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About Katakana
Introduction and complete lists of different types of Katakana letters. Printable Katakana chart (PDF) is also available.
Gojon | Dakuon | Handakuon | Yon | Sokuon | Additional Letters

Katakana
Katakana is one of three characters used in the Japanese language.
Katakana is a phonetic alphabet - each letter represents the sound of a syllable (like English ABC). Letter itself has no
meaning.
Katakana and Hiragana represent exactly the same set of sounds.
Katakana is used mostly for foreign loan words.

B'z
(Rock Band)

Origin
Katakana

Original
Kanji

Katakana was developed in the 8th century by simplifying the form of Kanji symbols.
Many Katakana letters look exactly the same as a part of its original Kanji.
Some of Hiragana and Katakana letters were made from the same Kanji symbol.
Many of Katakana letters look exactly the same as a part of its original Kanji.

Number of Letters
In modern Japanese, there are 46 basic Katakana letters.
In addition to these 46 basic letters called gojon, there are modified forms to describe more sounds - 20 dakuon, 5
handakuon, 36 yon, 1 sokuon and 6 additional letters.
FAQ: W hat are the letters w ith a bar on top ( )?

B'z is without a doubt the

most successful Japanese rock
band who has sold more than
80 million records.
In 2007, B'z became the first
band from Asia to have their
handprints and signatures put
up in the Hollywood's
Rockwalk.
Tak Matsumoto (guitarist) is
one of world's top players who
have been provided their own
signature model Les Paul from
Gibson.
Tak's work "Take Your Pick"
(produced with guitarist Larry
Carlton) won the 2011
Grammy Award for Best Pop
Instrumental Album.

Gojon

a
row

ka
row

sa
row

ta
row

na
row

a
column

i
column

u
column

e
column

o
column

ka

ki

ku

ke

ko

sa

shi

su

se

so

ta

chi

tsu

te

to

Go For It, Baby -

[kioku no sanmyaku ]

Into Free - Dangan

Theme song of Capcon's game
"Dragon's Dogma"

Liar! Liar!
na

ni

nu

ne

no

converted by Web2PDFConvert.com

ha
row

ma
row

ya
row

ra
row

wa
row

ha

hi

fu

he

ho
Calling

ma

mi

mu

me

mo

ya

(i)

yu

(e)

yo

ra

ri

ru

re

ro

wa

(i)

(u)

(e)

Official Site
W ikipedia
YouTube Official Channel
iTunes

Gojon-zu
Traditionally, sounds of basic syllables are organized in the form of a table (5 x 10). This table is called gojon-zu
(literally means table of 50 sounds).
To describe these sounds, Katakana and Hiragana alphabets are used.
Letters , and appear more than once in the table. These 5 duplicates (colored in gray) are usually skipped or
ignored.
Another syllable is included. It doesn't belong to any row or column.

Hatsune Miku

In total, 46 letters (45+1) are counted as gojon (50 sounds).

(PC Software)

Structure of the Table

The structure is exactly the same as the Hiragana table.
The first row - [a], [i], [u], [e] and [o] are five vowels of the Japanese language.
Letters in the same column contain the same vowel.
Letters in the same row are considered to contain the same consonant.
Letters [o] and [o] represent the same sound. Letter is rarely used.

Dakuon ( )

ga
row

za
row

da
row

ba
row

a
column

i
column

u
column

e
column

o
column

ga

gi

gu

ge

go

za

ji

zu

ze

zo

da

ji

zu

de

do

ba

bi

bu

be

bo

[hatsune miku ] is a
virtual singer who can sing any
song that anybody composes.
You just input lyrics and
melody on your PC. Then she
will start singing your original
song.
This VOCALOID (vocal
android) technology developed
by YAMAHA made a massive
impact on amateur creators
and inspired them to publish
their original works on the
web.
In a short while, Hatsune Miku
became a nation-wide
phenomenon.
The following TV ad (Google
Chrome) describes it well.

Google Chrome TV Ad
Now, Miku does live concerts in
different countries. And more
virtual singers have been
released in multiple languages.

