Did you know that Japanese has more than one writing system? In fact, it has three—often used together! Before you concern yourself with the thousands of highly specific characters, however, the best option is to start with the writing systems akin to alphabets. Hiragana (ひらがな) should be your first priority, but katakana (カタカナ) is especially useful for people learning Japanese as a second language.
Just like when you learned the alphabet in your native language, recognizing the shapes of the characters and what they sound like is the first step to reading the Japanese language. You’ll find every modern katakana character in this guide, how to pronounce them, and how to use them effectively.
Table of Contents
What is katakana?
Katakana is one of the two Japanese syllabaries that function as alphabets. Unlike hiragana, which is primarily used for native Japanese words, katakana is the writing system meant for foreign words. Don’t let that fool you into thinking it’s rare, though—it’s an extremely common writing system that you’ll see on the street in Japan everywhere you look.
Where did katakana come from?
Both katakana and hiragana can trace their origins back to the borrowed Chinese writing system, or kanji (漢字). Japanese didn’t have a native writing system before adopting Chinese characters, but over time, certain kanji were simplified to match Japanese phonemes. These manyōgana (万葉仮名) are what gave Japanese the alphabets still used today.
| Manyōgana | Katakana | Romanization |
| 川 | ツ | tsu |
| 二 | ニ | ni |
| 祢 | ネ | ne |
| 女 | メ | me |
| 呂 | ロ | ro |
Katakana chart of 46 characters
Like hiragana, modern Japanese uses 46 katakana characters. The combined total of those two writing systems is 92, which is indeed larger than most alphabets, but the good news is that hiragana and katakana are pronounced identically. This makes it easy to master your Japanese pronunciation at the same time! You can find all 46 modern Japanese katakana characters in this complete chart.
| Katakana | Romanization | Pronunciation |
| ア | a | ah |
| イ | i | ee |
| ウ | u | oo |
| エ | e | eh |
| オ | o | oh |
| カ | ka | kah |
| キ | ki | kee |
| ク | ku | koo |
| ケ | ke | keh |
| コ | ko | koh |
| サ | sa | sah |
| シ | shi | shee |
| ス | su | soo |
| セ | se | seh |
| ソ | so | soh |
| タ | ta | tah |
| チ | chi | chee |
| ツ | tsu | tsoo |
| テ | te | teh |
| ト | to | toh |
| ナ | na | nah |
| ニ | ni | nee |
| ヌ | nu | noo |
| ネ | ne | neh |
| ノ | no | noh |
| ハ | ha | hah |
| ヒ | hi | hee |
| フ | fu | foo |
| ヘ | he | heh |
| ホ | ho | hoh |
| マ | ma | mah |
| ミ | mi | mee |
| ム | mu | moo |
| メ | me | meh |
| モ | mo | moh |
| ヤ | ya | yah |
| ユ | yu | yoo |
| ヨ | yo | yoh |
| ラ | ra | rah |
| リ | ri | ree |
| ル | ru | roo |
| レ | re | reh |
| ロ | ro | roh |
| ワ | wa | wah |
| ヲ | wo | oh |
| ン | n | n |
Which katakana characters look the same?
Several katakana characters look concerningly similar. While these katakana characters can be difficult to distinguish, a careful eye can discern which is which.
| Japanese | Romanization |
| ケ ク タ | ke ku ta |
| コ ユ ロ | ko yu ro |
| ソ ン | so n |
| シ ツ | shi tsu |
| ス ヌ | su nu |
| フ ラ ワ ヲ | fu ra wa wo |
| チ テ | chi te |
| ナ メ | na me |
| レ ル | re ru |
The direction and order you write each line—known as Japanese stroke order—is especially important in katakana. The distinction between so (ソ) and n (ン) as well as shi (シ) and tsu (ツ) is based almost entirely on whether the curved line is written from top to bottom or bottom to top. As you learn the katakana alphabet, make sure you add katakana stroke order to your practice sessions.
