Katakana

Below is a chart of the basic sounds found in Japanese, written in Katakana. Click on any of the boxes below and up here you'll see an example of how to write that character using the Japanese writing system called katakana. Remember: when writing in Japanese, strokes tend to go from left to right first, then from up to down.

NKatakana N WaKatakana Wa RaKatakana Ra YaKatakana Ya MaKatakana Ma HaKatakana Ha NaKatakana Na TaKatakana Ta SaKatakana Sa KaKatakana Ka AKatakana A
RiKatakana Ri MiKatakana Mi HiKatakana Hi NiKatakana Ni ChiKatakana Chi ShiKatakana Shi KiKatakana Ki IKatakana I
RuKatakana Ru YuKatakana Yu MuKatakana Mu FuKatakana Fu NuKatakana Nu TsuKatakana Tsu SuKatakana Su KuKatakana Ku UKatakana U
ReKatakana Re MeKatakana Me HeKatakana He NeKatakana Ne TeKatakana Te SeKatakana Se KeKatakana Ke EKatakana E
(O)Katakana Wo RoKatakana Ro YoKatakana Yo MoKatakana Mo HoKatakana Ho NoKatakana No ToKatakana To SoKatakana So KoKatakana Ko OKatakana O

Try to follow along with pencil and paper as the character above is being drawn. The moving image will automatically cycle through every few seconds, so you shouldn't need to reload if you want to start again. Remember, when writing Japanese, your strokes should go from left to right and from top to bottom.

See an overview of katakana and how they are used