K
S
T
N
H
M
Y
R
W
a
ka
sa
ta
na
ha
ma
ya
ra
wa
i
ki
shi
chi
ni
hi
mi
ri
u
ku
su
tsu
nu
fu
mu
yu
ru
o
e
ke
se
te
ne
he
me
re
o
ko
so
to
no
ho
mo
yo
ro
n
WHAT IS KATAKANA ?
1
Katakana are a type of Japanese character. Just like hiragana, each katakana character
is used to represent a sound. In fact, they represent the exact same sounds as
hiragana. So how are they different, you ask? The difference is in when you use them.
Katakana are used for various purposes, but they're mostly used to transcribe foreign
words (often English). Sometimes, katakana are used for stylistic purposes as well.
In this book, we assume that you already know how to read hiragana. If you haven't
studied hiragana, please check out Tofugu's Learn Hiragana page first and come back
later.
AN OVERVIEW OF KATAKANA
Just like hiragana, katakana start with the vowel column (A - I - U - E - O). The others
are a combination of a consonant and a vowel sound, with an exception of (N).
2
HOW TO USE THE LEARN KATAKANA BOOK
The HOW TO PRONOUNCE section
explains how to say the kana. In this
book, we'll be using the hiragana
equivalents to tell you what the
katakana sound like. So make sure you
already know hiragana!
The HOW TO REMEMBER section
gives you a "memory hint," a.k.a. a
mnemonic, to help you link the shape
and the reading of the kana.
This is a supplemental image to the
HOW TO REMEMBER section. It visually
illustrates how the memory hint works.
This is the kana (katakana) you'll be
learning on the page.
PAGE FOR EACH KATAKANA
Do some practice writing the kana,
tracing over the lines first, then filling in
the blank boxes! At this stage, writing is
not as important as being able to read,
but moving your hand and practicing
writing will help you remember the kana.
The bottom half of the page is the
PRACTICE WRITING section.
This shows the stroke order for writing
the kana. As for stroke direction, keep in
mind that the basic rule is left to right,
top to bottom.
3
Here in the boxes below each kana,
just fill in the romaji reading of the
corresponding kana.
This helps you self-assess and see how
much you have (or haven't) retained.
If you find yourself having a hard time
remembering a specific kana, you can
always go back to that kana's page to
review.
You can also try to come up with
memory hints of your own if that works
better for you!
The reading quiz continues! Keep filling in the kana readings in romaji.
What's different (and kind of cool) in this part is that the kana are used for transcribing non-Japanese
words (and sometimes Japanese words that are just commonly written in katakana). You might
notice that a lot of katakana words don't actually sound like the way they do in their original language.
This is because of the lack of sounds available in Japanese compared to other languages. But it's cool
to know that you can say some foreign words using Japanese sounds, right?
Each word contains at least one kana from the column you're reviewing, but keep in mind that you
may see some kana from previous columns being used as well.
So when you're using this book, try to follow the order it's in to get the most out of it.
After you learn a set/column of kana, you'll see a page called LET'S PRACTICE READING! where you
can review what you've learned. You'll see this kind of exercise once in a while throughout the book so
that you can repeatedly review your katakana knowledge and solidify it in your memory.
REVIEW PAGE FOR EACH COLUMN
how to pronounce
is the katakana for (a).
PRACTICE WRITING
4
how to remember
has a deformed capital letter A in it.
You have to turn your head to the side
and connect some lines, but it's there.
how to remember
looks like an eagle standing on the
ground, or on a branch, or wherever.
See its legs and its back, curved down
like an eagle's?
PRACTICE WRITING
5
how to pronounce
is the katakana for (i).
PRACTICE WRITING
6
how to remember
This katakana character looks a lot like
its hiragana counterpart: .
It should be similar enough to use as a
mnemonic to remember what it is.
how to pronounce
is the katakana for (u).
PRACTICE WRITING
7
how to pronounce
is the katakana for (e).
PRACTICE WRITING
8
how to remember
This kana looks like an opera singer.
His mouth is shaped like an o and
he's singing "Ohhhh!"
how to pronounce
is the katakana for (o).
9
let's practice reading!
What's the reading? Write in romaji.
󼶨means ah! — something you
say when you come to a
realization.
 is eye.
 is "Oui" ("Yes" in French).
 is air.
 is "or."
PRACTICE WRITING
10
how to remember
It looks just like the hiragana ,
though it's missing that little extra line.
Close enough to make it easy to
remember, though.
how to pronounce
is the katakana for (ka).
PRACTICE WRITING
