Hiragana chart
All 104, with nothing else on the page. Hit print; it is laid out to fit one sheet in black and white.
The 46 basic kana
The gojūon: the sounds every other kana is built from. Each one has its own page, and every cell plays.
Dakuten and handakuten: 25 more
Two marks. ゛ voices a consonant (k→g, s→z, t→d, h→b); ゜ turns h into p. No new shapes to learn.
a
i
u
e
o
g
が
ga
ぎ
gi
ぐ
gu
げ
ge
ご
go
z
ざ
za
じ
ji
ず
zu
ぜ
ze
ぞ
zo
d
だ
da
ぢ
ji
づ
zu
で
de
ど
do
b
ば
ba
び
bi
ぶ
bu
べ
be
ぼ
bo
p
ぱ
pa
ぴ
pi
ぷ
pu
ぺ
pe
ぽ
po
Yōon: 33 combinations
A full-size kana ending in i, plus a small ya, yu or yo. The two blend into one syllable.
ya
yu
yo
ky
きゃ
kya
きゅ
kyu
きょ
kyo
sh
しゃ
sha
しゅ
shu
しょ
sho
ch
ちゃ
cha
ちゅ
chu
ちょ
cho
ny
にゃ
nya
にゅ
nyu
にょ
nyo
hy
ひゃ
hya
ひゅ
hyu
ひょ
hyo
my
みゃ
mya
みゅ
myu
みょ
myo
ry
りゃ
rya
りゅ
ryu
りょ
ryo
gy
ぎゃ
gya
ぎゅ
gyu
ぎょ
gyo
j
じゃ
ja
じゅ
ju
じょ
jo
by
びゃ
bya
びゅ
byu
びょ
byo
py
ぴゃ
pya
ぴゅ
pyu
ぴょ
pyo
How to read this chart
Three things confuse everyone the first time.
- Read down the left, then across the top. The row is the consonant and the column is the vowel, so the k row under the a column is か (ka). Every syllable in Japanese is one of these, which is why the grid is 5 columns wide and not 26 letters long.
- Five cells do not follow the pattern. し is shi, not si. ち is chi. つ is tsu. ふ is fu. ん is the only kana that is a consonant on its own. They are spelled the way they are actually pronounced, not the way the grid predicts.
- The second and third grids are not new shapes. The voiced set adds one mark to a basic kana; the yōon set is a kana ending in i with a small ya, yu or yo after it. Learn the 46 and you can already read the other 58.
Printing it
There is no PDF to download, because the page is the PDF.
- Press Ctrl/Cmd + P. The header, footer, navigation and speaker buttons are dropped by the print stylesheet, so the sheet is the grids and their headings and nothing else.
- It is laid out for A4 and US Letter portrait in black and white. Leave backgrounds off; nothing on the sheet depends on colour.
- To print one grid only, use your browser's page range: the basic 46 are on the first page, the voiced and yōon sets follow.
Once it is on the wall, practise the rows you have covered →