Katakana: all 46 characters with stroke order
Katakana is the angular Japanese script used for foreign loanwords, names of foreigners, animals and plants, sound effects and emphasis. It has the same 46 sounds as hiragana, written with short straight strokes. Open a character to watch it written stroke by stroke, trace it and print a practice sheet.
Stroke order is the one taught in Japanese schools. Several katakana look alike (シ and ツ, ソ and ン), so each page points out its look-alike and what separates them.
Vowels
K row
S row
T row
N row
H row
M row
Y row
R row
W row
N
How to practise katakana writing
Start with the characters that look like their hiragana partners, then do the hard look-alikes in pairs: シ with ツ and ソ with ン.
Read katakana words aloud. Many are English words in disguise: ホテル is hotel, テニス is tennis, コーヒー is coffee.
Katakana strokes are short and straight. Keep each stroke crisp and start where the numbered dot says.
Once you can write the 46, practise writing your own name in katakana.
Pronunciation guide
| Letter | Name | Sound |
|---|---|---|
| ア | a | ah as in "father" |
| イ | i | ee as in "see" |
| ウ | u | oo as in "moon", with relaxed lips |
| エ | e | eh as in "bed" |
| オ | o | oh as in "or", short |
| カ | ka | k followed by ah (ah as in "father") |
| キ | ki | k followed by ee (ee as in "see") |
| ク | ku | k followed by oo (oo as in "moon", with relaxed lips) |
| ケ | ke | k followed by eh (eh as in "bed") |
| コ | ko | k followed by oh (oh as in "or", short) |
| サ | sa | s followed by ah (ah as in "father") |
| シ | shi | shee, like "she" with a soft sh |
| ス | su | s followed by oo (oo as in "moon", with relaxed lips) |
| セ | se | s followed by eh (eh as in "bed") |
| ソ | so | s followed by oh (oh as in "or", short) |
| タ | ta | t followed by ah (ah as in "father") |
| チ | chi | chee, like "cheese" |
| ツ | tsu | tsoo, with the ts of "cats" |
| テ | te | t followed by eh (eh as in "bed") |
| ト | to | t followed by oh (oh as in "or", short) |
| ナ | na | n followed by ah (ah as in "father") |
| ニ | ni | n followed by ee (ee as in "see") |
| ヌ | nu | n followed by oo (oo as in "moon", with relaxed lips) |
| ネ | ne | n followed by eh (eh as in "bed") |
| ノ | no | n followed by oh (oh as in "or", short) |
| ハ | ha | h followed by ah (ah as in "father") |
| ヒ | hi | h followed by ee (ee as in "see") |
| フ | fu | foo, said with the lips barely touching, between f and h |
| ヘ | he | h followed by eh (eh as in "bed") |
| ホ | ho | h followed by oh (oh as in "or", short) |
| マ | ma | m followed by ah (ah as in "father") |
| ミ | mi | m followed by ee (ee as in "see") |
| ム | mu | m followed by oo (oo as in "moon", with relaxed lips) |
| メ | me | m followed by eh (eh as in "bed") |
| モ | mo | m followed by oh (oh as in "or", short) |
| ヤ | ya | yah as in "yard" |
| ユ | yu | yoo as in "you" |
| ヨ | yo | yoh as in "yoga" |
| ラ | ra | rah, with a light tap of the tongue between r, l and d |
| リ | ri | ree, with the same tapped r |
| ル | ru | roo, with the same tapped r |
| レ | re | reh, with the same tapped r |
| ロ | ro | roh, with the same tapped r |
| ワ | wa | wah as in "want" |
| ヲ | wo | o. Today it is pronounced like お and used only as the object particle |
| ン | n | a nasal n that can sound like m or ng depending on the next sound |
A short history
Katakana was developed in the 9th century by Buddhist monks who took parts of Chinese characters as a shorthand for marking pronunciation in texts. Today it is the standard way to write foreign words in Japanese.