The Japanese writing system is one of the most unique in the world, consisting of three primary scripts:
- Hiragana
- Katakana
- Kanji.
These scripts are used in combination, with each serving a distinct purpose in the language.
To put things in context, English only uses one script (Latin).
Japanese Alphabet to English
In Japan, English letters are referred to as Roma-ji.
As in “Roman Letters” or “Roman Characters”. Don’t you just love how accurate the Japanese are in describing things?
Love it.
Anyways, now let’s take a deeper look at these scripts, starting with Hiragana.
Hiragana
Hira-Ga-Na
ひらがな
-
- Characters: 46 basic characters, each representing a distinct syllable.
- Use: Primarily for native Japanese words and grammatical functions.
| Hiragana | Rōmaji | Pronunciation | Example Word | Translation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| あ | a | ah | あさ (a-sa) | morning |
| い | i | ee | いぬ (i-nu) | dog |
| う | u | oo | うみ (u-mi) | sea |
| え | e | eh | えき (e-ki) | station |
| お | o | oh | おちゃ (o-cha) | tea |
| か | ka | ka | かさ (ka-sa) | umbrella |
| き | ki | kee | き (ki) | tree |
| く | ku | koo | くち (ku-chi) | mouth |
| け | ke | keh | けさ (ke-sa) | this morning |
| こ | ko | koh | こえ (ko-e) | voice |
| さ | sa | sa | さくら (sa-ku-ra) | cherry blossom |
| し | shi | shee | しろ (shi-ro) | white |
| す | su | soo | すいか (su-i-ka) | watermelon |
| せ | se | seh | せんせい (sen-sei) | teacher |
| そ | so | soh | そら (so-ra) | sky |
| た | ta | ta | たべる (ta-be-ru) | to eat |
| ち | chi | chee | ちかい (chi-ka-i) | near |
| つ | tsu | tsoo | つき (tsu-ki) | moon |
| て | te | teh | てがみ (te-ga-mi) | letter |
| と | to | toh | とり (to-ri) | bird |
| な | na | na | なつ (na-tsu) | summer |
| に | ni | nee | にほん (ni-hon) | Japan |
| ぬ | nu | noo | ぬる (nu-ru) | to paint |
| ね | ne | neh | ねこ (ne-ko) | cat |
| の | no | noh | のみもの (no-mi-mo-no) | drink |
| は | ha | ha | はな (ha-na) | flower |
| ひ | hi | hee | ひかり (hi-ka-ri) | light |
| ふ | fu | foo | ふく (fu-ku) | clothes |
| へ | he | heh | へや (he-ya) | room |
| ほ | ho | hoh | ほし (ho-shi) | star |
| ま | ma | ma | まど (ma-do) | window |
| み | mi | mee | みず (mi-zu) | water |
| む | mu | moo | むし (mu-shi) | insect |
| め | me | meh | め (me) | eye |
| も | mo | moh | もり (mo-ri) | forest |
| や | ya | ya | やま (ya-ma) | mountain |
| ゆ | yu | yoo | ゆき (yu-ki) | snow |
| よ | yo | yoh | よる (yo-ru) | night |
| ら | ra | ra | らいねん (ra-i-nen) | next year |
| り | ri | ree | りんご (rin-go) | apple |
| る | ru | roo | るす (ru-su) | absence |
| れ | re | reh | れい (rei) | example |
| ろ | ro | roh | ろく (ro-ku) | six |
| わ | wa | wa | わたし (wa-ta-shi) | I, me |
| を | wo | oh | を (wo) | direct object marker |
| ん | n | n | ほん (hon) | book |
Hiragana is used mainly for native Japanese words and grammatical elements. Below is a table showing Hiragana characters with their English (rōmaji) equivalents:
| Hiragana | Rōmaji | Example Word | Translation |
|---|---|---|---|
| あ | a | あさ (asa) | morning |
| い | i | いぬ (inu) | dog |
| う | u | うみ (umi) | sea |
| え | e | えき (eki) | station |
| お | o | おちゃ (ocha) | tea |
Katakana
Kata-Ka-Na
カタカナ
-
- Characters: Also 46 basic characters, similar to Hiragana but used for different purposes.
- Use: For foreign words, names, and technical terms.