11
how to remember
It looks like the hiragana (the top
part at least) and also looks like part of
a weird key.
how to pronounce
is the katakana for (ki).
PRACTICE WRITING
12
how to remember
This looks like a long cook's hat. What
are they hiding under there?!
how to pronounce
is the katakana for (ku).
PRACTICE WRITING
13
how to remember
It looks like the letter K!
how to pronounce
is the katakana for (ke).
PRACTICE WRITING
14
how to remember
See the two 90 degree corners? The
two corners are what help you to
remember that this is "ko."
how to pronounce
is the katakana for (ko).
let's practice reading!
What's the reading? Write in romaji.
 is cacao.
 is key.
 is aqua.  is care.
 is core.
15
What's This Dash? : This dash extends the vowel that comes before it.
For example, is "kaa." (More on this later! p.64)
PRACTICE WRITING
16
how to remember
Look at these two fish that are hanging
on a skewer. The small one is a sardine
and the bigger one is a salmon. You
can tell that by the size difference.
You can also remember this is sa
because fish are called
(sakana) in Japanese.
how to pronounce
is the katakana for (sa).
PRACTICE WRITING
17
how to remember
This kana looks like a smiley face, but
something is wrong with it. Both eyes
are sideways and stacked on top of
each other like some deep sea fish.
She has a very weird face.
how to pronounce
is the katakana for (shi).
PRACTICE WRITING
18
how to remember
is the katakana for (su).
What's that up there? It’s Superman
walking in the sky!
Wait — upon closer inspection, it's just
his disembodied supersuit. …W-Where
the heck did he go naked?
how to pronounce
is the katakana for (su).
how to pronounce
is the katakana for (se).
PRACTICE WRITING
how to remember
It looks really similar to the hiragana
, so you should be able to use that
to remember this kana.
19
PRACTICE WRITING
20
how to pronounce
is the katakana for "so."
how to remember
It is one needle and a long thread,
which you use to sew.
Remember, needles are always vertical
like this needle, because you need to
stab it through something, straight
down. This will help you to
differentiate this one and the very
similar , the katakana for!"n."
let's practice reading!
What's the reading? Write in romaji.
is size.
 is sheer.
 is Swiss.  is sexy.
 is soy.
21
22
Let's practice reading KATAKana FROM A - K - S ROWS!
What's the reading? Write in romaji.
how to remember
looks like a kite. Kites are called
(tako) in Japanese. This is actually a
taco kite, too. It looks exactly like a
giant taco flying high in the sky. Tacos
are all the rage these days!
PRACTICE WRITING
23
how to pronounce
is the katakana for (ta).
PRACTICE WRITING
24
how to remember
Doesn't this look like a cheerleader
doing a cheer? Hope they don't fall
over...
how to pronounce
is the katakana for (chi).
PRACTICE WRITING
25
how to remember
While (so) had one needle and
thread, has two needles and thread.
Remember, needles are vertical
because you use them to stab into
cloth, straight down. This will help you
to differentiate this one from (shi),
which has more horizontal lines.
Horizontal lines means it's a face,
vertical means it's needles. So this one
has two needles.
how to pronounce
is the katakana for (tsu).
how to pronounce
is just the T sound plus , making a
PRACTICE WRITING
how to remember
This kana looks like a telephone pole.
26
how to pronounce
is the katakana for (te).
PRACTICE WRITING
27
how to pronounce
is just the T sound plus , making a
how to remember
It looks just like a totem pole.
how to pronounce
is the katakana for (to).
let's practice reading!
What's the reading? Write in romaji.
 is Thai
(“Thailand” in Japanese).
 is cheer.
 is tights.  is sauté.
 is test.
28
PRACTICE WRITING
29
how to pronounce
is just the T sound plus , making a
how to remember
See the majestic narwhal, swimming
up to the surface? What a beautiful
creature.
how to pronounce
is the katakana for (na).
PRACTICE WRITING
30
how to pronounce
is just the T sound plus , making a
how to remember
This is two needles, laying on their
side. Now, don't get confused about
how I said that needles are always
vertical… that's only with the katakana
that have the slope in them ( and
). When they're on their own, resting,
and not being used to sew anything
(no thread), they're just two needles
lying on their side.
how to pronounce
is the katakana for (ni).
PRACTICE WRITING
31
how to pronounce
is just the T sound plus , making a
how to remember
The chopsticks are grabbing some
noodles and pulling them out of a
bowl.
how to pronounce
is the katakana for (nu).
PRACTICE WRITING
32
how to pronounce
is just the T sound plus , making a
how to remember
Look, this kana looks like a horse
(neigh!) jumping over a hurdle. Never
