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After hiragana

Katakana カタカナ

Katakana uses the same sounds as hiragana, with sharper shapes. You’ll see it for loanwords, names, onomatopoeia, and emphasis — including many gospel and English-origin terms (イエス, キリスト, モルモン).

Hiragana first Flashcards

Character chart

Same gojūon layout as hiragana — five vowels across, consonant rows down. Watch look-alikes: シ/ツ, ソ/ン, ウ/ワ.

a
i
u
e
o
—
k
s
t
n
h
m
y
r
w
n

How to study this

  1. 1

    Map from hiragana

    You already know the sounds. Pair each katakana with its hiragana twin.

  2. 2

    Drill look-alikes

    シ vs ツ, ソ vs ン, ウ vs ワ — quiz mode until they stop swapping.

  3. 3

    Read real words

    Then open Flashcards — many names and loanwords are written in katakana.