Hiragana chart with stroke order
Hiragana is the first Japanese script most learners meet. It's used for grammar endings, small words and anything without a common kanji, and it's how children's books and furigana reading guides are written. Below are all 46 basic hiragana with the romaji reading, number of strokes and the order to write them. Numbers mark where each stroke starts.
Dakuten and handakuten
Two small marks change the sound. Dakuten ゛ makes a consonant voiced (k → g, s → z, t → d, h → b). Handakuten ゜ only goes on the h-row and turns it into p.
| 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 |
Combinations (yōon)
A kana from the i-column plus a small ゃ ゅ ょ blends into one syllable: き + ゃ = きゃ (kya). Write the small kana lower and smaller.
| 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 |
Small っ doubles the next consonant (きって, kitte, stamp), and long vowels are written by adding a vowel kana (おかあさん, okāsan).
Practise writing these with Kuma
Kuma checks every stroke you draw, so you learn the right order and direction. Free, no download needed.