Hiragana and katakana chart: stroke order and quiz

Reading kana: Hepburn table, stroke order and quiz marking

Each script has 46 basic kana, 25 kana with dakuten or handakuten and 33 yōon combinations, 104 syllables in all. Romaji follow the Hepburn table used for Japanese passports: し is shi, ち chi, つ tsu, ふ fu, and ぢ, づ and を are written ji, zu and o.

Table and romaji

The charts follow the Hepburn table published for Japanese passports. The dakuten gives voiced sounds (か ka becomes が ga) and the handakuten p sounds (は ha becomes ぱ pa). Yōon combine a kana ending in i with a small ゃ, ゅ or ょ: き plus ゃ gives きゃ kya. Inside a word, ん becomes m before b, m and p (南部 is written Nambu); that rule does not apply to the single kana of the chart.

Stroke order

Stroke data come from KanjiVG, which lists each stroke in writing order. The animation draws a new stroke every 0.65 s; with reduced motion, strokes stay on screen, numbered at their starting point. Example: あ has 3 strokes, ア 2, き 4 and キ 3.

Quiz marking

From kana to romaji, an answer is correct if it matches the Hepburn romaji or if the wanakana library converts it into that kana. Of the 104 hiragana, 4 Hepburn readings do not convert back to their kana (を o, ん n, ぢ ji, づ zu): the table covers them, and wo, di, du or nn are accepted too. In the other direction, two kana with the same reading, such as じ and ぢ, are never offered together.

Limits: pronunciation depends on the Japanese voice installed on the device; without one, the listen button is hidden.

Sources and dates: Hiroshima Prefecture, passport Hepburn table (03/02/2025); KanjiVG, Ulrich Apel (CC BY-SA 3.0); WanaKana (MIT) (checked 29/10/2026)

Frequently Asked Questions

How many hiragana are there?

The basic chart has 46 hiragana, from あ a to ん n. Add 25 kana with dakuten or handakuten (が ga, ぱ pa…) and 33 yōon combinations (きゃ kya…) for 104 syllables; katakana follow exactly the same grid.

What is the difference between hiragana and katakana?

Both scripts write the same sounds: あ and ア are read a, し and シ are read shi. Only the shapes change, and so does the stroke count: あ takes 3 strokes, ア takes 2.

How are ぢ and づ read?

In the Japanese passport Hepburn table, ぢ is written ji like じ, and づ is written zu like ず. The quiz also accepts di and du, the inputs the wanakana library converts into ぢ and づ.

In what order are the strokes of a kana written?

Follow the numbers: each stroke shows its number at its starting point. あ takes 3 strokes, the horizontal one, then the vertical one, then the loop; ん takes just one.

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