How many characters are in the hiragana chart?

The basic hiragana chart has 46 characters: 5 vowels, 40 consonant-vowel syllables and the single consonant ん (n). Adding dakuten and handakuten gives 25 more sounds, and yōon combinations add 33 more.

What is the best way to learn the hiragana chart?

Think in sounds rather than letters, learn one row at a time, attach a silly mnemonic image to each character, and test yourself with active recall using flashcards rather than only re-reading the chart.

あ Hiragana Tests

Hiragana Chart

This hiragana chart (ひらがな) shows every Japanese hiragana character with its romaji reading, including the 46 basic characters, voiced sounds (dakuten and handakuten) and yōon combinations. Learn it one row at a time, then test yourself with our hiragana flashcards.

Practise hiragana flashcardsPrintable hiragana flashcards

Basic hiragana chart (46 characters)

Read across for the vowel sound (a, i, u, e, o) and down for the starting consonant.

Basic hiragana chart with romaji
	a	i	u	e	o
	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 shi	す su	せ se	そ so
t	た ta	ち chi	つ tsu	て te	と to
n	な na	に ni	ぬ nu	ね ne	の no
h	は ha	ひ hi	ふ 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				を wo
n					ん n

Hiragana with dakuten and handakuten

Two small dashes (゛, dakuten) voice a consonant: か ka becomes が ga. A small circle (゜, handakuten) turns the h-row into the p-row: は ha becomes ぱ pa.

Hiragana with dakuten and handakuten
	a	i	u	e	o
g	が ga	ぎ gi	ぐ gu	げ ge	ご go
z	ざ za	じ ji	ず zu	ぜ ze	ぞ zo
d	だ da	ぢ ji	づ zu	で de	ど do
b	ば ba	び bi	ぶ bu	べ be	ぼ bo
p	ぱ pa	ぴ pi	ぷ pu	ぺ pe	ぽ po

Hiragana combinations (yōon)

A small や, ゆ or よ after an い-column character blends into one syllable: き ki + ゃ ya = きゃ kya.

Hiragana yōon combinations
	ya	yu	yo
ky	きゃ kya	きゅ kyu	きょ kyo
sh	しゃ sha	しゅ shu	しょ sho
ch	ちゃ cha	ちゅ chu	ちょ cho
ny	にゃ nya	にゅ nyu	にょ nyo
hy	ひゃ hya	ひゅ hyu	ひょ hyo
my	みゃ mya	みゅ myu	みょ myo
ry	りゃ rya	りゅ ryu	りょ ryo
gy	ぎゃ gya	ぎゅ gyu	ぎょ gyo
j	じゃ ja	じゅ ju	じょ jo
by	びゃ bya	びゅ byu	びょ byo
py	ぴゃ pya	ぴゅ pyu	ぴょ pyo

How to memorize the hiragana chart

Hiragana is the first big wall every Japanese learner hits, and the mistake most people make is trying to brute-force the whole chart in one sitting. These four habits make it stick.

1. Think in sounds, not letters

In English, letters change sound depending on the word. In Japanese the characters are consistent: か is always “ka”. The chart is a grid of five vowels (あ a, い i, う u, え e, お o) and you add a consonant to each: k + a = か, s + a = さ. It's a logic puzzle, not a list of random symbols. Start with the vowels, then add one consonant row at a time.

2. Use silly mnemonics

Our brains are bad at abstract lines but great at odd images. し (shi) looks like a fishing hook, く (ku) like the open beak of a cuckoo, and へ (he) like a heap of dirt. The stranger the image, the faster it sticks.

3. Test early, test often

You can stare at a chart for six hours and forget it in ten minutes. Real learning happens when you make your brain work for the answer, which is called active recall. Open the hiragana flashcards, choose Select some groups, pick the vowels and the K-row, and drill them until you're at 100% accuracy. Then add the next row.

4. Save dakuten and yōon for later

Add the voiced sounds and combinations only once the basic 46 feel automatic. You can switch those groups on in the flashcards too, so the small details don't trip you up.

Your plan for today

Look at the vowel and K-rows in the chart above for five minutes.
Open the hiragana flashcards.
Select those two groups and press the space bar until you can name each one instantly.

Want a deeper guide? Read how to learn hiragana fast. Ready for the next script? See the katakana chart and katakana flashcards, or move on to hiragana words and JLPT N5 flashcards.