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japanese characters
  ☆ basic characters
  ☆ more hiragana
  ☆ more katakana
links
  hiragana stroke order
  katakana stroke order
  writing system
basic characters
there are 3 types of characters which are hiragana, katakana and kanji
♡ basic hiragana
ai ueo
aあ a い iう u え eお o
kか ka き kiく ku け keこ ko
sさ sa し si / shiす su せ seそ so
tた ta ち ti / chiつ tu / tsu て teと to
nな na に niぬ nu ね neの no
hは ha ひ hiふ hu / fu へ heほ ho
mま ma み miむ mu め meも mo
yや ya ゆ yu よ yo
rら ra り riる ru れ reろ ro
wわ wa ゐ i / wi * ゑ e / we *を wo
nn ん nn
* these two letters ゐ and ゑ are rarely used today.
♡ basic katakana
a iu eo
aア a イ iウ u エ eオ o
kカ ka キ kiク ku ケ keコ ko
sサ sa シ si / shiス su セ seソ so
tタ ta チ ti / chiツ tu / tsu テ teト to
nナ na ニ niヌ nu ネ neノ no
hハ ha ヒ hiフ hu / fu ヘ heホ ho
mマ ma ミ miム mu メ meモ mo
yヤ ya ユ yu ヨ yo
rラ ra リ riル ru レ reロ ro
wワ wa ヰ i / wi * ヱ e / we *ヲ wo
nn ン nn
* these two letters ヰ and ヱ are rarely used today.
♡ kanji
kanji is a set of characters that has been borrowed from china long time ago. it is called chinese character but the readings and the meanings had changed over time, and even original kanji had devolved independently in japan. it is said there are more than 50,000 kanji in total. however, 2136 characters are designated as kanji for general use. in japan, about a thousand kanji is taught during the six years of elementary school education.
readings:
almost all of kanji has two types of readings.
it is classified into "on readings" and "kun readings"
"on reading" is based on pronunciations of chinese words. "kun reading" is based on native japanese pronunciation. in kanji pages, "on readings" are written in katakana, "kun readings" are in hiragana.
♡ romaji
romaji is a romanisation system of japanese language. there are some styles. in this website, the particle へ, は, and を are written by nihon-shiki. ん is written as "nn" for the readings when it is placed just before a vowel and a na-line sound.
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