Japanese famously has three writing systems: hiragana (平仮名), katakana (片仮名), and kanji (漢字). All are essential for reading and writing Japanese, but only the first two could be defined as alphabets. What’s more, while the English alphabet has 26 letters, the two Japanese alphabets have 46 characters each. With over three times the number of characters to learn, it can seem overwhelming at first, but that’s why we’re here to make it easy. Learning the Japanese alphabet in English in this guide is a great place to start.
All three writing systems are tied neatly together in the Japanese language and you’ll see the characters on your first day using Rosetta Stone’s Dynamic Immersion method. The text, paired with images and audio from native speakers will reinforce your learning, helping you pick up the written language naturally.
How do you write the Japanese alphabet in English?
Writing Japanese in English involves the use of “romanization,” or using Roman letters to write in a language that doesn’t use Roman letters. In Japanese, this is called “rо̄maji” (ローマ字). If you’ve ever written a Japanese word in an English sentence, you’ve already written the Japanese alphabet in English!
For example, writing the word “kimono” with Japanese characters is either きもの or 着物. Regardless of the writing system, they mean the same thing and have the same pronunciation. The key to the romanized kimono is knowing how each Japanese letter sounds and how it is normally written in the Japanese writing systems.
So, how does each Japanese character translate into English? Kanji have multiple answers to that question, but for phonetic words, the answer lies in hiragana (平仮名) and katakana (片仮名).
What are the Japanese writing systems?
All three writing systems—hiragana, katakana, and kanji—play important roles in the Japanese written language, and while there is no one true alphabet for Japanese, the closest equivalent is hiragana.
Hiragana is a phonetic system of letters or characters called “kana” (仮名). There are a total of 46 characters in the Japanese alphabet arranged in gojūon (五十音, fifty sounds) ordering, usually depicted in a table. Just like English, there are five vowels. Unlike English, these vowels are consistent in Japanese pronunciation. There are also 14 consonants, nearly all of which are paired with vowels to create a single sound.
The katakana writing system is another sort of Japanese alphabet. It uses the same romanization as hiragana and keeps the same order. The primary difference between the two is how they are used: hiragana is typically used for native Japanese words and katakana is generally used for foreign names or loanwords that are adopted from another language.
Kanji and the Japanese alphabet
While kanji is the dominant writing system in Japanese, it would be difficult to refer to it as an alphabet. There are over 2,000 individual kanji that are considered common knowledge and thousands more beyond that for rarer use. Most kanji also have multiple ways to read them and pronunciations, and some even have more than one meaning. As such, the term “alphabet” is more appropriate for hiragana and katakana.
The Japanese alphabets: hiragana and katakana
Fortunately, since both hiragana and katakana have the same romanization and pronunciation, the effort to learn them is easier. Once you have mastered one, you are halfway to learning the other, which makes you feel more confident if you’re wondering how long it takes to learn Japanese.
As for how to learn the Japanese alphabet in English, exposure and practice are key. Using the Rosetta Stone app to learn the writing systems alongside grammar and vocabulary is one option. For some people, it may be better to focus on identifying the characters alone in words that use hiragana or katakana without focusing on kanji yet. No matter which method you use, dedicate time each day to develop your long-term memory: Even practicing as little as 10 minutes a day will help you!
In addition to the characters below, there are also a few diacritical marks that slightly change some of the consonants. Dakuten (濁点), which look like ゛, and handaku-ten (半濁点), which look like ゜, are voiced variations of the consonants “k,” “s,” “t,” and “h.” They are added to the end of their associated hiragana, so you won’t need to learn any additional characters.
| Hiragana | Katakana | Pronunciation |
| あ い う え お a i u e o |
ア イ ウ エ オ a i u e o |
ah, ee, oo, eh, oh |
| か き く け こ ka ki ku ke ko |
カ キ ク ケ コ ka ki ku ke ko |
kah, kee, koo, keh, koh |
| さ し す せ そ sa shi su se so |
サ シ ス セ ソ sa shi su se so |
sah, shee, soo, seh, soh |
| た ち つ て と ta chi tsu te to |
タ チ ツ テ ト ta chi tsu te to |
tah, chee, tsoo, teh, toh |
| な に ぬ ね の na ni nu ne no |
ナ ニ ヌ ネ ノ na ni nu ne no |
nah, nee, noo, neh, noh |
| は ひ ふ へ ほ ha hi fu he ho |
ハ ヒ フ ヘ ホ ha hi fu he ho |
hah, hee, foo, heh, hoh |
| ま み む め も ma mi mu me mo |
マ ミ ム メ モ ma mi mu me mo |
mah, mee, moo, meh, moh |
| や ゆ よ ya yu yo |
ヤ ユ ヨ ya yu yo |
yah, yoo, yoh |
| ら り る れ ろ ra ri ru re ro |
ラ リ ル レ ロ ra ri ru re ro |
rah, ree, roo, reh, roh |
| わ を ん wa wo n |
ワ ヲ ン wa wo n |
wah, oh, n |
Grammar note: There used to be two more kana for each of the Japanese alphabets. The now-obsolete “we” and “wi” were once written ゑ and ゐ in hiragana and ヱ and ヰ in katakana, respectively. In modern Japanese, the “w” is dropped and they are simply pronounced and written as “e” and “i”. While they’re generally not used today, you may still find them used for stylistic purposes or in names of places or products.
The history behind the Japanese writing systems
The basis of the entire Japanese written language stems from Chinese characters. The origins of kanji were introduced to Japan in the form of coins, decorative items, and other results of trade as early as the first century A.D. It wasn’t until the fifth century that a scholar named Wani traveled to Korea and China to learn the Chinese written language. Two of the most important ancient texts in Japanese history were written based on what he and those after him learned: the kojiki (古事記, Record of Ancient Matters) and the nihon shoki (日本書紀, The Chronicles of Japan).