Dakuon literally means turbid or murky sound. It is the voiced sound of [ka], [sa], [ta] and [ha]-row syllables.
Dakuon is indicated with two small dots.
Pronunciation of [ji] and [ji], [zu] and [zu] are the same.

Tell Your World

Letters and are rarely used.

converted by Web2PDFConvert.com

Handakuon

Weekender Girl

a
column

i
column

u
column

e
column

o
column

pa

pi

pu

pe

po

pa
row

Happy Synthesizer

Handakuon literally means half-turbid or half-murky sound.

Vocal: Luka & GUMI

Dance: Miku & Teto

Handakuon is indicated with a small circle.

This video was created by

using MMD (Miku Miku Dance)
- a fan-made 3D animation
freeware which allows users
to easily control the dance
motion.

Yon

kya

kyu

kyo

sha

shu

sho

cha

chu

cho

nya

nyu

nyo

hya

hyu

hyo

mya

myu

myo

Official Product Page

W ikipedia
YouTube Official Channel
iTunes

MISIA
(Singer)
rya

ryu

ryo

gya

gyu

gyo

ja

ju

jo

ja

ju

jo

bya

byu

byo

MISIA is one of the most

talented singers in Japan. Her
five-octave-range voice is truly
amazing.
We do believe that her voice
will reach your heart
penetrating the language
bareer.
Please enjoy Japan's VERY
special treasure!

pya

pyu

pyo

[aitakute ima ]

Yon is a combination of the consonant of i-column syllables and ya, yu or yo. For example, k + ya = kya.
Yon is described by i-column letters associated with (small ya), (small yu) or (small yo). For example,
+ = [kya].
Pronunciation of [ja], [ju], [jo] and [ja], [ju], [jo] are the same.
Letters , , are rarely used.

[wasurenai hibi ]
GREAT Live performance!!

Sokuon

converted by Web2PDFConvert.com

MAWARE MAWARE
from 2010 FIFA World Cup
Official Album

pause
Sokuon is a pause (no sound) between two syllables.
Sokuon is described by (small [tsu]).
Examples

[sakk][messji][poketto][kappu]

[kokoro hitotsu ]
Official Site
W ikipedia
YouTube Official Channel
iTunes

Additional Letters

These additional letters are invented in modern era to describe the sound of foreign languages.
Examples

[fa][ti][du][we][fo]
, , ,

and (small [a][i][u][e][o]) are attached after particular letters.

Examples

[va][vi][vu][ve][vo]
is

[ aitakute ima ]
by MISIA

used for [v] sound.

Learn Japanese by singing!

Music video of the song
Lyrics in Rmaji & Hiragana
Word by w ord translation

Long Vowels

ii
Long vowels are indicated with (horizontal bar).
Examples

[kten][biiru][yro][kki][kto]
TOKYO GIRLS COLLECTION
Official Web Site
[Fashion Show]

Printable Katakana Chart

Item

File Type

Size

Katakana Chart

PDF

342 KB

Click the link listed above. PDF file will be displayed (1 page).
To save the file, choose [Save As...] from the file menu.
To print-out the file, choose [Print...] from the file menu.
To view the PDF file, you need Adobe Reader,
a free application distributed by Adobe Systems.

Learning Katakana

Tokyo Girls Collection is a

biannual fashion festival which
showcases Japans most
popular Real Clothes fashion that can be put to daily
use.
The show is broadcasted live
through You Tube.
You can purchase the same
clothes which were worn on
the show at:
fashionw alker.com

Domestic Shipping Only

Watch TV
Online
converted by Web2PDFConvert.com

Learning Katakana is easy. It takes about 3-20 days in general.

Common order of character study is Hiragana first, Katakana next, and then Kanji.
See Learning Tips page for more details.

Record & Watch HD

Broadcast TV. DAL
Only. Get 1 Month
Free!

Katakana Master Drill

Free online study program for learning how to read, write and type the Katakana alphabet fast and easy.
The program includes random-order drill exercise, audio recordings, handwriting practice and more.
See Katakana Master Drill page for more details.

Related Topics
Katakana Master Drill
Katakana Writing Practice
Hiragana
Kanji
Rmaji

Home > Characters > About Katakana

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