Hiragana Practice Exercises

Hiragana Practice Exercises

Romaji note: long vowels are marked with a macron — おう and おお are written ō, うう is ū, and ええ is ē (えい stays "ei", as in せんせい sensei). So おかあさん is okāsan and がっこう is gakkō.

Hiragana is the first writing system most Japanese learners tackle, and for good reason — it covers every sound in Japanese and is used constantly in native text. This article gives you hands-on exercises to build real reading, writing, and recognition skills. Work through each section at your own pace, and return to any section when you need review.

If you want a visual reference while working through these exercises, keep the hiragana chart open in another tab.

Section 1: Reading Practice

Start by reading these common Japanese words aloud. Each word uses only basic hiragana characters. The goal is to sound out each character one at a time until the combinations become natural.

Beginner Words (2–3 characters)

Read each row from left to right, then cover the romaji column and try again. When you can read all ten without the romaji, move on.

Intermediate Words (4–5 characters)

Reading tip: When you see a small っ (a small つ, called sokuon), it doubles the consonant that follows it. So がっこう is ga-k-kō, not ga-tsu-kō.

Section 2: Writing Practice

Writing hiragana by hand reinforces memory more effectively than recognition alone. For each character below, study the stroke order, then copy it ten times.

The Five Vowels — Write These First

These are the foundation. Every other hiragana syllable ends with one of these vowel sounds.

K-Row Practice

Copy each character five times, then write the full k-row from memory: か、き、く、け、こ

S-Row Practice

Writing challenge: Without looking at the table, write the entire s-row in order. Check your work, then do it again.

T-Row and N-Row Practice

Copy these characters five times each:

た (ta)、ち (chi)、つ (tsu)、て (te)、と (to)

な (na)、に (ni)、ぬ (nu)、ね (ne)、の (no)

Note on の: This character is one of the most common in Japanese. It appears in possessive phrases like わたしの (watashi no — my/mine). Practice it until you can write it in a single fluid motion.

Section 3: Recognition Exercises

Several hiragana characters look very similar to one another. Confusing them is one of the most common mistakes beginners make. The exercises below target the most frequently mixed-up pairs.

Common Confusion Pairs

Study each pair and identify the visual difference before doing the drill.

Drill: Identify the Character

Read each character and write its romaji reading without looking at the table above:

1. ほ → ___
2. さ → ___
3. ぬ → ___
4. き → ___
5. ろ → ___
6. め → ___
7. は → ___
8. る → ___
9. れ → ___
10. わ → ___

Answers: 1. ho, 2. sa, 3. nu, 4. ki, 5. ro, 6. me, 7. ha, 8. ru, 9. re, 10. wa

Discrimination Exercise

In each row, circle the character that matches the reading given:

• ha: は / ほ / は / ほ / は
• me: ぬ / め / ぬ / め / ぬ
• sa: き / さ / き / さ / き
• ru: ろ / る / ろ / る / ろ

For each row, the pattern alternates. Count how many times each character appears. If you can identify them consistently at a glance, your recognition is solid.

Section 4: Word Building

Now combine individual characters into words. This exercise trains you to read character sequences as complete units rather than isolated symbols.

Exercise A: Fill in the Missing Character

Each word below is missing one character. Write the correct hiragana in the blank.

Exercise B: Build These Words from Parts

Given the romaji, write each word in hiragana:

1. hana (flower) → __
2. mizu (water) → __
3. sora (sky) → __
4. yama (mountain) → __
5. kawa (river) → __
6. umi (sea) → __
7. hoshi (star) → __
8. tsuki (moon) → __

Answers:

1. はな, 2. みず, 3. そら, 4. やま, 5. かわ, 6. うみ, 7. ほし, 8. つき

Exercise C: Match Hiragana Words to Meanings

Draw a line connecting each hiragana word to its English meaning.

