Start Here: Japanese Foundations｜はじめての日本語

Start Here · Lesson 6

Katakana

Learn the second Japanese writing system. Katakana helps you read many useful words in Japan, such as convenience stores, restaurants, menus, signs, products, and foreign names.

Japanese letters
Foreign words
Daily life signs
Reading practice

Lesson Goal

In this lesson, you will learn what katakana is and how to start reading it.

ア

Understand Katakana

Learn what katakana is and why it is important.

🔤

Read Sounds

Practice the 46 basic katakana characters.

🍽️

Daily Words

Read common words used in Japan every day.

ー

Long Vowels

Understand the long vowel mark in katakana.

🌱

Confidence

Start reading menus, signs, and product names.

What Is Katakana?

Katakana is one of the three main Japanese writing systems. It is often used for words that came from other languages.

Writing System	Example	Main Use
Hiragana	あいうえお	Basic Japanese sounds and grammar
Katakana	アイウエオ	Foreign words and loanwords
Kanji	日本語	Meaning-based characters

Why Katakana Is Important

Katakana appears often in daily life in Japan. You will see katakana in store names, menus, product labels, station signs, hotel information, hospital words, technology words, job words, and foreign names.

Katakana	Romaji	English
コンビニ	konbini	convenience store
スーパー	suupaa	supermarket
レストラン	resutoran	restaurant
ホテル	hoteru	hotel
カード	kaado	card

Important Idea

Katakana has the same sounds as hiragana.

Hiragana and katakana represent the same Japanese sounds. The sound is the same. Only the character shape is different.

Hiragana and Katakana Comparison

If you already learned hiragana, katakana will be easier because the sounds are the same.

Romaji	Hiragana	Katakana
a	あ	ア
i	い	イ
u	う	ウ
e	え	エ
o	お	オ

The Five Basic Vowels

The first katakana characters to learn are the five basic vowels.

アイウエオ

Katakana	Romaji	Sound
ア	a	like “a” in father
イ	i	like “ee” in see
ウ	u	like “oo” in food, but shorter
エ	e	like “e” in bed
オ	o	like “o” in open

Basic Katakana Chart

Here are the 46 basic katakana characters. You do not need to memorize everything in one day.

	a	i	u	e	o
Vowels	ア	アイ	ウ	エ	オ
K	カ	キ	ク	ケ	コ
S	サ	シ	ス	セ	ソ
T	タ	チ	ツ	テ	ト
N	ナ	ニ	ヌ	ネ	ノ
H	ハ	ヒ	フ	ヘ	ホ
M	マ	ミ	ム	メ	モ
Y	ヤ		ユ		ヨ
R	ラ	リ	ル	レ	ロ
W	ワ				ヲ
N	ン

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Recommended Study Order

Use the same order as hiragana. A good study goal is to learn one row each day.

Step 1

アイウエオ

Step 2

カキクケコ

Step 3

サシスセソ

Step 4

タチツテト

Row Practice

Practice each row slowly. Say the sounds out loud.

Row	Katakana	Useful Words
Vowels	アイウエオ	アイ, エア, オイル
K	カキクケコ	カメラ, キロ, クラス, ケーキ, コーヒー
S	サシスセソ	サラダ, シール, スープ, セール, ソース
T	タチツテト	タクシー, チーズ, ツアー, テレビ, トイレ
N	ナニヌネノ	ナイフ, ニュース, ヌードル, ネクタイ, ノート
H	ハヒフヘホ	ハンバーガー, ヒーター, フォーク, ヘルプ, ホテル
M	マミムメモ	マスク, ミルク, ムービー, メール, モデル
Y	ヤユヨ	ヨガ, ユーロ, ヨーグルト, ユニフォーム
R	ラリルレロ	ラーメン, リモコン, ルール, レストラン, ロビー
W/N	ワヲン	ワイン, オンライン, パン, コンビニ

Long Vowels in Katakana

Katakana often uses a long vowel mark. This mark makes the sound longer.

ー

Katakana	Romaji	English
コーヒー	koohii	coffee
ケーキ	keeki	cake
スーパー	suupaa	supermarket
タクシー	takushii	taxi
ラーメン	raamen	ramen

Small Katakana Characters

Some katakana words use small characters. Small katakana characters change the sound.

Katakana	Romaji	English
ファイル	fairu	file
フォーク	fooku	fork
チェック	chekku	check
シャワー	shawaa	shower
ジュース	juusu	juice

You do not need to master all of these today. Just notice that small katakana changes the sound.

Similar Katakana Characters

Some katakana characters look very similar. Take your time and compare them carefully.

