Japanese Gojūon Chart

This page contains a total of 140 Japanese kana characters, arranged according to the traditional structure of the gojūon chart. The gojūon chart is the foundational phonological chart for learning Japanese, organizing kana into 5 vowels (dan) and 10 consonants (gyō), forming a 10 row × 5 column table. Each cell contains two writing forms: hiragana and katakana, used in different linguistic contexts. Hiragana evolved from Chinese cursive script, featuring rounded and flowing shapes, primarily used for native Japanese words and grammatical elements. Katakana evolved from Chinese character radicals, featuring angular and rigid shapes, mainly used for foreign loanwords, onomatopoeia, and emphasis. Below is an introduction to the pronunciation, encoding, and usage characteristics of each kana, following the gyō order of the gojūon chart.

📝 Gojūon Seion

Seion forms the basis of the gojūon chart, consisting of 10 gyō and 5 dan totaling 46 kana (including duplicate sounds). The following introduces them sequentially from "a-gyō" to "wa-gyō". a-gyō is the first row of the gojūon chart, corresponding to the five vowels. あ is derived from the cursive form of the kanji "安", rōmaji is a. It is the first character in the kana table, often used at the beginning of words or as a particle. Its Unicode is U+3042, LaTeX command is \textあ (requires CJK package support), HTML entity is あ. The katakana ア comes from the radical of "阿", rōmaji is also a, Unicode U+30A2, HTML entity ア. い rōmaji i, Unicode U+3044, HTML entity い, commonly used as an adjective ending. Katakana イ rōmaji i, Unicode U+30A4, HTML entity イ. う rōmaji u, Unicode U+3046, HTML entity う, frequently used in verb negation or long vowels. Katakana ウ rōmaji u, Unicode U+30A6, HTML entity ウ. Note that the Unicode for hiragana "う" and katakana "ウ" are completely different. え rōmaji e, Unicode U+3048, HTML entity え. Katakana エ rōmaji e, Unicode U+30A8, HTML entity エ. お rōmaji o, Unicode U+304A, HTML entity お, often used as an honorific prefix. Katakana オ rōmaji o, Unicode U+30AA, HTML entity オ. These five vowels form the cornerstone of Japanese pronunciation, as all other kana are composed of a consonant combined with one of these five vowels. ka-gyō combines the consonant k with the five vowels. か rōmaji ka, Unicode U+304B, often used as a question particle. Katakana カ rōmaji ka, Unicode U+30AB. き rōmaji ki, Unicode U+304D. Katakana キ rōmaji ki, Unicode U+30AD. く rōmaji ku, Unicode U+304F, commonly used in verb conjugations. Katakana ク rōmaji ku, Unicode U+30AF. け rōmaji ke, Unicode U+3051. Katakana ケ rōmaji ke, Unicode U+30B1. こ rōmaji ko, Unicode U+3053, often used as a demonstrative pronoun. Katakana コ rōmaji ko, Unicode U+30B3. sa-gyō combines the consonant s with the five vowels. さ rōmaji sa, Unicode U+3055. Katakana サ rōmaji sa, Unicode U+30B5. し rōmaji shi, pronounced /ɕi/, is one of the most frequently used kana, Unicode U+3057. Katakana シ rōmaji shi, Unicode U+30B7. Note its rōmaji is shi, not si. す rōmaji su, Unicode U+3059, often used as the terminal form of verbs. Katakana ス rōmaji su, Unicode U+30B9. せ rōmaji se, Unicode U+305B. Katakana セ rōmaji se, Unicode U+30BB. そ rōmaji so, Unicode U+305D. Katakana ソ rōmaji so, Unicode U+30BD. Note that katakana "ソ" (so) and "ン" (n) look similar and are easily confused. ta-gyō combines the consonant t with the five vowels. た rōmaji