Free flashcards for both Japanese kana scripts, with audio for every character. Practise the 46 basic characters of each script plus dakuten, then test yourself by typing the romaji. No sign-up needed, and it works on any device.
Start with hiragana. It writes grammar and native Japanese words, so it appears in every sentence you read. Katakana spells the same 46 sounds with different shapes and is used mostly for loanwords like コーヒー (kōhī, coffee), names and emphasis. Once hiragana is automatic, katakana goes much faster because you already know every sound.
Each cell shows the hiragana, then the katakana, for the same sound. Read across for the vowel and down for the starting consonant.
| a | i | u | e | o | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
あ ア a | い イ i | う ウ u | え エ e | お オ o | |
| k | か カ ka | き キ ki | く ク ku | け ケ ke | こ コ ko |
| s | さ サ sa | し シ shi | す ス su | せ セ se | そ ソ so |
| t | た タ ta | ち チ chi | つ ツ tsu | て テ te | と ト to |
| n | な ナ na | に ニ ni | ぬ ヌ nu | ね ネ ne | の ノ no |
| h | は ハ ha | ひ ヒ hi | ふ フ fu | へ ヘ he | ほ ホ ho |
| m | ま マ ma | み ミ mi | む ム mu | め メ me | も モ mo |
| y | や ヤ ya | ゆ ユ yu | よ ヨ yo | ||
| r | ら ラ ra | り リ ri | る ル ru | れ レ re | ろ ロ ro |
| w | わ ワ wa | を ヲ wo | |||
| n | ん ン n |
Two small dashes (゛, dakuten) voice a consonant in both scripts: か/カ ka becomes が/ガ ga. A small circle (゜, handakuten) turns the h-row into the p-row: は/ハ ha becomes ぱ/パ pa. These are included free in both flashcard sets.
| a | i | u | e | o | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| g | が ガ ga | ぎ ギ gi | ぐ グ gu | げ ゲ ge | ご ゴ go |
| z | ざ ザ za | じ ジ ji | ず ズ zu | ぜ ゼ ze | ぞ ゾ zo |
| d | だ ダ da | ぢ ヂ ji | づ ヅ zu | で デ de | ど ド do |
| b | ば バ ba | び ビ bi | ぶ ブ bu | べ ベ be | ぼ ボ bo |
| p | ぱ パ pa | ぴ ピ pi | ぷ プ pu | ぺ ペ pe | ぽ ポ po |
Some characters look alike within a script, like ぬ nu and め me in hiragana or シ shi and ツ tsu in katakana. Others look alike across scripts: へ he and ヘ he are almost identical, and り ri resembles リ ri. Drill confusing pairs in the same round until you can tell them apart instantly.
See the full hiragana chart and katakana chart for combinations (yōon) and extended loanword sounds, or print a deck with the printable hiragana and katakana flashcards. When you can read both scripts, move on to hiragana words, katakana words and JLPT N5 flashcards.