シ / ツ

shi / tsu

ソ / ン

so / n

ク / ケ

ku / ke

ワ / ウ

wa / u

マ / ム

ma / mu

コ / ユ

ko / yu

Reading Practice: Daily Life Words

Try reading these katakana words. Read each word aloud three times.

Katakana	Romaji	English
コンビニ	konbini	convenience store
スーパー	suupaa	supermarket
レストラン	resutoran	restaurant
ホテル	hoteru	hotel
トイレ	toire	restroom
タクシー	takushii	taxi
バス	basu	bus
カード	kaado	card
メール	meeru	email
パン	pan	bread

Reading Practice: Food and Drinks

Katakana is very common in food and drink names.

Katakana	Romaji	English
コーヒー	koohii	coffee
ジュース	juusu	juice
スープ	suupu	soup
サラダ	sarada	salad
チーズ	chiizu	cheese
ケーキ	keeki	cake
パスタ	pasuta	pasta
ピザ	piza	pizza
カレー	karee	curry
ヨーグルト	yooguruto	yogurt

How to Practice Katakana

Use this simple method.

👀

Read One Row

Start with one katakana row.

🗣️

Say Sounds

Say the sounds out loud.

✍️

Write

Write each character by hand.

📖

Read Words

Practice useful katakana words.

🌍

Find Words

Look for katakana in real life.

Common Katakana Mistakes

Thinking katakana is less important

Katakana is very important for daily life in Japan. You will see it many times every day.

Ignoring long vowels

The long vowel mark ー changes pronunciation. Practice words like コーヒー, スーパー, and タクシー.

Confusing シ and ツ

These two characters look similar. Practice them many times.

Confusing ソ and ン

These also look similar. Read slowly and carefully.

Practice: Match Katakana and Romaji

Match the katakana with the correct romaji.

Katakana	Answer	Choices
ア		A. e / B. a / C. o / D. i / E. u
イ		A. e / B. a / C. o / D. i / E. u
ウ		A. e / B. a / C. o / D. i / E. u
エ		A. e / B. a / C. o / D. i / E. u
オ		A. e / B. a / C. o / D. i / E. u

Practice: Choose the Correct Reading

Q1. How do you read カ?

A. ka

B. sa

C. ta

Answer:

Q2. How do you read シ?

A. si

B. shi

C. chi

Answer:

Q3. How do you read ツ?

A. tsu

B. su

C. to

Answer:

Q4. How do you read ン?

A. wa

B. n

C. o

Answer:

Practice: Read the Words

Read these words and write the romaji.

Katakana	Romaji
コンビニ
スーパー
レストラン
ホテル
トイレ
カード

Practice: Choose the Meaning

Q1. What does コンビニ mean?

A. Convenience store

B. Hospital

C. School

Answer:

Q2. What does レストラン mean?

A. Restaurant

B. Station

C. Park

Answer:

Q3. What does タクシー mean?

A. Taxi

B. Train

C. Bicycle

Answer:

Speaking Practice

Read these katakana rows aloud.

アイウエオ

カキクケコ

サシスセソ

タチツテト

ナニヌネノ

ハヒフヘホ

マミムメモ

ヤユヨ

ラリルレロ

ワヲン

Now read these useful words aloud.

コンビニ

スーパー

レストラン

ホテル

トイレ

タクシー

バス

カード

メール

コーヒー

Mini Mission

Today’s mission is to find 5 katakana words around you.

You can look at food packages, restaurant menus, store signs, train station signs, websites, apps, or product labels.

Katakana word 1: ＿＿＿＿＿＿ Meaning: ＿＿＿＿＿＿

Katakana word 2: ＿＿＿＿＿＿ Meaning: ＿＿＿＿＿＿

Katakana word 3: ＿＿＿＿＿＿ Meaning: ＿＿＿＿＿＿

Katakana word 4: ＿＿＿＿＿＿ Meaning: ＿＿＿＿＿＿

Katakana word 5: ＿＿＿＿＿＿ Meaning: ＿＿＿＿＿＿

Review

In this lesson, you learned the basics of katakana.

Katakana is one of the basic Japanese writing systems.

Katakana is often used for foreign words and loanwords.

Katakana is very useful in daily life in Japan.

The sounds are the same as hiragana.

The long vowel mark ー is very important.

Some katakana characters look similar.

You should practice reading real katakana words.

Study one row at a time.

Say the sounds out loud.

Look for katakana in real life.

🌸 Practice with a Real Teacher

Want Help Reading Katakana?

Katakana becomes easier when you read real words aloud with a teacher. A tutor can help you practice pronunciation, long vowels, and similar-looking characters such as シ and ツ.

Practice useful katakana words from menus, signs, shopping, transportation, and daily life in Japan.

Practice katakana pronunciation

Read real daily-life words

Get help with similar characters

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