Additional katakana characters
To expand the range of sounds, Japanese adds diacritical marks to hiragana and katakana characters. However, beyond the marks used in both alphabets, katakana has a few special cases all on its own.
For example, the lengthening mark, chōonpu (長音符), elongates a vowel sound. It looks like a dash (ー), and is predominantly used in katakana, while hiragana generally combines vowel sounds to create the same effect. Because katakana is meant to emulate foreign sounds, it has unique features that set it apart.
What are the voiced sounds in katakana?
The unobtrusive dakuten (濁点) indicate voiced sounds in katakana and look like small quotation marks (゛) in the upper right corner of the character. With a few exceptions, this turns “k” sounds into “g” sounds, “s” sounds into “z” sounds, “t” sounds into “d” sounds, and “h” sounds into “b” sounds. The “h” sounds also get an additional half-voiced mark (handakuten, 半濁点) that looks like a small circle (゜) in the upper right corner of the character that turns the “h” sounds into “p” sounds.
| Katakana | Romanization | Pronunciation |
| ガ | ga | gah |
| ギ | gi | gee |
| グ | gu | goo |
| ゲ | ge | geh |
| ゴ | go | goh |
| ザ | za | zah |
| ジ | ji | jee |
| ズ | zu | zoo |
| ゼ | ze | zeh |
| ゾ | zo | zoh |
| ダ | da | dah |
| ヂ | ji | jee |
| ヅ | zu | zoo |
| デ | de | deh |
| ド | do | doh |
| バ | ba | bah |
| ビ | bi | bee |
| ブ | bu | boo |
| ベ | be | beh |
| ボ | bo | boh |
| パ | pa | pah |
| ピ | pi | pee |
| プ | pu | poo |
| ペ | pe | peh |
| ポ | po | poh |
What are the contracted sounds in katakana?
The Japanese language creates contracted sounds through the combination of characters that end in an “i” sound and the three “y” sounds: ya (ヤ), yu (ユ), and yo (ヨ). It’s important to pay attention to the size, as a combination of characters with the full-size “y” sound will be two separate syllables, while the contracted sounds use a small “y” character to make one syllable.
- キヤ = ki-ya
- キャ = kya
| ya | yu | yo | |
| ki | キャ kya | キュ kyu | キョ kyo |
| gi | ギャ gya | ギュ gyu | ギョ gyo |
| shi | シャ sha | シュ shu | ショ sho |
| ji | ジャ ja | ジュ ju | ジョ jo |
| chi | チャ cha | チュ chu | チョ cho |
| ni | ニャ nya | ニュ nyu | ニョ nyo |
| hi | ヒャ hya | ヒュ hyu | ヒョ hyo |
| bi | ビャ bya | ビュ byu | ビョ byo |
| pi | ピャ pya | ピュ pyu | ピョ pyo |
| mi | ミャ mya | ミュ myu | ミョ myo |
| ri | リャ rya | リュ ryu | リョ ryo |
What are extended katakana?
Katakana is meant to spell out foreign words, but not all sounds in foreign words have direct equivalents in Japanese. The result is katakana combinations that add small versions of the vowels to the lower right of characters to create unique contracted syllables. Sometimes, the words will be written with those additional vowels as full-size characters, but the intended sound is the same. These combinations are unusual within Japanese, so the rules surrounding their use are a little looser.
Remember that these are sounds that lie outside the normal Japanese phonemes but they remain Japanese. Even though they resemble sounds in the other languages they’re meant to emulate, they will not sound exactly the same.
| Katakana | Romanization | Pronunciation |
| ウィ | wi | wee |
| ウェ | we | weh |
| ウォ | who | woh |
| ヴィ | vi | vee |
| ヴェ | ve | veh |
| ヴォ | vo | voh |
| ジェ | je | jeh |
| チェ | che | cheh |
| ツァ | tsa | tsah |
| ティ | ti | tee |
| ディ | di | dee |
| トゥ | tu | too |
| ファ | fa | fah |
| フィ | fi | fee |
| フェ | fe | feh |
| フォ | fo | foh |
Despite the rarity of these combinations, you’ll still recognize some of the words they can create! In the process of going from English to katakana, many of the syllables stay familiar.
