The “e” sound
お	o	The “o” sound

K row

Character	Reading	Memory note
か	ka	The “ka” sound
き	ki	The “ki” sound
く	ku	The “ku” sound
け	ke	The “ke” sound
こ	ko	The “ko” sound

S row

Character	Reading	Memory note
さ	sa	The “sa” sound
し	shi	The “shi” sound
す	su	The “su” sound
せ	se	The “se” sound
そ	so	The “so” sound

T row

Character	Reading	Memory note
た	ta	The “ta” sound
ち	chi	The “chi” sound
つ	tsu	The “tsu” sound
て	te	The “te” sound
と	to	The “to” sound

N row

Character	Reading	Memory note
な	na	The “na” sound
に	ni	The “ni” sound
ぬ	nu	The “nu” sound
ね	ne	The “ne” sound
の	no	The “no” sound

H row

Character	Reading	Memory note
は	ha	The “ha” sound
ひ	hi	The “hi” sound
ふ	fu	The “fu” sound
へ	he	The “he” sound
ほ	ho	The “ho” sound

M row

Character	Reading	Memory note
ま	ma	The “ma” sound
み	mi	The “mi” sound
む	mu	The “mu” sound
め	me	The “me” sound
も	mo	The “mo” sound

Y row

Character	Reading	Memory note
や	ya	The “ya” sound
ゆ	yu	The “yu” sound
よ	yo	The “yo” sound

R row

Character	Reading	Memory note
ら	ra	The “ra” sound
り	ri	The “ri” sound
る	ru	The “ru” sound
れ	re	The “re” sound
ろ	ro	The “ro” sound

W row & n

Character	Reading	Memory note
わ	wa	The “wa” sound
を	o	Pronounced o in modern Japanese; wo is a traditional chart/input spelling.
ん	n	The syllabic nasal sound

Voiced · G

Character	Reading	Memory note
が	ga	The “ga” sound
ぎ	gi	The “gi” sound
ぐ	gu	The “gu” sound
げ	ge	The “ge” sound
ご	go	The “go” sound

Voiced · Z

Character	Reading	Memory note
ざ	za	The “za” sound
じ	ji	The “ji” sound
ず	zu	The “zu” sound
ぜ	ze	The “ze” sound
ぞ	zo	The “zo” sound

Voiced · D

Character	Reading	Memory note
だ	da	The “da” sound
ぢ	ji	Pronounced ji; じ / ジ is the usual spelling.
づ	zu	Pronounced zu; ず / ズ is the usual spelling.
で	de	The “de” sound
ど	do	The “do” sound

Voiced · B

Character	Reading	Memory note
ば	ba	The “ba” sound
び	bi	The “bi” sound
ぶ	bu	The “bu” sound
べ	be	The “be” sound
ぼ	bo	The “bo” sound

Semi-voiced · P

Character	Reading	Memory note
ぱ	pa	The “pa” sound
ぴ	pi	The “pi” sound
ぷ	pu	The “pu” sound
ぺ	pe	The “pe” sound
ぽ	po	The “po” sound

Combination sounds

Character	Reading	Memory note
きゃ	kya	A combined “kya” sound
きゅ	kyu	A combined “kyu” sound
きょ	kyo	A combined “kyo” sound
しゃ	sha	A combined “sha” sound
しゅ	shu	A combined “shu” sound
しょ	sho	A combined “sho” sound
ちゃ	cha	A combined “cha” sound
ちゅ	chu	A combined “chu” sound
ちょ	cho	A combined “cho” sound
にゃ	nya	A combined “nya” sound
にゅ	nyu	A combined “nyu” sound
にょ	nyo	A combined “nyo” sound
ひゃ	hya	A combined “hya” sound
ひゅ	hyu	A combined “hyu” sound
ひょ	hyo	A combined “hyo” sound
みゃ	mya	A combined “mya” sound
みゅ	myu	A combined “myu” sound
みょ	myo	A combined “myo” sound
りゃ	rya	A combined “rya” sound
りゅ	ryu	A combined “ryu” sound
りょ	ryo	A combined “ryo” sound
ぎゃ	gya	A combined “gya” sound
ぎゅ	gyu	A combined “gyu” sound
ぎょ	gyo	A combined “gyo” sound
じゃ	ja	A combined “ja” sound
じゅ	ju	A combined “ju” sound
じょ	jo	A combined “jo” sound
ぢゃ	ja	A rare spelling of the “ja” sound; じゃ / ジャ, じゅ / ジュ, じょ / ジョ are usual.
ぢゅ	ju	A rare spelling of the “ju” sound; じゃ / ジャ, じゅ / ジュ, じょ / ジョ are usual.
ぢょ	jo	A rare spelling of the “jo” sound; じゃ / ジャ, じゅ / ジュ, じょ / ジョ are usual.
びゃ	bya	A combined “bya” sound
びゅ	byu	A combined “byu” sound
びょ	byo	A combined “byo” sound
ぴゃ	pya	A combined “pya” sound
ぴゅ	pyu	A combined “pyu” sound
ぴょ	pyo	A combined “pyo” sound

Small kana

Character	Reading	Memory note
ぁ	small a	A small kana used with another kana; read it in context.
ぃ	small i	A small kana used with another kana; read it in context.
ぅ	small u	A small kana used with another kana; read it in context.
ぇ	small e	A small kana used with another kana; read it in context.
ぉ	small o	A small kana used with another kana; read it in context.
ゃ	small ya	A small kana used with another kana; read it in context.
ゅ	small yu	A small kana used with another kana; read it in context.
ょ	small yo	A small kana used with another kana; read it in context.
ゎ	small wa	A less common small kana. Its pronunciation depends on the word.
ゕ	small ka	A less common small kana. Its pronunciation depends on the word.
ゖ	small ke	A less common small kana. Its pronunciation depends on the word.

Reading marks

Character	Reading	Memory note
っ	double consonant	Hold the following consonant for one extra beat; this is not the sound tsu.
ゝ	repeat kana	Repeat the preceding unvoiced hiragana. This mark has no sound by itself.
ゞ	repeat with voicing	Repeat the preceding hiragana with a voiced consonant. This mark has no sound by itself.

Additional forms

Character	Reading	Memory note
ゔ	vu	A rare hiragana v-series spelling; foreign words usually use katakana ヴ.

How to memorize these characters

Choose the matching reading from four options and check the instant feedback. Correct answers advance the review interval; missed characters appear once in an end review after all original questions. First-pass accuracy is kept separate from end-review results. Use scheduled reviews or free practice without changing review dates. Progress stays in your browser; export a backup to move devices.