gamble, kids!
how to pronounce
is the katakana for (ne).
PRACTICE WRITING
33
how to pronounce
is just the T sound plus , making a
how to remember
It looks like a really long nose.
how to pronounce
is the katakana for (no).
let's practice reading!
What's the reading? Write in romaji.
 is night.
 is near.
 is nude.  is next.
 is "No."
34
PRACTICE WRITING
35
how to pronounce
is just the T sound plus , making a
how to remember
This is shaped like one of those rice
paddy hats. You'll have to connect the
pieces, but you can see it, right?
how to pronounce
is the katakana for (ha).
PRACTICE WRITING
36
how to pronounce
is just the T sound plus , making a
how to remember
He is saying "heehee." Can you see his
cheeky grin?
how to pronounce
is the katakana for (hi).
PRACTICE WRITING
37
how to pronounce
is just the T sound plus , making a
how to remember
looks like a flag that's triangle-
shaped. Hooray for the triangle flag!
You’ll need to use your imagination to
add the stick/flagpole, but you’ll know
is a flag waving in the wind when
you see that triangle shape.
how to pronounce
is the katakana for (fu).
PRACTICE WRITING
38
how to pronounce
is just the T sound plus , making a
how to remember
This katakana looks just like the
hiragana . If you know one, you know
them both!
how to pronounce
is the katakana for (he).
PRACTICE WRITING
39
how to pronounce
is just the T sound plus , making a
how to remember
This is a holy cross. You can even see
holy light coming off of it. So holy.
how to pronounce
is the katakana for (ho).
let's practice reading!
What's the reading? Write in romaji.
 means fly in Japanese.
 is coffee.
 is tough.  is "hey".
 means scallop in Japanese.
40
41
Let's practice reading KATAKana FROM T - N - H ROWS!
What's the reading? Write in romaji.
PRACTICE WRITING
42
how to pronounce
is just the T sound plus , making a
how to remember
Look at all those angles! Those
lengths! Those measurements!
All that math!
how to pronounce
is the katakana for (ma).
PRACTICE WRITING
43
how to pronounce
is just the T sound plus , making a
how to remember
Three missiles, flying towards you.
Be careful!
how to pronounce
is the katakana for (mi).
PRACTICE WRITING
44
how to pronounce
is just the T sound plus , making a
how to remember
It is shaped like a cow's friendly face.
Look at that snout! Moo!
how to pronounce
is the katakana for (mu).
PRACTICE WRITING
45
how to pronounce
is just the T sound plus , making a
how to remember
This looks like an "X" over someone's
( ) —!"eye" in Japanese.
Meh, I guess they're dead now.
how to pronounce
is the katakana for (me).
PRACTICE WRITING
46
how to pronounce
is just the T sound plus , making a
how to remember
This looks very similar to the hiragana
, so you should be able to make that
connection and remember both of
these.
how to pronounce
is the katakana for (mo).
let's practice reading!
What's the reading? Write in romaji.
 is mouse.
 means earthworm in
Japanese.
is movie.
 is memo.
 is moist.
47
PRACTICE WRITING
48
how to pronounce
is just the T sound plus , making a
how to remember
This looks just like the hiragana ,
minus a little line.
how to pronounce
is the katakana for (ya).
PRACTICE WRITING
49
how to pronounce
is just the T sound plus , making a
how to remember
You have a hook for a hand. What are
you, a pirate?
how to pronounce
is the katakana for (yu).
PRACTICE WRITING
50
how to pronounce
is just the T sound plus , making a
how to remember
See how this kana looks like someone
doing yoga? Only a yogi could bend
into such a boxy position.
how to pronounce
is the katakana for (yo).
 is yakuza
(Japanese gangs).
51
 is yoga.
 is unique.
let's practice reading!
What's the reading? Write in romaji.
PRACTICE WRITING
52
how to pronounce
is just the T sound plus , making a
how to remember
It is a raptor wearing some sweet
sunglasses like a rapper.
how to pronounce
is the katakana for (ra).
how to pronounce
is the katakana for (ri).
PRACTICE WRITING
53
how to remember
It looks just like the hiragana , or at
least very, very similar.
PRACTICE WRITING
54
how to pronounce
is just the T sound plus , making a
how to remember
There are two routes you can take:
Route One and Route Two.
how to pronounce
is the katakana for (ru).
how to pronounce
is the katakana for (re).
PRACTICE WRITING
55
how to remember
Look at that beautiful red hair that Rei
has! It's so flowy!
how to pronounce
is the katakana for (ro).
PRACTICE WRITING
56
how to remember
This road goes around in a square,
never ending. What a terrible road this
is. What are you, a twelve-year-old
playing Sim City?
let's practice reading!
What's the reading? Write in romaji.
 is lucky.
 is recycle.
 is lure (fake bait).
 is layer.
 is royal.
57

