Easy Trick to Recognise and Memorize Hiragana

 

Complete Hiragana with Simple Recognition Tricks for Beginners

Learning Hiragana is the first step in mastering Japanese. Here’s a complete guide to all Hiragana characters, with simple memory tricks to help beginners recognize and remember them quickly.

Hiragana	Reading	Memory Trick / How to Remember
あ	a	Looks like an apple with a stem → "a" for apple
い	i	Two lines like "ee" → "i" sound
う	u	Looks like a "u" turned → "u" sound
え	e	Looks like an energetic person raising hand → "e!"
お	o	Circle with a line → "o" as in open circle
か	ka	Looks like a key → "ka" for key
き	ki	Looks like a key with a twist → "ki" for key
く	ku	Looks like a cuckoo bird beak → "ku"
け	ke	Looks like a kettle → "ke" for kettle
こ	ko	Looks like a corner → "ko"
さ	sa	Looks like a sail → "sa" for sail
し	shi	Looks like a fishing hook → "shi" for ship
す	su	Looks like a swirl → "su" swirl
せ	se	Looks like a set of stairs → "se" for step
そ	so	Looks like a sewing needle → "so"
た	ta	Looks like a table → "ta" for table
ち	chi	Looks like a cheek → "chi" for cheek
つ	tsu	Looks like two little hooks → "tsu"
て	te	Looks like a tennis racket → "te" for tennis
と	to	Looks like a tornado → "to"
な	na	Looks like a napkin → "na"
に	ni	Looks like two knees → "ni"
ぬ	nu	Looks like noodle → "nu"
ね	ne	Looks like a net → "ne"
の	no	Looks like a no-entry sign → "no"
は	ha	Looks like a hat → "ha"
ひ	hi	Looks like a hill → "hi"
ふ	fu	Looks like Mount Fuji → "fu"
へ	he	Looks like a hill going up → "he"
ほ	ho	Looks like a house → "ho"
ま	ma	Looks like a mountain → "ma"
み	mi	Looks like three lines → "mi"
む	mu	Looks like a cow horn → "mu"
め	me	Looks like an eye → "me"
も	mo	Looks like a more sign → "mo"
や	ya	Looks like a yak → "ya"
ゆ	yu	Looks like a UFO → "yu"
よ	yo	Looks like yo-yo → "yo"
ら	ra	Looks like a rabbit → "ra"
り	ri	Looks like a river → "ri"
る	ru	Looks like a loop → "ru"
れ	re	Looks like a rectangle → "re"
ろ	ro	Looks like a roll → "ro"
わ	wa	Looks like a wave → "wa"
を	wo/o	Used as object marker → "wo"
ん	n	Looks like a nose → "n"

About Hiragana

Hiragana is one of the two basic Japanese syllabaries, along with Katakana. It is primarily used for native Japanese words, grammar particles, and verb/adjective endings. Beginners should focus on recognizing Hiragana first, as it forms the foundation for reading and writing in Japanese.

Uses of Hiragana in Japanese:

• Writing native Japanese words
• Grammar particles (e.g., は, が, を, に)
• Verb and adjective conjugation endings (ます, ない, たい, くなる)
• Furigana (small Hiragana above Kanji to show pronunciation)

Other Facts:

• There are 46 basic Hiragana characters.
• Some Hiragana have diacritical marks (dakuten ゛ or handakuten ゜) to create new sounds (e.g., か → が, は → ぱ).
• Learning Hiragana thoroughly will make Katakana and Kanji learning easier.
• Practice writing and reading Hiragana daily for fluency.

With consistent practice using these memory tricks, beginners can memorize Hiragana more effectively and build a strong foundation for JLPT N5 preparation.