How to write in hiragana

Making the Right Strokes for さ, し, す, せ, そ (Sa, Shi, Su, Se, So)

A part of the Japanese writing system, hiragana is syllabary. Meaning, it is a set of written characters that represents syllables, creating a basic phonetic script for the Japanese language.

In most cases, each character corresponds to one syllable though there are few exceptions to this rule. Hiragana is used in many cases, such as writing particles or miscellaneous words that have no kanji form or an obscure kanji form.

With the following visual stroke-by-stroke guide, you will learn to write hiragana characters さ、し、す、せ、そ (sa, shi, su, se, so).

It is important to follow the stroke order in each of these guides. Learning the proper stroke order is a great way to help you to remember how to draw the character.

Learn how to write the hiragana character for «shi» in this simple lesson.

Follow the numbered stroke-by-stroke guide to flawlessly write «su» in this simple lesson.

This visual guide makes it easy for you to learn how to write out «se». Again, be sure to follow the proper stroke order!

Only one stroke, the hiragana character for «so» is not as easy to write as it looks. It’ll take some practice to get this character down with finesse!

More Lessons

If you want to see all 46 hiragana characters and hear the pronunciation for each, check out the Hiragana Audio Chart page. For a Handwritten Hiragana Chart, try this link.

To learn more about Japanese writing, take a look at Japanese Writing for Beginners.

How to write hiragana: wa わ

Learn how to write the hiragana character for «wa» in this simple lesson. Please remember, it is important to follow the stroke order when writing Japanese characters. Learning the proper stroke order is also a great way to help you to remember how to draw the character.

If you want to see all 46 hiragana characters and hear the pronunciation for each, try this Hiragana audio chart page. For a handwritten Hiragana chart, try this link.

To learn more about Japanese writing, try Japanese writing for beginners.

How to write hiragana: wo を

Learn how to write the hiragana character for «wo» in this simple lesson. Please remember, it is important to follow the stroke order when writing Japanese characters. Learning the proper stroke order is also a great way to help you to remember how to draw the character.

There are no Japanese words that begin with the hiragana character «wo.» «Wo» is used as a particle.

How to write hiragana: n ん

Learn how to write the hiragana character for «n» in this simple lesson. Please remember, it is important to follow the stroke order when writing Japanese characters. Learning the proper stroke order is also a great way to help you to remember how to draw the character.

There are no Japanese words that begin with the hiragana character «n».

A Hiragana Stroke Guide to あ、い、う、え、お (A, I, U, E, O)

Lessons in the Japanese Writing System

Hiragana is a part of the Japanese writing system. It is syllabary, which is a set of written characters that represent syllables. Thus, hiragana is a basic phonetic script in Japanese. In most cases, each character corresponds to one syllable though there are few exceptions to this rule.

Hiragana is used in many cases, such as writing articles or miscellaneous words that have no kanji form or an obscure kanji form.

With the following visual stroke-by-stroke guide, you will learn to write hiragana characters あ、い、う、え、お (a, i, u, e, o).

Follow the stroke order to write the hiragana character for «a». This hiragana character is used in words like あさ (asa), which translates to «morning».

Be sure to always use the proper stroke order when practicing. Not only is it correct, but it is also a great way to help you to remember how to draw the character.

This stroke-by-stroke guide will teach you how to write い. Conveying the «i» syllable, い is also used in words like いぬ (inu), which means «dog».

One of the more simple hiragana characters, う is used in words like うみ (umi), which means «sea».

Be sure to follow the stroke numbers when writing え. え is used in words like えき (eki), which is the Japanese word for «station».

Learn how to write the hiragana character for «o» in this simple lesson. This character is used in words like おかね (okane), meaning «money».

More Lessons

If you want to see all 46 hiragana characters and hear the pronunciation for each, check out the ​hiragana audio chart as well as the ​handwritten hiragana chart for more symbols.

Write Japanese Hiragana

Let’s practise how to write Japanese hiragana characters in the correct way.

There are only 46 of them. In this section you will get to learn the first 25 characters.

In the diagrams that you are going to see, the first character on the left in each row shows the full hiragana character.

The subsequent columns show you the strokes in the correct order. By following the green line of each stroke, memorize how each character is written.

After a few rounds of practice, learn to write each character without looking at the diagram.

As most hiragana characters are quite simple to write, you should not have any problem writing them after some practices.

You just need to be careful on some characters that look similar.

Write Hiragana in the a-line

The following diagram shows how to write hiragana characters гЃ‚ (a), гЃ„ (i), гЃ† (u), гЃ€ (e) and гЃЉ (o) in the correct order and strokes.

Write Hiragana in the ka-line

The following diagram shows how to write hiragana characters гЃ‹ (ka), гЃЌ (ki), гЃЏ (ku), гЃ‘ (ke) and гЃ“ (ko) in the correct order and strokes.

Bear in mind that for the character гЃЌ (ki), the 3rd stroke is not connected to the 4th stroke. However, most software and printed documents still show that the 2 strokes are linked together.

Just be sure that when you are writing, keep the 2 strokes separate. The same goes to the character гЃ• (sa) in sa-line.

Write Hiragana in the sa-line

The following diagram shows how to write hiragana characters гЃ• (sa), гЃ— (shi), гЃ™ (su), гЃ› (se) and гЃќ (so) in the correct order and strokes.

Write Hiragana in the ta-line

The following diagram shows how to write hiragana characters гЃџ (ta), гЃЎ (chi), гЃ¤ (tsu), гЃ¦ (te) and гЃЁ (to) in the correct order and strokes.

Write Hiragana in the na-line

The following diagram shows how to write hiragana characters гЃЄ (na), гЃ« (ni), гЃ¬ (nu), гЃ­ (ne) and гЃ® (no) in the correct order and strokes.

Remember, practice makes perfect. With some hard work, you will soon be able to write hiragana characters without referring to the diagrams.

Do you want to learn more about how to write all the Japanese hiragana and katakana characters? Make sure you check out these video lessons where you will be guided through every single letter.

By the way, this link above is an affiliate link, which means that I would earn a commission if you do end up purchasing the related learning course. It’s at no extra cost to you, and please if you have any questions related to this learning course, please let me know and I would be happy to answer them for you.

Related Pages

To know more, I recommend you take a look at this book on hiragana.

How to Write in Japanese: Hiragana and Katakana

Learn all of the Hiragana and Katakana characters and how to write them.

The Hiragana Vowels

Learn how to read and write the hiragana vowels, あ、い、う、え、お

The Hiragana K Column

Learn the Hiragana K column

The Hiragana S Column

Learn the Hiragana S column

The Hiragana T Column

Learn the Hiragana T column

The Hiragana N Column

Learn the Hiragana N column

The Hiragana H Column

Learn the Hiragana H column

The Hiragana M Column

Learn the Hiragana M column

The Hiragana R Column

Learn the Hiragana R column

The Hiragana Y Column and Digraphs

Learn the Hiragana Y column and digraphs

The Hiragana W Column Plus N

Learn the Hiragana W column plus N

The Katakana Vowels

Learn the katakana vowels

The Katakana K Column

Learn the katakana K column

The Katakana S Column

Learn the Katakana S column

The Katakana T Column

Learn the Katakana T column

The Katakana N Column

Learn the Katakana N column

The Katakana H Column

Learn the katakana H column

The Katakana M Column

Learn the Katakana M column

The Katakana R Column

Learn the Katakana R column

The Katakana Y Column and More Digraphs

Learn the Katakana Y column and more digraphs

The Katakana W Column Plus N

Learn the Katakana W column plus N

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