Once you have learned Hiragana and the associated pronunciations it will be much easier to learn Katakana.

Katakana mirrors Hiragana (with a few additional sounds not listed here) and is used to represent borrowed words. Words of Japanese origin are written in Hiragana and Kanji, those taken from English, French, German, Spanish etc. are written in Katakana.

If you spend a lot of time commuting we recommend using flash cards. Why not create your own - this will help the learning process and is also quite fun.

If you don't have the time or inclination to create your own then a very good set is produced by the 'White Rabbit Press' and available to buy on Amazon.

Alternatively there are many good books devoted to the subject, or you can use Anki if you have access to a computer.

To get you started here are all of the Katakana in current use except for the extended syllabary...

Type Number Comments
Gojūon 46 Main characters
Dakuten 18 Basic modifications
Handakuten 5
Yōon 21 Double characters
Yōon + Dakuten 9
Yōon + Handakuten 3
Total: 102  

Gojūon

Gojūon literally translates as '50 sounds', however there are actually only 46 of these main characters.

From these base characters all others are derived. Learn these first and the rest will be easy!

Hover over the characters to see animated stroke order.

ア イ ウ エ オ
a i u e o
カ キ ク ケ コ
ka ki ku ke ko
サ シ ス セ ソ
sa shi su se so
タ チ ツ テ ト
ta chi tsu te to
ナ ニ ヌ ネ ノ
na ni nu ne no
ハ ヒ フ ヘ ホ
ha hi fu he ho
マ ミ ム メ モ
ma mi mu me mo
ヤ ユ ヨ
ya yu yo
ラ リ ル レ ロ
ra ri ru re ro
ワ ヲ
wa wo
ん
n

Dakuten

By adding 'dakuten' (also known as 'ten-ten') to the top-right of some gojūon a further 18 characters/sounds are derived.

A dakuten looks like double quotes: ゛

The dakuten is written last. Because of the simple modification no stroke order animation is given.

ガ ギ グ ゲ ゴ
ga gi gu ge go
ザ ジ ズ ゼ ゾ
za ji zu ze zo
ダ     デ ド
da     de do
バ ビ ブ ベ ボ
ba bi bu be bo

Handakuten

By adding 'handakuten' (also known as 'maru' - circle) to the top-right of some gojūon a further 5 characters/sounds are derived.

A handakuten is a small circle: ゜

The handakuten is written last. Because of the simple modification no stroke order animation is given.

パ ピ プ ペ ポ
pa pi pu pe po

Yōon

By appending a small ya ヤ, yu ユ or yo ヨ to certain gojūon a further 21 characters/sounds are derived.

These are 'diagraphs', or more simply two characters combined to give a new one.

The small ヤ, ユ, or ヨ is written last. Because of the simple modification no stroke order animation is given.

キャ   キュ   キョ
kya   kyu   kyo
シャ   シュ   ショ
sha   shu   sho
チャ   チュ   チョ
cha   chu   cho
ニャ   ニュ   ニョ
nya   nyu   nyo
ヒャ   ヒュ   ヒョ
hya   hyu   hyo
ミャ   ミュ   ミョ
mya   myu   myo
リャ   リュ   リョ
rya   ryu   ryo

Yōon + Dakuten

By appending a small ya ヤ, yu ユ or yo ヨ to certain dakuten gojūon a further 9 characters/sounds are derived.

The small ヤ, ユ, or ヨ is written last. Because of the simple modification no stroke order animation is given.

ギャ   ギュ   ギョ
gya   gyu   gyo
ジャ   ジュ   ジョ
ja   ju   jo
ビャ   ビュ   ビョ
bya   byu   byo

Yōon + Handakuten

By appending a small ya ヤ, yu ユ or yo ヨ to certain handakuten gojūon a final 3 characters/sounds are derived.

The small ヤ, ユ, or ヨ is written last. Because of the simple modification no stroke order animation is given.

ピャ   ピュ   ピョ
pya   pyu   pyo

Summary

Gojūon   Yōon
ア イ ウ エ オ            
カ キ ク ケ コ   キャ   キュ   キョ
サ シ ス セ ソ   シャ   シュ   ショ
タ チ ツ テ ト   チャ   チュ   チョ
ナ ニ ヌ ネ ノ   ニャ   ニュ   ニョ
ハ ヒ フ ヘ ホ   ヒャ   ヒュ   ニョ
マ ミ ム メ モ   ミャ   ミュ   ミョ
ヤ   ユ   ヨ            
ラ リ ル レ ロ   リャ   リュ   リョ
ワ       ヲ            
    ン                
Dakuten   Yōon + Dakuten
ガ ギ グ ゲ ゴ   ギャ   ギュ   ギョ
ザ ジ ズ ゼ ゾ   ジャ   ジュ   ジョ
ダ     デ ド            
バ ビ ブ ベ ボ   ビャ   ビュ   ビョ
Handakuten   Yōon + Handakuten
パ ピ プ ペ ポ   ピャ   ピュ   ピョ