Answers: あめ = rain, ひ = fire, かぜ = wind, ゆき = snow, くも = cloud

Section 5: Mini Quiz

Test yourself on everything covered so far. Work through these questions without looking back at earlier sections. Write your answers on paper, then check them at the end.

Part 1: Character Reading (write the romaji)

1. て → ___
2. に → ___
3. ふ → ___
4. ぺ → ___
5. ぞ → ___

Part 2: Character Writing (write the hiragana)

6. ko → ___
7. shi → ___
8. tsu → ___
9. ne → ___
10. mi → ___

Part 3: Word Reading (write the meaning)

11. いぬ → ___
12. ねこ → ___
13. さかな → ___
14. そら → ___
15. はな → ___

Part 4: Confusion Pairs (identify the correct character)

16. Which is "ho"? は or ほ → ___
17. Which is "nu"? ぬ or め → ___
18. Which is "ru"? ろ or る → ___
19. Which is "sa"? き or さ → ___
20. Which is "re"? れ or わ → ___

Answers:

Part 1: 1. te, 2. ni, 3. fu, 4. pe, 5. zo

Part 2: 6. こ, 7. し, 8. つ, 9. ね, 10. み

Part 3: 11. dog, 12. cat, 13. fish, 14. sky, 15. flower

Part 4: 16. ほ, 17. ぬ, 18. る, 19. さ, 20. れ

Scoring:

• 18–20 correct: Strong foundation — move on to dakuon (voiced sounds) and yōon (compound sounds)
• 14–17 correct: Good progress — review the sections where you made errors
• Below 14: Return to Sections 1–3 and spend more time on the confusion pairs before retaking

Section 6: Daily Practice Routine

Consistency matters more than session length. A focused 15-minute session every day builds stronger retention than a two-hour session once a week.

Recommended Daily Schedule

Day 1–3: Vowels and K-row

• Write the five vowels (あいうえお) ten times each
• Read the beginner word list in Section 1 aloud
• Focus on the さ/き confusion pair

Day 4–6: S-row and T-row

• Write each character in the s-row and t-row five times
• Do the word-building exercises in Section 4
• Focus on the は/ほ and め/ぬ confusion pairs

Day 7–9: N-row, H-row, M-row

• Write な、に、ぬ、ね、の and は、ひ、ふ、へ、ほ and ま、み、む、め、も
• Read the intermediate word list in Section 1
• Do the mini quiz in Section 5

Day 10–14: Y-row, R-row, W-row, and N

• Write や、ゆ、よ、ら、り、る、れ、ろ、わ、を、ん
• Practice the る/ろ and れ/わ confusion pairs
• Write five simple words from memory each day

Weekly Review Method

At the end of each week, do this review sequence:

1. Write the entire hiragana chart from memory (あいうえお through わをん)
2. Read five words you have not studied before using a dictionary or flashcard app
3. Write three sentences using only hiragana, even if they are simple ones like: わたしはがくせいです (I am a student)

Tracking Progress

Keep a notebook with two columns: characters you know confidently, and characters you are still learning. Move characters between columns as your accuracy improves. When everything is in the "know" column, your baseline hiragana is complete.

Next Steps

Once you can read and write all 46 basic hiragana characters without hesitation, the natural next steps are:

• Dakuon: Voiced versions of characters using the ゛mark, like が (ga), ざ (za), だ (da), ば (ba)
• Handakuon: The ゜mark used only with the h-row to create p-sounds: ぱ (pa), ぴ (pi), ぷ (pu), ぺ (pe), ぽ (po)
• Yōon: Compound sounds formed by combining characters with small や、ゆ、よ — for example きゃ (kya), にゅ (nyu), びょ (byo)
• Katakana: The second phonetic alphabet, which mirrors hiragana sounds but is used for foreign loanwords and emphasis

Use the interactive hiragana and katakana chart to see all characters organized by row, and test your recognition with the hiragana quiz when you are ready for timed practice.