Hiragana Chart with Audio
Hiragana has 46 basic letters, and each one is a whole syllable, such as か (ka) or し (shi). The hiragana chart reads across the five vowels a, i, u, e and o, and down the rows from k to w, ending with ん (n). Two small marks make 25 more sounds, such as が (ga) and ぱ (pa). A small や, ゆ or よ makes 33 blends, such as きゃ (kya). Tap any letter to hear it in a text-to-speech voice, or print the chart.
Published by SubjectCards
Tap any sound to hear it.
The 46 basic hiragana
Read each row across the five vowels. A blank box is a sound that has no letter of its own in modern Japanese.
| Row | a | i | u | e | o |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| vowels | |||||
| k | |||||
| s | |||||
| t | |||||
| n | |||||
| h | |||||
| m | |||||
| y | |||||
| r | |||||
| w | |||||
| n |
25 hiragana with dakuten and handakuten
Two short lines (dakuten) turn k into g, s into z, t into d and h into b. A small circle (handakuten) turns h into p.
| Row | a | i | u | e | o |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| g | |||||
| z | |||||
| d | |||||
| b | |||||
| p |
33 combined sounds (yoon)
A small ゃ, ゅ or ょ after a letter from the i column blends the two into one beat: き plus ゃ makes きゃ (kya).
| Row | ya | yu | yo |
|---|---|---|---|
| k | |||
| s | |||
| t | |||
| n | |||
| h | |||
| m | |||
| r | |||
| g | |||
| j | |||
| b | |||
| p |
Six letters break the pattern
Most letters are the row's consonant plus a vowel. Four are spelled differently in romaji because they sound different: し is shi, ち is chi, つ is tsu and ふ is fu.
を is said o, the same as お. Today it is used only as a grammar word that marks the object of a sentence. ん is the only letter with no vowel, and it never starts a word.
Two letters change their sound when they work as grammar words. は is read wa when it marks the topic, as in わたしは (watashi wa), and へ is read e when it means to.
Learn hiragana one row at a time
Start with the five vowels, because every other letter ends in one of them. Then learn one row at a time, saying each letter out loud as you tap it.
Turn each row into flashcards and test yourself with the romaji covered. Our free Japanese Pronunciation deck has all 46 letters with an example word on each card.
Leave the dakuten letters and the blends for last, because they reuse the shapes you already know.
How the audio and the printout work
The audio is Google Cloud text-to-speech, the same Japanese voice our flashcards use. We made one sound file per letter ahead of time, so a tap plays that file.
The print button gives you the three charts without the site menu, the buttons or this text, so the letters fill the page.
Frequently asked questions
How many hiragana are there?
There are 46 basic letters. Add the dakuten and handakuten marks and you get 71. With the small ゃ, ゅ and ょ blends, this chart shows 104 sounds.
What is the difference between hiragana and katakana?
They are two scripts for the same sounds. Hiragana writes Japanese words and grammar endings. Katakana writes words from other languages, such as コーヒー (koohii, coffee).
Why is は sometimes read wa?
When は marks the topic of a sentence, it is read wa, as in わたしは (watashi wa). In the same way, へ is read e when it means to, and を is always read o.
Whose voice reads the letters?
A computer voice. It is Google Cloud text-to-speech, the same Japanese voice our flashcards use.
Keep learning Japanese
More free guides and decks to get you speaking.