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Japanese Writing System — All Cards
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Japanese uses three scripts: Hiragana (native words), Katakana (foreign words), and Kanji (Chinese-origin characters). Hiragana and Katakana each have 46 base characters. Master pronunciation rules before moving on — long vowels, double consonants, and pitch accent are commonly overlooked early.
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Long Vowels
Extend vowel duration. aa, ii, uu, ei/ee, ou/oo. In hiragana: おかあさん (okaasan), おにいさん (oniisan). For 'oo', write おう (e.g., おはよう).
The Sound ん (n)
Pronounced 'm' before b/m/p (e.g., さんぽ = sampo). Pronounced 'ng' before k/g (e.g., まんが = manga). Otherwise 'n'.
Vowel Dropping (Silent u/i)
The 'u' in です (desu) and ます (masu) is often silent. The 'i' in すき (suki) can be devoiced between voiceless consonants.
Pitch Accent vs. Stress Accent
Japanese uses pitch (high/low) rather than stress (loud/soft). はし can mean 'bridge' (LH) or 'chopsticks' (HL) depending on pitch.
Double Consonants (っ)
Small tsu (っ) creates a pause/glottal stop before the next consonant. きって (kitte) = stamp. がっこう (gakkou) = school.
Contracted Sounds (拗音)
Combine i-column kana with small ya/yu/yo: きゃ (kya), しゅ (shu), ちょ (cho). The ya/yu/yo must be written small.
Dakuten (゛) & Handakuten (゜)
Dakuten voices consonants: k→g, s→z, t→d, h→b. Handakuten: h→p. E.g., か→が, さ→ざ, は→ば, は→ぱ.
おか___さん (mother)
あ
が___こう (school)
っ
When to use Katakana
Used for: foreign loanwords (コーヒー), foreign names (メアリー), onomatopoeia, emphasis, and scientific terms.
Long Vowels in Katakana
Use ー (long dash) instead of vowel kana: コーヒー (koohii), ケーキ (keeki), ノート (nooto).
Special Katakana Combinations
For sounds not native to Japanese: ティ (ti), ディ (di), ファ (fa), フェ (fe), フィ (fi), ヴ (vu).
コンピューター
computer
アイスクリーム
ice cream
ハンバーガー
hamburger
Ｔシャツ
T-shirt
ジーンズ
jeans
スマホ
smartphone
Kanji Formation: Pictograms (象形文字)
Characters derived from pictures of objects. 木 (tree), 山 (mountain), 川 (river), 日 (sun).
Kanji Formation: Simple Ideograms (指事文字)
Abstract concepts shown with symbols. 上 (above), 下 (below), 一 (one), 二 (two), 三 (three).
Kanji Formation: Compound Ideograms (会意文字)
Two or more elements combined for meaning. 明 (bright) = 日 (sun) + 月 (moon). 休 (rest) = 人 (person) + 木 (tree).
On-yomi vs. Kun-yomi
On-yomi: Chinese-derived reading, used in compound words (e.g., 山 = サン in 火山/kazan). Kun-yomi: native Japanese reading, used alone (e.g., 山 = やま).
明 combines 日 (___) and 月 (___) to mean 'bright'
sun, moon