- webu (ウェブ）= web
- kafe（カフェ）= cafe
- chekku（チェック）= check
- disuku（ディスク）= disk/disc
How to use katakana
Katakana is primarily used for foreign words, which includes Japanese loanwords and names. Your name will likely be among the first things you use katakana to write. Japanese pronunciation differs from English pronunciation, meaning many names will sound slightly different, but others may sound nearly identical.
| Katakana | Japanese Pronunciation | English Name |
| メアリー | meh-ah-ree | Mary |
| アナ | ah-nah | Anna |
| ジョージ | joh-jee | George |
| イアン | ee-ahn | Ian |
When traveling in Japan, you’re almost guaranteed to find katakana in multiple places during your stay. Many travel=related Japanese words are loanwords written in katakana, 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.
| Katakana | Japanese Pronunciation | English name |
| アメリカ | ah-meh-ree-kah | United States |
| イギリス | ee-gee-ree-soo | England |
| オーストラリア | oh-soo-toh-rah-ree-ah | Australia |
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.
How do you type in katakana?
The first step to typing in Japanese—including katakana—is to update your device’s language settings. Depending on your computer or phone, that process will be different, but the way you type in katakana is universal. You won’t even need to get used to a so-called katakana keyboard format, as a QWERTY keyboard is all you need.
Typing in katakana on a computer keyboard requires a few more keystrokes than typing in hiragana, but the principle is the same. Once you’ve turned on the Japanese language setting for your keyboard, type out the romanized sounds you learned alongside katakana. If you type “a,” it will automatically result in the hiragana character あ. To turn that into katakana, you have three options:
- Tap the space spar before hitting enter to confirm the character. This opens up a menu for you to select the character you want that matches that sound, including katakana. Kanji options will also appear, so be careful.
- Before you hit enter, use the key command Ctrl+i. Instead of turning the character into italics, it will change the hiragana to katakana.
- Manually change the Japanese keyboard setting from “Hiragana” to “Full-Width Katakana” to type exclusively in katakana. Because you’re unlikely to be writing only in katakana, it’s easier and more efficient to use one of the first two options.
For mobile devices, the process is even easier thanks to the autocorrect function on most smartphones. Type out the word using romanization the same way you do on a computer keyboard, and look at the autocorrect options you’re given. There’s a good chance the word you’re looking for is already suggested!
3 easy ways to memorize katakana
Daily katakana practice is the most reliable way to memorize katakana quickly and efficiently. You don’t need to spend an hour of concentrated study on it—just 5-10 minutes per day over breakfast or before you go to bed is enough! If you learn hiragana first, you can reasonably expect katakana to take you less time to learn because you’ll already be familiar with the order of the characters and what they sound like.
If you’re looking for a few ways to expedite your learning, you can start with Katakana flashcards, which are a reliable and time-tested exercise for simple memorization. If you learn well by writing things down, try making your own! Otherwise, pre-made katakana decks are easy to find.
Also, look for mnemonic devices in the shape and sound of the characters. You can come up with ideas yourself, or you can rely on resources like the Katakana Memory Hint app from The Japan Foundation that have done the work for you.
Then, find real-life examples of katakana and practice reading them. This can be as simple as going to a Wikipedia page for your favorite movie and switching the page language to Japanese. The number of katakana characters you’ll see through immersion learning may surprise you!
Read in katakana on the Rosetta Stone app
Regardless of how you choose to learn katakana, consistency is what matters most. Learn five characters a day and you’ll be done in a week! As you keep learning Japanese, katakana will continue to appear, so you’ll get plenty of practice naturally.
You can decide to learn the Japanese alphabets first or get started on grammar and conversation from the beginning. Either way, the Rosetta Stone app will ease you into Japanese the same way you learned your native language. Comfortably flip the text settings between Japanese writing systems and the romanization to suit your study style!
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