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Hiragana: The Japanese Cursive Script
The 46-character cursive script used for native Japanese words, particles, and verb endings.
- Character count
- 46 base + ~25 variants
- First seen in
- ~900 CE
- Strokes per character
- 1 to 4
- Used for
- Native words, particles, conjugations
What hiragana is
Hiragana is one of three Japanese scripts (alongside katakana and kanji). It represents sounds, not meanings. Every Japanese syllable can be written in hiragana, which makes it the foundation for reading the language.
Most hiragana characters are curvy and compact, descended from cursive forms of simplified kanji. The script was developed roughly 1,000 years ago and was historically associated with women's writing (men wrote in kanji and Chinese-style prose). Today it is universal.
Where you see it
Verb endings and conjugations are entirely in hiragana. Particles (the tiny grammatical markers like は, が, を) are always in hiragana. And many native Japanese words, especially common everyday vocabulary, are written in hiragana even when a kanji exists, because it looks softer.
Children's books, early-reader manga, and the small 'ruby' characters above kanji (furigana) are also in hiragana.
How long it takes to learn
Most adult learners can recognize all 46 hiragana in two to four focused sessions of 30 minutes each. Writing them from memory takes about a week. Fluent reading comes with exposure over the following month.
See our complete three-day guide for the full schedule and mnemonic system.
Related reading
Common questions
Should I learn hiragana or katakana first?+
Hiragana. It appears in roughly 40 percent of Japanese text and handles every grammar function. Katakana is easier once hiragana is locked in.
Do I need to learn to write hiragana by hand?+
At least once per character. Writing by hand is the fastest way to lock the shapes into memory. After that, recognition is what matters day-to-day.
What's the most commonly confused hiragana pair?+
し (shi) and つ (tsu), followed by ね/れ/わ as a triplet. Drill them side by side from the beginning.