Learn Hiragana in a Week: A Free Beginner's Guide

Hiragana is the foundation of written Japanese — the phonetic alphabet that everything else builds on. There are 46 basic characters, each representing a sound, and once you know them you can read and pronounce any Japanese word. Learning hiragana first (before relying on romaji) is the single best decision a beginner can make, because it trains your brain to think in Japanese sounds rather than English ones.

The 46 basic characters, by row:

• Vowels: あ a · い i · う u · え e · お o
• K: か ka · き ki · く ku · け ke · こ ko
• S: さ sa · し shi · す su · せ se · そ so
• T: た ta · ち chi · つ tsu · て te · と to
• N: な na · に ni · ぬ nu · ね ne · の no
• H: は ha · ひ hi · ふ fu · へ he · ほ ho
• M: ま ma · み mi · む mu · め me · も mo
• Y: や ya · ゆ yu · よ yo
• R: ら ra · り ri · る ru · れ re · ろ ro
• W: わ wa · を wo · ん n

Then the extras (quick, once the basics stick):

• Dakuten / handakuten add a small mark to make new sounds: が ga, ざ za, だ da, ば ba, ぱ pa, and so on.
• Combinations join two characters: きゃ kya, しゅ shu, ちょ cho, etc.

A realistic 7-day plan:

1. Day 1: vowels + K row (あ–こ)
2. Day 2: S + T rows
3. Day 3: N + H rows
4. Day 4: M + Y rows
5. Day 5: R + W rows + ん
6. Day 6: dakuten/handakuten + combinations
7. Day 7: review everything and read simple words

Tips that actually work:

• Write each character by hand — muscle memory locks it in far better than just looking.
• Use mnemonics (お looks like someone doing a cartwheel "Oh!").
• Read real words immediately — don't wait until you "finish." Sounding out あした (ashita, tomorrow) or ありがとう (arigatō, thank you) makes it click.
• Review with spaced repetition so characters come back just before you forget them.

Once hiragana feels comfortable, move straight to katakana — then start building words. Komichi's free N5 vocabulary deck is written in kana so you can practise reading from day one. When you're ready for the bigger picture, see how to pass JLPT N5.