Katakana chart
128 characters
Basic (gojūon)
46 characters
| Consonant | a | i | u | e | o |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | ア a | イ i | ウ u | エ e | オ o |
| k | カ ka | キ ki | ク ku | ケ ke | コ ko |
| s | サ sa | シ shi | ス su | セ se | ソ so |
| t | タ ta | チ chi | ツ tsu | テ te | ト to |
| n | ナ na | ニ ni | ヌ nu | ネ ne | ノ no |
| h | ハ ha | ヒ hi | フ fu | ヘ he | ホ ho |
| m | マ ma | ミ mi | ム mu | メ me | モ mo |
| y | ヤ ya | ユ yu | ヨ yo | ||
| r | ラ ra | リ ri | ル ru | レ re | ロ ro |
| w | ワ wa | ヲ wo | |||
| n |
Voiced (dakuten)
20 characters
Plosive (handakuten)
5 characters
Combinations (yōon)
33 characters
| Consonant | 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 |
Extended
24 characters
Common questions
When is katakana used instead of hiragana?
For words borrowed from other languages (コーヒー, coffee), foreign names, animal and plant names in scientific contexts, onomatopoeia, and for emphasis — roughly the job italics do in English.
Why is katakana harder to read than hiragana?
The shapes are simpler and therefore more similar to each other — シ/ツ and ソ/ン are the notorious pairs — and loanwords are spelled by sound, so recognising コンピューター as "computer" takes a second pass at first.
What is the long vowel mark ー?
A dash that lengthens the preceding vowel: ケーキ is kēki ("cake"), not ke-ki. It is used almost exclusively in katakana, and it is written vertically when the text runs vertically.