Katakana 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
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
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
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
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 カ (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. シ is shi, not si. チ is chi. ツ is tsu. フ is fu. ン 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 →