Kana

Kana are Japanese characters that each stand for one sound. There are two sets with the same sounds: hiragana and katakana.

Readings

How it works

Each kana is one sound, like か or さ.
They fit a grid: five vowels, then rows that put a sound in front of each. See the kana grid.
Words are written in kana, in kanji, or in a mix of both.

hiragana

ねこ(cat)

katakana

テレビ(TV)