PRACTICE WRITING
58
how to pronounce
is just the T sound plus , making a
how to remember
This kana looks like a question mark.
When you ask a question, you often
begin with the word what. What are
you doing? What are you wearing?
What are you not wearing?
how to pronounce
is the katakana for (wa).
PRACTICE WRITING
59
how to pronounce
is just the T sound plus , making a
how to remember
To remember is "wo," think of a dog
woofing so hard its tongue is flying
out. "Oh!" you exclaim, taken aback by
this dog's tongue.
how to pronounce
is the katakana for (wo). That
means, it’s pronounced like (o)!
PRACTICE WRITING
60
how to pronounce
is just the T sound plus , making a
how to remember
Do you remember how is a lady
with a weird face? The two little
dashes are more horizontal than
vertical, which helps us to know it's a
face.
So, what about ? It's a man who has
only one eye. Mmnnnnnn, but why
only one eye, you ask? Don't ask, I
don't know.
how to pronounce
is the katakana for (n).
Sometimes, when it comes before
certain sounds, it's pronounced like m
too.
As you might have noticed, the final column, the W-column is quite irregular.
61
 is sunshine.

 is wine.
let's practice reading!
What's the reading? Write in romaji.
 is wonton
(a Chinese dumpling).
62
Let's practice reading KATAKana FROM M - Y - R - W ROWS!
What's the reading? Write in romaji.
Congratulations! You've learned all the basic katakana. Now it's time for you to learn
about "variation" katakana.
LEARN VARIATION KATAKANA
DAKUTEN & HAN-DAKUTEN
Remember how we can change kana pronunciation with dakuten (this double
quotation mark-looking symbol: ) and han-dakuten (this little circle: )? They work
with katakana too.
K
G
S
Z
T
D
H
B
p
a
ka
ga
sa
za
ta
da
ha
ba
Pa
i
ki
gi
shi
ji
chi
ji (di)
hi
bi
Pi
u
ku
gu
su
zu
tsu
zu (du)
fu
bu
Pu
e
ke
ge
se
ze
te
de
he
be
Pe
o
ko
go
so
zo
to
do
ho
bo
po
63
u
bu (VU)
What's unique about dakuten katakana is that you can dakuten , turning it into .
represents the "vu" sound, and is used for transcribing v-sounds (we'll talk more
about this later in the combination katakana
section).
You can technically dakuten in hiragana too
(which would be ), but doing so in katakana
is much more common. That's because
v-sounds aren't traditionally used in Japanese, so you see this in katakana a lot more.
Be aware that although is the character for "vu," it actually sounds more like "bu" ( )
because a lot of Japanese speakers are not used to pronouncing v-sounds.
Now, do you remember the two components you use for combination kana? These
work the same way with katakana as they do with hiragana.
1) Kana from the (I) row.
2) The small - - .
However, combinations don't stop here with katakana. There are a lot more
combinations in katakana that we can use to represent sounds not traditionally
available in Japanese. Some combinations are less common than the others, but
another set you can combine is:
1) Kana from the (U) row —!especially , , , and .
2) The small - - - - .
COMBINATION KATAKANA
64
BWA (va)
fa
tza (tsa)
BWI (vi)
wi
fi
tzi (tsi)
BU (vu)
u
FU
tsu
Bwe (ve)
We
fe
tze (tse)
Bwo (vo)
WO (Uxo)
fo
tzo (tso)
Combination katakana that use
( - - - ) are
pronounced more like b-sounds or
bw-sounds, though they are often
used to represent v-sounds such as
(violin) and
(visual).
-sounds are sort of making up for
the missing w-sounds (since the w-
column only has and ), and are
used for words like
(window) and
(Wednesday). To type , type
("U") and the small ("XO")
separately.
-sounds are pretty straightforward —!they are used for f-sounds to represent words
like (fan) and (fish).
-sounds are less common, but are used for tz/ts sounds. They often appear when
transliterating Italian "z" sounds like (Mozzarella) as well as Chinese "ts" or
"tz" sounds. Note that you use "ts" on the keyboard when typing those -sounds.
In addition to the combination sets that we've talked about so far, there are a few more
scattered sounds you can make with combination katakana using the small vowels.
Here's the rest of the common ones.
65
tI (THI)
party
dI (dhi)
candy
twu
two
dwu
do
Are you getting the gist of it? Don't worry if you are still taking it all in.
The most important thing right now is to be able to read these extra combinations and
know they exist. You'll see some of these pretty often, which means that through
experience they will feel more natural to you. It's just one of those things you have to
use and experience to become comfortable with it.
she
shell
je
jelly
che
check
LONG VOWELS ( )
You've already seen this dash earlier in the reading exercises. Unlike hiragana, which
deals with long vowels by repeating the vowel, katakana has a special vowel extender
character, a dash. When you see this, you'll just need to extend the vowel that it comes
after.
For example, "cheese" is pronounced like "chiizu." To represent that in katakana, you
write . If this didn't have the dash and looked like , it'd be pronounced "chizu"
and mean "map" in Japanese, instead of delicious "cheese."
You'll see this dash a lot in katakana. It can be challenging at first to guess how to spell
words with it, but with a lot of experience, you'll start to understand when and how to
use it. For now, just focus on reading it correctly. That part is much easier, and that is the
part that will give you the experience you need to reproduce it later on.
Let's practice reading all the KATAKana!
What's the reading? Write in romaji.