ta, Unicode U+305F. Katakana タ rōmaji ta, Unicode U+30BF. ち rōmaji chi, pronounced /tɕi/, Unicode U+3061. Katakana チ rōmaji chi, Unicode U+30C1. Note its rōmaji is chi, not ti. つ rōmaji tsu, pronounced /tsɯ/, Unicode U+3064. Katakana ツ rōmaji tsu, Unicode U+30C4. Note its rōmaji is tsu, not tu. The small "っ" indicates a geminate consonant, Unicode U+3063. て rōmaji te, Unicode U+3066, often used as a connective particle. Katakana テ rōmaji te, Unicode U+30C6. と rōmaji to, Unicode U+3068, commonly used as a parallel particle. Katakana ト rōmaji to, Unicode U+30C8. na-gyō combines the consonant n with the five vowels. な rōmaji na, Unicode U+306A, often used as a negative auxiliary verb. Katakana ナ rōmaji na, Unicode U+30CA. に rōmaji ni, Unicode U+306B, frequently used as a locative case particle. Katakana ニ rōmaji ni, Unicode U+30CB. ぬ rōmaji nu, Unicode U+306C. Katakana ヌ rōmaji nu, Unicode U+30CC. ね rōmaji ne, Unicode U+306D, often used as a sentence-final particle. Katakana ネ rōmaji ne, Unicode U+30CD. の rōmaji no, Unicode U+306E, the most common particle for indicating possession in Japanese. Katakana ノ rōmaji no, Unicode U+30CE. ha-gyō combines the consonant h with the five vowels. は rōmaji ha, but pronounced wa when used as a particle, Unicode U+306F. Katakana ハ rōmaji ha, Unicode U+30CF. ひ rōmaji hi, Unicode U+3072. Katakana ヒ rōmaji hi, Unicode U+30D2. ふ rōmaji fu, actual pronunciation lies between hu and fu, Unicode U+3075. Katakana フ rōmaji fu, Unicode U+30D5. Note its rōmaji is fu, not hu. へ rōmaji he, but pronounced e when used as a particle, Unicode U+3078. Katakana ヘ rōmaji he, Unicode U+30D8. ほ rōmaji ho, Unicode U+307B. Katakana ホ rōmaji ho, Unicode U+30DB. ma-gyō combines the consonant m with the five vowels. ま rōmaji ma, Unicode U+307E. Katakana マ rōmaji ma, Unicode U+30DE. み rōmaji mi, Unicode U+307F. Katakana ミ rōmaji mi, Unicode U+30DF. む rōmaji mu, Unicode U+3080. Katakana ム rōmaji mu, Unicode U+30E0. め rōmaji me, Unicode U+3081. Katakana メ rōmaji me, Unicode U+30E1. も rōmaji mo, Unicode U+3082. Katakana モ rōmaji mo, Unicode U+30E2. ya-gyō combines the consonant y with three vowels (the i and e dan are already occupied by a-gyō). や rōmaji ya, Unicode U+3084. Katakana ヤ rōmaji ya, Unicode U+30E4. ゆ rōmaji yu, Unicode U+3086. Katakana ユ rōmaji yu, Unicode U+30E6. よ rōmaji yo, Unicode U+3088. Katakana ヨ rōmaji yo, Unicode U+30E8. ra-gyō combines the consonant r with the five vowels. Note that the Japanese ra-gyō consonant pronunciation falls between r and l, a unique articulation point. ら rōmaji ra, Unicode U+3089. Katakana ラ rōmaji ra, Unicode U+30E9. り rōmaji ri, Unicode U+308A. Katakana リ rōmaji ri, Unicode U+30EA. る rōmaji ru, Unicode U+308B. Katakana ル rōmaji ru, Unicode U+30EB. れ rōmaji re, Unicode U+308C. Katakana レ rōmaji re, Unicode U+30EC. ろ rōmaji ro, Unicode U+308D. Katakana ロ rōmaji ro, Unicode U+30ED. wa-gyō combines the consonant w with vowels; only two kana remain in modern usage. わ rōmaji wa, Unicode U+308F. Katakana ワ rōmaji wa, Unicode U+30EF. を rōmaji wo (actual pronunciation is identical to o), Unicode U+3092, used only as the accusative case particle. Katakana ヲ rōmaji wo, Unicode U+30F2, usage frequency is extremely low in modern Japanese. Finally, the moraic nasal ん rōmaji n, Unicode U+3093, is the only independent consonant syllable in Japanese. Katakana ン rōmaji n, Unicode U+30F3. Note the distinction from "ソ" (so).

