Reference sheet
Hiragana stroke chart
The complete gojūon — all 46 characters, every stroke drawn and numbered in writing order. Built to print, and meant to live beside the paper.
1.The grid
Five vowels across, consonants down. Read it as a·i·u·e·o and then the same five sounds with each consonant in front. The dashes are real gaps: those syllables do not exist in modern Japanese.
| a | i | u | e | o | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| vowel | あ | い | う | え | お |
| k | か | き | く | け | こ |
| s | さ | し | す | せ | そ |
| t | た | ち | つ | て | と |
| n | な | に | ぬ | ね | の |
| h | は | ひ | ふ | へ | ほ |
| m | ま | み | む | め | も |
| y | や | — | ゆ | — | よ |
| r | ら | り | る | れ | ろ |
| w | わ | — | — | — | を |
| — | ん — belongs to no row: no vowel, but still a full beat of its own | ||||
Irregular readings: し is shi, ち is chi, つ is tsu, ふ is fu made with both lips and no teeth. を is pronounced o, exactly like お, and is only ever the object particle. Everything else is exactly consonant + vowel.
2.Stroke order
Numbers mark where each stroke begins. Three habits cover almost every character: top before bottom, left before right, horizontal before the vertical that crosses it.
This chart is drawn by the browser and needs JavaScript. With it disabled, use the grid in section 1 for the character set.
3.Confusion pairs to watch
These are the shapes that get mixed up, mostly in the first month. Writing both members of a pair side by side fixes them faster than looking at them does.
| This | vs | Tell them apart by |
|---|---|---|
| さ sa | ち chi | さ opens to the left, ち opens to the right — mirror images |
| き ki | さ sa | き has two crossbars, さ has one |
| ぬ nu | め me | ぬ finishes with a loop, め does not |
| ね ne | れ re / わ wa | ね ends in a full loop, れ in a hook, わ in a curve |
| つ tsu | し shi | つ is a horizontal wave, し a vertical hook |
| に ni | た ta | に is upright + two marks, た is a cross + a hook |
| は ha | ほ ho / ま ma | ほ is は with a second crossbar; ま has no left-hand upright at all |
| る ru | ろ ro | る closes its loop, ろ leaves it open — the only difference |
| り ri | い i | り leans in and its right stroke runs long; い stands straight and even |
| を o | お o | same sound, different job — を is only ever a particle, お is a letter inside words |
4.Everything the 46 characters can build
Words from the lessons, grouped by row, each one glossed in Arabic as well as English so the sheet carries the same parallel the lessons do. A handful carry dakuten — the two small marks that voice a sound, as in みず — which are a later day's work; everything else is the plain chart.
| Row | Japanese | English | Arabic |
|---|---|---|---|
| あ | あさ asa |
morning | صَبَاحٌ ṣabāḥ |
| いえ ie |
house | بَيْتٌ bayt |
|
| うた uta |
song | أُغْنِيَةٌ ughniya |
|
| おかね okane |
money | مَالٌ māl |
|
| か | かさ kasa |
umbrella | مِظَلَّةٌ miẓalla |
| かお kao |
face | وَجْهٌ wajh |
|
| くつ kutsu |
shoes | حِذَاءٌ ḥidhāʾ |
|
| こえ koe |
voice | صَوْتٌ ṣawt |
|
| さ | さかな sakana |
fish | سَمَكَةٌ samaka |
| しお shio |
salt | مِلْحٌ milḥ |
|
| すな suna |
sand | رَمْلٌ raml |
|
| そと soto |
outside | خَارِجٌ khārij |
|
| た | たかい takai |
expensive; tall | غَالٍ ghālin |
| ちいさい chiisai |
small | صَغِيرٌ ṣaghīr |
|
| つくえ tsukue |
desk | مَكْتَبٌ maktab |
|
| とけい tokei |
clock | سَاعَةٌ sāʿa |
|
| な | なつ natsu |
summer | صَيْفٌ ṣayf |
| なに nani |
what | مَا mā |
|
| ねこ neko |
cat | قِطٌّ qiṭṭ |
|
| のど nodo |
throat | حَلْقٌ ḥalq |
|
| は | はな hana |
flower | زَهْرَةٌ zahra |
| ひと hito |
person | شَخْصٌ shakhṣ |
|
| ふゆ fuyu |
winter | شِتَاءٌ shitāʾ |
|
| へや heya |
room | غُرْفَةٌ ghurfa |
|
| ほし hoshi |
star | نَجْمٌ najm |
|
| ま | まち machi |
town | مَدِينَةٌ madīna |
| みず mizu |
water | مَاءٌ māʾ |
|
| むし mushi |
insect | حَشَرَةٌ ḥashara |
|
| め me |
eye | عَيْنٌ ʿayn |
|
| もり mori |
forest | غَابَةٌ ghāba |
|
| や | やま yama |
mountain | جَبَلٌ jabal |
| ゆき yuki |
snow | ثَلْجٌ thalj |
|
| よる yoru |
night | لَيْلٌ layl |
|
| ら | らくだ rakuda |
camel | جَمَلٌ jamal |
| りんご ringo |
apple | تُفَّاحَةٌ tuffāḥa |
|
| くるま kuruma |
car | سَيَّارَةٌ sayyāra |
|
| れい rei |
zero | صِفْرٌ ṣifr |
|
| ろく roku |
six | سِتَّةٌ sitta |
|
| わ | わたし watashi |
I | أَنَا anā |
| ほんをよむ hon o yomu |
to read a book | يَقْرَأُ كِتَابًا yaqraʾu kitāban |
|
| ん | ほん hon |
book | كِتَابٌ kitāb |
| にほん nihon |
Japan | اَلْيَابَانُ al-yābān |
|
| せんせい sensei |
teacher | اَلْمُعَلِّمُ al-muʿallim |
Two of those rows carry a caveat the words alone do not show. In ほんをよむ, を marks the object and does nothing else — it is never a letter inside a word. And every ん word in the table has ん somewhere other than the front, because ん never begins one.