Japanese Kana | Complete List

This page includes a total of 140 Japanese kana characters, covering both Hiragana and Katakana writing systems, as well as extended forms such as Dakuten (voiced), Handakuten (semi-voiced), and Yōon (glides). Each kana is annotated with its corresponding Romaji pronunciation. Japanese kana are phonographic characters that form the core of the Japanese writing system, with each representing a syllable. Kana are essential not only for Japanese text but also for language learning, type design, game localization, and cultural projects. Below is a detailed breakdown of each category with technical parameters and pronunciation.

📝 Hiragana System

Hiragana evolved from cursive Chinese characters, featuring rounded, flowing forms. In modern Japanese, it mainly handles grammatical function words, native vocabulary, and kanji readings. Below is a walkthrough of the basic Hiragana chart with Romaji. あ called Hiragana "a" (from 安), Romaji: a. The first kana, used at word beginnings or as a particle. Unicode: U+3042, LaTeX: \textあ (requires CJK support), HTML: あ. い from 以, Romaji: i, pronounced /i/. Used in adjective endings. Unicode: U+3044, HTML: い. う from 宇, Romaji: u. Used in verb negation or long vowels. Unicode: U+3046, HTML: う. Note it differs from Katakana ウ in Unicode. え from 衣, Romaji: e. Used in nouns and verb stems. Unicode: U+3048, HTML: え. お from 於, Romaji: o. Often used as an honorific prefix. Unicode: U+304A, HTML: お. These are the "a-row" vowels: a, i, u, e, o — the foundation of Japanese phonetics. Next, the "ka-row": か from 加, Romaji: ka. Used as a question particle. Unicode: U+304B, HTML: か. き from 幾, Romaji: ki. Unicode: U+304D, HTML: き. く from 久, Romaji: ku. Used in verb conjugations. Unicode: U+304F, HTML: く. け from 計, Romaji: ke. Unicode: U+3051, HTML: け. こ from 己, Romaji: ko. Used as a demonstrative pronoun. Unicode: U+3053, HTML: こ. Then the "sa-row": さ from 左, Romaji: sa. Unicode: U+3055, HTML: さ. し from 之, Romaji: shi, pronounced /ɕi/. One of the most frequent kana. Unicode: U+3057, HTML: し. Note: Romaji is shi, not si. す from 寸, Romaji: su. Used in verb terminal forms. Unicode: U+3059, HTML: す. せ from 世, Romaji: se. Unicode: U+305B, HTML: せ. そ from 曽, Romaji: so. Unicode: U+305D, HTML: そ. The "ta-row": た from 太, Romaji: ta. Unicode: U+305F, HTML: た. ち from 知, Romaji: chi, pronounced /tɕi/. Unicode: U+3061, HTML: ち. Note: chi, not ti. つ from 川, Romaji: tsu, pronounced /tsɯ/. Unicode: U+3064, HTML: つ. Note: tsu, not tu. Small っ (U+3063) marks a geminate consonant. て from 天, Romaji: te. Used as a connective particle. Unicode: U+3066, HTML: て. と from 止, Romaji: to. Used as a listing particle. Unicode: U+3068, HTML: と. The "na-row": な from 奈, Romaji: na. Used in negation. Unicode: U+306A, HTML: な. に from 仁, Romaji: ni. Used as a dative particle. Unicode: U+306B, HTML: に. ぬ from 奴, Romaji: nu. Unicode: U+306C, HTML: ぬ. ね from 祢, Romaji: ne. Used as a sentence-final particle. Unicode: U+306D, HTML: ね. の from 乃, Romaji: no. The possessive particle, extremely frequent. Unicode: U+306E, HTML: の. "ha-row": は Romaji ha (wa as particle), Unicode U+306F; ひ Romaji hi, U+3072; ふ Romaji fu (between hu and fu), U+3075; へ Romaji he (e as particle), U+3078; ほ Romaji ho, U+307B. "ma-row": ま Romaji ma, U+307E; み Romaji mi, U+307F; む Romaji mu, U+3080; め Romaji me, U+3081; も Romaji mo, U+3082. "ya-row": や Romaji ya, U+3084; ゆ Romaji yu, U+3086; よ Romaji yo, U+3088. "ra-row": ら Romaji ra, U+3089; り Romaji ri, U+308A; る Romaji ru, U+308B; れ Romaji re, U+308C; ろ Romaji ro, U+308D. Note: ra-row sounds between r and l. "wa-row": わ Romaji wa, U+308F; を Romaji wo (pronounced o), U+3092, used only as an object marker; ん Romaji n, U+3093, the only moraic nasal. Hiragana displays well in most web environments, but for some calligraphic fonts, Noto Sans JP is recommended.