🗣️ Dakuon and Handakuon

Dakuon are indicated by adding a dakuten (゛) to the upper right corner of seion kana, while handakuon add a handakuten (゜). ga-gyō is the dakuon version of ka-gyō. が rōmaji ga, Unicode U+304C. ぎ rōmaji gi, Unicode U+304E. ぐ rōmaji gu, Unicode U+3050. げ rōmaji ge, Unicode U+3052. ご rōmaji go, Unicode U+3054. za-gyō is the dakuon version of sa-gyō. ざ rōmaji za, Unicode U+3056. じ rōmaji ji, Unicode U+3058. ず rōmaji zu, Unicode U+305A. ぜ rōmaji ze, Unicode U+305C. ぞ rōmaji zo, Unicode U+305E. da-gyō is the dakuon version of ta-gyō. だ rōmaji da, Unicode U+3060. ぢ rōmaji ji (same sound as じ), Unicode U+3062. づ rōmaji zu (same sound as ず), Unicode U+3065. で rōmaji de, Unicode U+3067. ど rōmaji do, Unicode U+3069. ba-gyō is the dakuon version of ha-gyō. ば rōmaji ba, Unicode U+3070. び rōmaji bi, Unicode U+3073. ぶ rōmaji bu, Unicode U+3076. べ rōmaji be, Unicode U+3079. ぼ rōmaji bo, Unicode U+307C. pa-gyō is the handakuon version of ha-gyō, indicated by a handakuten. ぱ rōmaji pa, Unicode U+3071. ぴ rōmaji pi, Unicode U+3074. ぷ rōmaji pu, Unicode U+3077. ぺ rōmaji pe, Unicode U+307A. ぽ rōmaji po, Unicode U+307D. For keyboard input, dakuon and handakuon can typically be typed independently using the corresponding rōmaji combination. It is recommended to use precomposed Unicode characters on web pages to ensure compatibility.

🔣 Yōon and Special Characters

Yōon are formed by combining i-dan kana (excluding い) with small versions of や, ゆ, or よ, representing a single mora. きゃ rōmaji kya, composed of the two code points U+304D U+3083. きゅ rōmaji kyu (U+304D U+3085), きょ rōmaji kyo (U+304D U+3087). しゃ rōmaji sha (U+3057 U+3083), しゅ rōmaji shu (U+3057 U+3085), しょ rōmaji sho (U+3057 U+3087). ちゃ rōmaji cha (U+3061 U+3083), ちゅ rōmaji chu (U+3061 U+3085), ちょ rōmaji cho (U+3061 U+3087). にゃ rōmaji nya (U+306B U+3083), にゅ rōmaji nyu (U+306B U+3085), にょ rōmaji nyo (U+306B U+3087). ひゃ rōmaji hya (U+3072 U+3083), ひゅ rōmaji hyu (U+3072 U+3085), ひょ rōmaji hyo (U+3072 U+3087). みゃ rōmaji mya (U+307F U+3083), みゅ rōmaji myu (U+307F U+3085), みょ rōmaji myo (U+307F U+3087). りゃ rōmaji rya (U+308A U+3083), りゅ rōmaji ryu (U+308A U+3085), りょ rōmaji ryo (U+308A U+3087). Additionally, Japanese punctuation marks 、 called tōten (ideographic comma), Unicode U+3001, used for listing separation; and 。 called kuten (ideographic full stop), Unicode U+3002, used at the end of sentences. For SVG rendering and LaTeX typesetting, it is recommended to use Japanese-supporting fonts such as IPAexMincho or Noto Sans JP.

📌 Rōmaji Usage Notes

Rōmaji is an important tool for learning Japanese. When using it, please note the following: First, there are multiple rōmaji systems; this page adopts the most commonly used Hepburn romanization system, e.g., し→shi, ち→chi, つ→tsu, ふ→fu. Second, the rōmaji of some kana changes in specific contexts, such as "は" pronounced wa when used as a particle, and "へ" pronounced e when used as a particle. Third, long vowels in Hepburn are typically indicated with a macron (ā, ī, ū, ē, ō); this page omits macrons for readability. Fourth, yōon rōmaji consists of consonant + semivowel + vowel (e.g., kya, sha); distinguish them carefully from seion. Fifth, the moraic nasal "ん" is always written as n in Hepburn, but its actual pronunciation becomes /m/ before m, b, p sounds. Sixth, the sokuon "っ" (small tsu) is represented in rōmaji by doubling the following consonant (e.g., がっこう→gakkō). These notes will help you correctly understand and apply Japanese rōmaji.

💡 Usage Tips

If you need to copy the Unicode, rōmaji, HTML entity, or LaTeX command for any kana, simply click the corresponding kana cell in the gojūon charts above. In the detail panel that appears, click the desired item to copy it with one click. Each kana can generate SVG vector source code or be downloaded as a 512×512 pixel PNG image with a transparent background, making it convenient for instructional design, graphic layout, or software localization assets. Hiragana and katakana are arranged symmetrically in the gojūon charts; comparative study is recommended to build a systematic cognitive framework of kana. When using Japanese kana in LaTeX, packages such as CJK or luatexja must be loaded for correct rendering.