| Katakana | Rōmaji | Pronunciation | Example Word | Translation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ア | a | ah | アメリカ (A-me-ri-ka) | America |
| イ | i | ee | イギリス (I-gi-ri-su) | England |
| ウ | u | oo | ウィスキー (U-i-su-kii) | whiskey |
| エ | e | eh | エンジン (E-n-jin) | engine |
| オ | o | oh | オレンジ (O-ren-ji) | orange |
| カ | ka | ka | カメラ (Ka-me-ra) | camera |
| キ | ki | kee | キッチン (Ki-tchin) | kitchen |
| ク | ku | koo | クラス (Ku-ra-su) | class |
| ケ | ke | keh | ケーキ (Ke-ki) | cake |
| コ | ko | koh | コーヒー (Ko-hi) | coffee |
| サ | sa | sa | サラダ (Sa-ra-da) | salad |
| シ | shi | shee | シート (Shi-to) | seat |
| ス | su | soo | スポーツ (Su-po-tsu) | sports |
| セ | se | seh | センター (Sen-taa) | center |
| ソ | so | soh | ソファ (So-fa) | sofa |
| タ | ta | ta | タクシー (Ta-ku-shi) | taxi |
| チ | chi | chee | チョコレート (Chi-o-ko-ree-to) | chocolate |
| ツ | tsu | tsoo | ツアー (Tsu-aa) | tour |
| テ | te | teh | テーブル (Te-bu-ru) | table |
| ト | to | toh | トイレ (To-i-re) | toilet |
| ナ | na | na | ナイフ (Na-i-fu) | knife |
| ニ | ni | nee | ニュース (Nyu-su) | news |
| ヌ | nu | noo | ヌードル (Nuu-do-ru) | noodle |
| ネ | ne | neh | ネクタイ (Ne-ku-tai) | necktie |
| ノ | no | noh | ノート (Noo-to) | notebook |
| ハ | ha | ha | ハンバーガー (Han-baa-gaa) | hamburger |
| ヒ | hi | hee | ヒント (Hin-to) | hint |
| フ | fu | foo | フルーツ (Fu-ru-tsu) | fruit |
| ヘ | he | heh | ヘリコプター (Hairy-kop-taa) | helicopter |
| ホ | ho | hoh | ホテル (Ho-te-ru) | hotel |
| マ | ma | ma | マスク (Ma-su-ku) | mask |
| ミ | mi | mee | ミルク (Mi-ru-ku) | milk |
| ム | mu | moo | ムービー (Muu-bii) | movie |
| メ | me | meh | メニュー (Me-nyuu) | menu |
| モ | mo | moh | モデル (Mo-de-ru) | model |
| ヤ | ya | ya | ヤング (Yan-gu) | young |
| ユ | yu | yoo | ユニフォーム (Yu-ni-foo-mu) | uniform |
| ヨ | yo | yoh | ヨーグルト (Yoo-gu-ru-to) | yogurt |
| ラ | ra | ra | ラーメン (Raa-men) | ramen |
| リ | ri | ree | リボン (Ri-bon) | ribbon |
| ル | ru | roo | ルール (Ruu-ru) | rule |
| レ | re | reh | レモン (Re-mon) | lemon |
| ロ | ro | roh | ロビー (Ro-bii) | lobby |
| ワ | wa | wa | ワイン (Wa-in) | wine |
| ヲ | wo | oh | ヲ (wo) | direct object marker |
| ン | n | n | パン (Pan) | bread |
Katakana is primarily used for foreign words & names. Here is how some Katakana characters convert to English:
| Katakana | Rōmaji Character | Example Word | Translation |
|---|---|---|---|
| ア | a | アメリカ (Amerika) | America |
| イ | i | イギリス (Igirisu) | England |
| ウ | u | ウィスキー (uisukī) | whiskey |
| エ | e | エンジン (enjin) | engine |
| オ | o | オレンジ (orenji) | orange |
So if you have something in a foreign language, you’ll use Katakana to ‘convert’ it to a Japanese format. Katakana is often used on Japanese government forms. Especially for foreigners.
Kanji
Kaan-ji
漢字
These are logographic characters, meaning each Kanji represents a word, a meaningful part of a word, or a concept.
For example:
-
- 山 (yama) means “mountain.”
- 水 (mizu) means “water.”
- 愛 (ai) means “love.”
There are over 50,000 Kanji characters in existence. Now that’s a lot to isn’t it?
However, the number used in daily life is much smaller. The Japanese government has compiled a list called the “Jōyō Kanji,” which consists of 2,136 characters.
These are the Kanji that Japanese people are expected to know by the time they finish high school, and are commonly used in newspapers, official documents, and daily communication.
For more specialized fields or historical texts, additional Kanji may be used, but the Jōyō Kanji covers the vast majority of what you’ll encounter in everyday life. So don’t worry, you don’t have to memorize 50 thousand anything :).
Nouns, Verbs, and Adjectives:
- Kanji is also commonly used to write nouns, verb roots, and adjectives. For example:
- 食べる (taberu) means “to eat” (with 食 representing the root “eat”).
- 高い (takai) means “tall” or “expensive.”
Multiple ways to pronounce:
- Many Kanji characters in Japanese can be pronounced in different ways too. Depending on the context. These different pronunciations are known as:
- On’yomi (音読み): This is the Chinese-based pronunciation. It’s often used when the Kanji is part of a compound word (a word made of two or more Kanji characters).Example: The Kanji 山 can be pronounced “san” in 富士山 (Fuji-san), meaning “Mount Fuji.”
- Kun’yomi (訓読み): This is the Japanese pronunciation. It’s typically used when the Kanji stands alone or is part of a native Japanese word.Example: The same Kanji 山 can be pronounced “yama” in 山 (yama), meaning “mountain.”
At the end of the day . . .
- On’yomi is used in compound words.
- Kun’yomi is used in standalone or native words.
So, the same Kanji can sound different depending on how it’s used in a sentence. Don’t worry though, it may seem complicated but once you get into it, it’ll start to make sense.
For now, all you need to know is the following:
- Hiragana (Most used Japanese script): Characters for sounds (phonetic).
- Katakana: Use for Foreign words.
- Kanji = Characters with full meanings (words/concepts).
Together, all three work together to create the modern Japanese writing we use today.