🔤 Katakana System

Katakana evolved from components of Chinese regular script, featuring angular, rigid strokes. In modern Japanese, it primarily serves for foreign loanwords, onomatopoeia, scientific names, and emphasis. Below are the basic Katakana with Romaji. ア from 阿, Romaji: a. Corresponds to Hiragana あ. Unicode: U+30A2, HTML: ア. イ from 伊, Romaji: i. Unicode: U+30A4, HTML: イ. ウ from 宇, Romaji: u. Unicode: U+30A6, HTML: ウ. エ from 江, Romaji: e. Unicode: U+30A8, HTML: エ. オ from 於, Romaji: o. Unicode: U+30AA, HTML: オ. These are the "a-row" Katakana vowels. Next, "ka-row": カ from 加, Romaji: ka. Unicode: U+30AB, HTML: カ. キ from 幾, Romaji: ki. Unicode: U+30AD, HTML: キ. ク from 久, Romaji: ku. Unicode: U+30AF, HTML: ク. ケ from 介, Romaji: ke. Unicode: U+30B1, HTML: ケ. コ from 己, Romaji: ko. Unicode: U+30B3, HTML: コ. "sa-row": サ Romaji sa, U+30B5; シ Romaji shi, U+30B7; ス Romaji su, U+30B9; セ Romaji se, U+30BB; ソ Romaji so, U+30BD. Note: ソ (so) is similar to ン (n). "ta-row": タ Romaji ta, U+30BF; チ Romaji chi, U+30C1; ツ Romaji tsu, U+30C4; テ Romaji te, U+30C6; ト Romaji to, U+30C8. "na-row": ナ Romaji na, U+30CA; ニ Romaji ni, U+30CB; ヌ Romaji nu, U+30CC; ネ Romaji ne, U+30CD; ノ Romaji no, U+30CE. Remaining rows follow the same Romaji mapping. The long vowel mark ー extends the preceding vowel. Unicode: U+30FC, LaTeX: \textlongdash. For Katakana, specify a Japanese font in CSS for consistent styling.

🗣️ Dakuten & Handakuten

Dakuten adds a voicing mark (゛) to base kana; Handakuten adds a semi-voicing mark (゜). が voiced variant of か, Romaji: ga. Unicode: U+304C, HTML: が. Katakana ガ also ga, Unicode U+30AC. ざ voiced さ, Romaji: za, U+3056. Katakana ザ U+30B6. だ voiced た, Romaji: da, U+3060. Katakana ダ U+30C0. ば voiced は, Romaji: ba, U+3070. Katakana バ U+30D0. ぱ semi-voiced は, Romaji: pa, U+3071. Katakana パ U+30D1. For keyboard input, these are typically typed independently; precomposed Unicode characters ensure maximum compatibility.

🔣 Yōon & Special Characters

Yōon are glide combinations. きゃ Romaji: kya, composed of U+304D U+3083. きゅ Romaji kyu (U+304D U+3085), きょ Romaji kyo (U+304D U+3087). しゃ Romaji sha (U+3057 U+3083), しゅ Romaji shu (U+3057 U+3085), しょ Romaji sho (U+3057 U+3087). ちゃ Romaji cha (U+3061 U+3083), ちゅ Romaji chu (U+3061 U+3085), ちょ Romaji cho (U+3061 U+3087). Also includes Japanese punctuation: 。period (U+3002); 、comma (U+3001). For SVG rendering and LaTeX, IPAexMincho or similar Japanese fonts are recommended.

📌 Romaji Usage Notes

Romaji is essential for Japanese learning. Key points: 1) Multiple romanization systems exist; this page uses Hepburn (e.g., shi, chi, tsu, fu). 2) Some kana change reading contextually: は→wa, へ→e as particles. 3) Long vowels are typically marked with macrons (ā, ī, ū, ē, ō) in Hepburn; these are omitted here for simplicity. 4) Yōon consist of consonant + glide + vowel (e.g., kya, sha). 5) Romaji input is the foundation of Japanese keyboard typing. These tips ensure accurate understanding and usage of Japanese Romaji.

💡 Usage Tips

To copy a kana's Unicode, Romaji, HTML entity, or LaTeX command, simply click its card above, then click the desired item in the detail panel for one-click copy. Each kana can be exported as SVG source or downloaded as a 512×512 transparent PNG — ideal for teaching materials, layout design, or localization assets. When drafting Japanese learning documents or internationalized apps, using correct Hiragana and Katakana Unicode ensures lossless transmission and accurate display across platforms.