Hiragana · Sound reference
Your hiragana chart, from vowels to combinations.
Use this hiragana chart to connect each Japanese character with its romaji reading. Start with the basic table, then explore voiced sounds and combinations below.
Free kana learning and practice · No account needed| a | i | u | e | o |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| あa | いi | うu | えe | おo |
| かka | きki | くku | けke | こko |
| さsa | しshi | すsu | せse | そso |
| たta | ちchi | つtsu | てte | とto |
| なna | にni | ぬnu | ねne | のno |
| はha | ひhi | ふfu | へhe | ほho |
| まma | みmi | むmu | めme | もmo |
| やya | No character | ゆyu | No character | よyo |
| らra | りri | るru | れre | ろro |
| わwa | No character | No character | No character | をwo |
| んn | No character | No character | No character | No character |
| a | i | u | e | o |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| がga | ぎgi | ぐgu | げge | ごgo |
| ざza | じji | ずzu | ぜze | ぞzo |
| だda | ぢji | づzu | でde | どdo |
| ばba | びbi | ぶbu | べbe | ぼbo |
| ぱpa | ぴpi | ぷpu | ぺpe | ぽpo |
| ya | yu | yo |
|---|---|---|
| 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 |
| ひゃhya | ひゅhyu | ひょhyo |
| みゃmya | みゅmyu | みょmyo |
| りゃrya | りゅryu | りょryo |
| ぎゃgya | ぎゅgyu | ぎょgyo |
| じゃja | じゅju | じょjo |
| びゃbya | びゅbyu | びょbyo |
| ぴゃpya | ぴゅpyu | ぴょpyo |
The small っ / ッ marks a brief pause before the next consonant, as in がっこう (gakkou). A long vowel in katakana is often written with ー. The interactive charts include these additional sounds.
Read the chart by sound
The columns follow the vowels a, i, u, e and o. Work across a row to learn a sound family, then test yourself by covering the romaji. The blank cells reflect gaps in modern kana rather than missing characters. Hiragana appears in native Japanese words, grammatical endings and particles. It is also used above kanji as furigana to show a word’s reading.
Sound marks and small kana
Two small strokes, called dakuten, change sounds such as か (ka) to が (ga). The small circle, handakuten, changes h-row sounds to p-row sounds. Small ゃ, ゅ and ょ combine with i-row kana to make sounds such as kya, shu and cho.
Move from reference to practice
Say a row aloud, compare any shapes you confuse, and try a short quiz without the chart. The interactive reference in the app includes audio buttons and both scripts. These tables also work without JavaScript and can be printed from your browser.
Good to know
How many basic hiragana characters are there?
Modern hiragana has 46 basic characters. Voiced variants, small characters and combinations extend the sounds you can write. The first table below contains all 46 basic kana.
Why is を shown as wo?
The chart uses wo to distinguish を from お. It is usually pronounced o in modern Japanese. Likewise, は and へ are pronounced wa and e when used as certain grammatical particles.