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THE KANA: ひらがな HIRAGANA

あ is a swooshing set of strokes like the A in dAnce.

い is the shape of the sides of your mouth as you make a long E sound.

う is an ear with someone at the back of the class yelling “oo!”, “oo!” to answer a question.

え is a similar shape to the letter Z, but with the vowel sound found in the British pronunciation of “zEd”.

お can be pictured as an Oval planet in orbit.

か looks like a KArate kick.

き looks like a KEY turning in a lock.

く is the mouth of a PaKUman.

け is like the KE in basKEt.

こ is the shape of the mouth of a hungry KOi fish.

さ is like a SOck that might be better spelled as SAck.

SHI

し is like a fiSHIng hook.

す has a loop in the second stroke and is long like a noodle in SOUp.

せ - is in the shape of e and sounds like “e”(as in Egg) with an “s” in front.

そ - is shaped like the end of a SOfa.

た - sounds like the TA in a spinning TOp and looks like the lines it makes as it turns.

CHI

ち looks like a chicken chirping for her chicks but sounds like the first part of “CHEEks”.

TSU

つ is like a long TSUnami.

て is like a TEble (table).

と is one TOe in the air and the other straight ahead.

な is a person about to tie a kNOt.

に is like the side view of a KNEE.

ぬ is like two long NOOdles floating in soup.

ね looks like it’s made up of the two English letters that spell its pronunciation: n and an upside down e.

の is similar to the symbol for NO in a smoking sign.

は is like a Japanese boy in a HAt waving his HAnd saying “HAi!” to answer a question.

ひ is shaped like a big mouth laughing: HI, HI, HI.

ふ is like a person sneezing saying aaaaFU.

へ is one HEck of a hill.

ほ is like Santa waving and saying “HO HO HO!”.

ま is like a MArshmallow making its way round and round on a skewer.

み looks like the letter “m” and sounds like the ME in “MEdium”.

む has an “oo” sound like す, with a mark and a tail that have been MOved to the right.

め is the ME in raMEn, and is long, curvy, and delicious like the ぬ in noodles.

も is like し, but like with one MO’ notch on the hook for one MO’ fish having been caught.

や is a hippo making a large YAwn.

ゆ is Uncle Sam moving his hand up, around, and at you, saying, “I want YOU.”

よ is like a hand signal for someone who says “YO!”

ら is shaped like the base of the ear and the side of the face of a RAccoon.

り is like the end of a juicy rib ready for the gRIll.

る is like the letter “r” with a lOOp on the end.

れ is shaped like a leg (the Japanese might say “REg”) with a foot at the end.

ろ is like the letter “r” with an Open curl on the end.

わ is shaped somewhat like an ancient haniWA horse sculpture.

を is shaped like a man jumping Over an obstacle.

ん, while shaped somewhat more like an h, is a tall “n”, often used as an eNding sound.

Kana Combinations (hiragana • katakana)

KYA きゃ・キャ	KYU きゅ・キュ	KYO きょ・キョ
SHA しゃ・シャ	SHU しゅ・シュ	SHO しょ・ショ
CHA ちゃ・チャ	CHU ちゅ・チュ	CHO ちょ・チョ
NYA にゃ・ニャ	NYU にゅ・ニュ	NYO にょ・ニョ
HYA ひゃ・ヒャ	HYU ひゅ・ヒュ	HYO ひょ・ヒョ
MYA みゃ・ミャ	MYU みゅ・ミュ	MYO みょ・ミョ
RYA りゃ・リャ	RYU りゅ・リュ	RYO りょ・リョ

カタカナ KATAKANA

ア looks like a dArt.

イ is one of many pEople you will see in this book.

ウ is like a tOOl that could be used to lOOsen a nut.

エ looks like an “H” on its side and is pronounced with the beginning sound of this letter (EHch).

オ has an (Opening at the bottom that could close soon.

カ wields lots of power just like the kanji 力.

キ looks like it could go on a KEY ring along with the hiragana き.

ク is shaped like a quiz (KUizu in Japanese) paper that has just been graded.

ケ is like KElp, a seaweed eaten quite often by Japanese.

コ looks like a COmb that’s missing its teeth.

サ is the American English pronunciation for the first part of the word sock (“ SAck”).

SHI

シ has marks similar to a capital letter “ E”.

ス is for the SUit that goes with this bowtie.

セ, like the hiragana せ, could have a small letter “e” CEntered on it almost perfectly.

ソ is like a SOft cushion.

タ looks like it’s time (タイム or TAimu in katakana) for the moon to come out from behind the clouds.

CHI

チ is like a CHEErleader performing.

TSU

ツ is a series of downward “OO” sounds written in romaji as u and U.

テ is a table (read TEble), similar to the hiragana て.

ト is the shape of a divining rod and in ancient China, TOrtoise shells were used to divine the future.

ナ is like a nice (NAice) girl in the middle of a curtsey.

ニ is the same as the kanji for 2 and shares its the pronunciation.

ヌ looks like the string and tag for a NEW bottle of sake.

ネ is like the head and antlers of a sacred deer, stretching his NEck.

ノ is one stroke finished as another is about to be made for an ‘X’ to signify NO.

ハ is the same as the kanji for 8, HAchi, and has the same pronunciation as its first syllable.

ヒ is like a ladle of coffee (koHIin Japanese) just pulled from the HEAt.

フ is like a scarF protecting you from sneezes like you find in hiragana ふ.

ヘ, like the hiragana へ, is one HEck of a hill.

ホ is the first sound in HOtto, the Japanese word for hot, and the way the Japanese like their tea.

マ is like I am pointing my thumb to myself (MAi is the Japanese pronunciation of “my”).

ミ is three things lined up which would be counted in Japanese as MIttsu (三つ).

ム is a person pointing to himself as if using the French word to ask “MUa?”

メ is the first sound of the word MExico and looks a bit like the letter X.

モ is similar to hiragana も, but the notch line for one MO’ fish is a bit higher up the hook.

ヤ is like a ball of YArn and two knitting needles.

ユ sounds like the letter “U”, and looks like a “U” flipped over and lying on its side.

ヨ is like a good comb to use on YOur hair.

ラ is the RA in zebRA.

リ is the same in katakana as in hiragana!

ル is for a ROUte change that you might not see if you are driving too fast.

レ is a REba– (the Japanese word for “lever”) on a wall, waiting to be pulled.

ロ has a sound that is almost like the English “RO”, as in ROll.

ワ looks like a windshield wiper (WAipa in Japanese).

ヲ is a rare character you might only see if you sail Over the sea in a boat.

ン is like the crisscross rope pattern of an ancient JomoN period pot.

Kana Notes

• The hiragana う and katakana ウ, when following kana that end in “o” or “u” sounds, serve to lengthen the preceding vowel. In katakana, the symbol ー is used to lengthen any vowel that precedes it.

• A small っ (hiragana) or ッ (katakana) serves to double the consonant that follows.

• The symbol" changes unvoiced sounds to voiced sounds: k becomes g; s becomes z; t becomes d; and h becomes b.

• The symbol^。 changes ha, hi, fu, he, and ho sounds to pa, pi, pu, pe, and po.

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