In short, the meaning behind the Chinese characters were adapted to the existing meaning of the Japanese spoken language. For example, even though there was a Chinese word and associated kanji for the number six, Japanese kept its own word and pronunciation but adopted the kanji for the written language.
| Kanji | Chinese | Japanese | English |
| 六 | liù | roku | six |
Hiragana and katakana were born from Chinese characters as a kind of cursive form used in calligraphy. You can see the similarities between the modern hiragana and katakana with their ancient counterparts.
| Hiragana | Original Kanji | Romanization |
| あ | 安 | a |
| か | 加 | ka |
| ふ | 不 | fu |
| Katakana | Original Kanji | Romanization |
| ハ | 八 | ha |
| チ | 千 | chi |
| ク | 久 | ku |
Should a beginner learn hiragana or katakana first?
If learning Japanese is your goal, reading and understanding hiragana first is fundamental. As it is used for native Japanese words, it will be the set of characters you use the most. Both, however, are more helpful to learn first before kanji.
There are three main ways hiragana is used in Japanese:
- for native Japanese words not used in kanji
- with okurigana (送り仮名), which are characters following one or more kanji to create a whole word
- with furigana (振り仮名), which are reading aids placed above kanji to explain how to read it
Katakana is almost exclusively used for foreign words or names. As a result, it is less common but can still be found everywhere you look. Unless your name is Japanese or Chinese, it will undoubtedly be written in katakana. There is also no shortage of loanwords in the Japanese language, for which katakana is used in nearly every case.
Ways that hiragana is used in the Japanese alphabet
Some Japanese words are written in hiragana instead of kanji as a matter of convenience. For example, the two words for “this” (kono and kore) can be written as 此の and 此れ, respectively, but they are most frequently written in hiragana only as この and これ. (Compare the similarities in the examples.) Certain grammatical components that help you understand word order in Japanese, such as particles, are also primarily written in hiragana.
Okurigana are straightforward: If a word is composed of both kanji and hiragana, then any hiragana would be called okurigana. This is often seen in adjectives and verbs or other words based on them. The very word okurigana, 送り仮名, includes one in the form of the ri (り) in the middle of the word. They are attached most often to the end of the word as in the adjective “beautiful” or utsukushii (美しい), where “shi” (し) and “i” (い) are the okurigana.
- Utsukushii desu! (美しいです！) = It’s beautiful!
Furigana exist to aid people in reading Japanese. They are small hiragana letters written above kanji to explain the pronunciation in a way that is easy to read and highly visible.
Most kanji have multiple ways to them. For example, the kanji for the first letter in Japan’s native name, nihon (日本), can be read as “ni,” “nichi,” “hi,” and more depending on the context. Offering the pronunciation in the form of furigana allows anyone to read them—regardless of kanji knowledge.
Which hiragana characters look the same?
Certain hiragana characters bear a striking resemblance to each other. They are worth comparing side by side so as to identify how they are different.
| Hiragana Characters | Romanization |
| あ / お | a / o |
| さ / ち / き | sa / chi / ki |
| い / こ | i / ko |
| め / ぬ | me / nu |
| れ / ね / わ | re / ne / wa |
| る / ろ | ru / ro |
Grammar note: Learning stroke order in Japanese is one way to combat the difficulty in learning similar-looking characters in the Japanese alphabet. The “stroke” refers to the exact order and direction each line of the letter is supposed to be written. Children writing English are also taught to start letters in a particular way for most Romanized letters.
How is katakana used?
Your name will likely be among the first things you write using katakana. Japanese pronunciation differs from English pronunciation, meaning many names will sound slightly different but others may sound nearly identical.
| English Name | Katakana | Japanese Pronunciation |
| Mary | メアリー | meh-ah-ree |
| Anna | アナ | ah-nah |
| George | ジョージ | joh-jee |
| Ian | イアン | ee-ahn |
When traveling in Japan, you’ll likely notice katakana used in multiple places during your stay. Many travel-related Japanese words are loan words like hotel (hoteru, ホテル), bus (basu, バス), and convenience store (konbini, コンビニ). The name of your country is also likely to be written in katakana.
| English Name | Katakana | Japanese Pronunciation |
| United States | アメリカ | ah-meh-ree-kah |
| England | イギリス | ee-gee-ree-soo |
| Australia | オーストラリア | oh-soo-toh-rah-ree-ah |
Grammar note: The loanwords for some countries do not come from English. In England’s case, the katakana name comes from the Portuguese word “inglês” for “English.” The Portuguese were the first travelers from Europe to make contact with Japan, so it’s no surprise that some of their words would remain a part of the Japanese language today.
Which katakana characters look the same?
Like with hiragana, there are several katakana characters that look similar. Some people find the similar katakana to be more difficult to distinguish, but a careful eye can discern which is which.
| Katakana Characters | Romanization |
| ケ / ク | ke / ku |
| コ / ユ / ロ | ko / yu / ro |
| ソ / ン | so / n |
| シ / ツ | shi / tsu |
| ス / ヌ | su / nu |
| フ / ラ / ヲ | fu / ra / wo |
Learn the ABCs of Japanese with Rosetta Stone
When learning the Japanese alphabet in English, it is important to remember that it’s not the same as English at all. Using romanization as a stepping stone to learning the Japanese alphabet and writing systems is an excellent way to start learning, but growing beyond the Romanized letters will accelerate your understanding of Japanese as a whole. By learning Japanese with Rosetta Stone, you can skip romanization and go straight to Japanese text, immersing you in the language right away.
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