This katakana chart (カタカナ) shows every Japanese katakana character with its romaji reading, including the 46 basic characters, voiced sounds (dakuten and handakuten), yōon combinations and the extended sounds used for loanwords. Learn it one row at a time, then test yourself with our katakana flashcards.
Read across for the vowel sound (a, i, u, e, o) and down for the starting consonant.
| a | i | u | e | o | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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 shi | ス su | セ se | ソ so |
| t | タ ta | チ chi | ツ tsu | テ te | ト to |
| n | ナ na | ニ ni | ヌ nu | ネ ne | ノ no |
| h | ハ ha | ヒ hi | フ 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 | ヲ wo | |||
| n | ン n |
Two small dashes (゛, dakuten) voice a consonant: カ ka becomes ガ ga. A small circle (゜, handakuten) turns the h-row into the p-row: ハ ha becomes パ pa.
| a | i | u | e | o | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| g | ガ ga | ギ gi | グ gu | ゲ ge | ゴ go |
| z | ザ za | ジ ji | ズ zu | ゼ ze | ゾ zo |
| d | ダ da | ヂ ji | ヅ zu | デ de | ド do |
| b | バ ba | ビ bi | ブ bu | ベ be | ボ bo |
| p | パ pa | ピ pi | プ pu | ペ pe | ポ po |
A small ャ, ュ or ョ after an イ-column character blends into one syllable: キ ki + ャ ya = キャ kya.
| ya | yu | yo | |
|---|---|---|---|
| ky | キャ kya | キュ kyu | キョ kyo |
| sh | シャ sha | シュ shu | ショ sho |
| ch | チャ cha | チュ chu | チョ cho |
| ny | ニャ nya | ニュ nyu | ニョ nyo |
| hy | ヒャ hya | ヒュ hyu | ヒョ hyo |
| my | ミャ mya | ミュ myu | ミョ myo |
| ry | リャ rya | リュ ryu | リョ ryo |
| gy | ギャ gya | ギュ gyu | ギョ gyo |
| j | ジャ ja | ジュ ju | ジョ jo |
| by | ビャ bya | ビュ byu | ビョ byo |
| py | ピャ pya | ピュ pyu | ピョ pyo |
Japanese has no native fa, ti or v sounds, so katakana pairs a character with a small vowel to write them: フ fu + ァ a = ファ fa, as in ファン (fan). These 30 combinations only appear in loanwords and foreign names.
| a | i | u | e | o | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| y | イェ ye | ||||
| w | ウィ wi | ウェ we | ウォ wo | ||
| v | ヴァ va | ヴィ vi | ヴ vu | ヴェ ve | ヴォ vo |
| sh | シェ she | ||||
| j | ジェ je | ||||
| ch | チェ che | ||||
| t | ティ ti | トゥ tu | |||
| d | ディ di | ドゥ du | |||
| ts | ツァ tsa | ツィ tsi | ツェ tse | ツォ tso | |
| f | ファ fa | フィ fi | フェ fe | フォ fo | |
| vy | ヴャ vya | ヴュ vyu | ヴョ vyo | ||
| ty | テュ tyu | ||||
| dy | デュ dyu | ||||
| fy | フュ fyu |
If you already know hiragana, you know every sound in this chart. What's left is matching new, more angular shapes to those sounds, and these four habits make it stick.
Katakana uses the same five-vowel grid as the hiragana chart, so each row maps one to one: か and カ are both “ka”. Some pairs even look alike, such as か/カ, き/キ, へ/ヘ, り/リ and も/モ, which gives you a head start.
The classic trap is シ (shi) versus ツ (tsu), and ン (n) versus ソ (so). The trick is stroke direction: the long stroke of シ and ン sweeps up from the bottom left, while the long stroke of ツ and ソ falls down from the top right.
Katakana words are often English in disguise, which makes them satisfying to decode. A long dash (ー) stretches the vowel before it, as in コーヒー (koohii, coffee), and a small ッ doubles the next consonant, as in ベッド (beddo, bed). Once you can read a few rows, try the katakana words drills.
Staring at a chart builds recognition, not recall. Open the katakana 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, and leave the extended sounds until the basic 46 feel automatic.
Still learning the first script? Start with the hiragana chart. Ready for vocabulary? Move on to katakana words and JLPT N5 flashcards.