BlogJapanese vs English
Hiragana, Katakana and Kanji: Why Japanese Uses Three Writing Systems
Japanese mixes hiragana, katakana and kanji in one sentence. Here is what each one does, why they exist, and the best order to learn them.
Tap a highlighted Japanese word to see its reading and meaning.
In this article (6)
English has one alphabet. Japanese uses three scripts together, and often all three in a single sentence. It looks hard at first, but each script has a clear job.
The short answer
- Kanji carry the meaning of main words (nouns, verbs, adjectives).
- Hiragana show grammar: particles and word endings, plus many simple native words.
- Katakana are used mainly for foreign loanwords, foreign names and emphasis.
Hiragana and katakana are both syllable sets of 46 basic characters. Kanji are thousands of characters borrowed from Chinese, each with a meaning.
One sentence, three scripts
私は昨日コーヒーを飲みました。("I drank coffee yesterday.")
| Part | Script | Job | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| {{私 | わたし | I}} | kanji | the meaning "I" |
| は | hiragana | marks the topic | ||
| {{昨日 | きのう | yesterday}} | kanji | the meaning "yesterday" |
| コーヒー | katakana | "coffee", a loanword | ||
| を | hiragana | marks the object | ||
| {{飲 | の | drink}}み | kanji + hiragana | the verb stem in kanji, ending in hiragana |
| ました | hiragana | polite past tense |
Once you see the pattern, a Japanese sentence looks less like a wall of symbols and more like a code with three layers.
Why not just one script?
Japanese has many words that sound the same, such as はし (bridge) and はし (chopsticks). Kanji separate them: 橋 and 箸. Kanji also let you see word boundaries, because Japanese does not put spaces between words. Mixing scripts creates natural breaks: a kanji block, then a hiragana ending, then katakana.
How many kanji are there?
The Japanese government's list of everyday kanji, the , has 2,136 characters, and 1,026 of them are taught in elementary school. You do not need all of them to start. See how many kanji you need for each JLPT level.
The best order to learn
- Hiragana first. You need it for every sentence. Most beginners can learn it in days to a few weeks.
- Katakana next. The shapes are different, but the sounds are the same set, so it goes faster.
- Kanji gradually, inside words. Learn 食べる, not just 食. Real words keep the meaning and reading together.
Writing hiragana and katakana by hand while saying the sound out loud is one of the most effective ways to remember them. We explain why in why handwriting helps you learn Japanese.
What about rōmaji?
Rōmaji means writing Japanese in the Latin alphabet. It is useful for typing and for the first few days. Move away from it quickly, because it hides the real structure of words and does not show which kanji or kana is used.