66



 
  
 
 

 





Let's practice reading all the KATAKana!
What's the reading? Write in romaji.

67




  
 



 






Here are some recommendations for what you can do to keep moving forward with
your Japanese proficiency.
Tofugu's online kana quiz tool https://kana-quiz.tofugu.com will be handy for
additional katakana practice too! Just like you (hopefully) did for your hiragana
learning, try spacing out your practice. That will help you retain the knowledge in the
long term. If you feel like you can use some more hiragana help, mixing in some
hiragana reviews during your katakana practice is a good idea too. That will help you
solidify both your hiragana and katakana knowledge!
Tofugu has an online platform for learning kanji (characters of Chinese origin) and
Japanese vocabulary called WaniKani (wanikani.com). Now you've gone through all the
katakana, it would be a good time to start studying kanji.
Kanji can be intimidating, because they're complicated and unfamiliar to a lot of
learners. But WaniKani makes it easy by breaking them down into parts and giving you
memory hints (a.k.a. mnemonics) to help you associate their shapes with their
meanings and readings.
WaniKani also uses SRS (Spaced Repetition System) for its flashcard feature. It
automatically spaces out your practice so that everything you learn sticks better to
your brain. You can learn about 2,000 kanji and more than 6,000 words using
WaniKani. If you're fast, you can do that in a little over a year! Try the first three levels
for free and see if it works for you.
...This is the end of Tofugu's Learn Katakana Book. We hope to see you around on your
Japanese learning journey!
WHAT'S NEXT?
ADDITIONAL PRACTICE
LEARN KANJI (& JAPANESE VOCABULARY)
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