Hiragana Writing Practice: All 46 Characters with Stroke Order
Writing practice builds the muscle memory needed to read and produce ひらがな automatically. The 46 basic hiragana are arranged in 10 rows (行, gyō), each sharing a consonant sound. Correct stroke order is not just tradition — it produces consistent, readable letterforms and speeds up recall. This guide covers every character, the five core stroke rules, commonly confused pairs, dakuten, and compound kana.
Covers: 5 vowels with stroke counts, all 46 by row, 5 stroke order rules, confused pairs, dakuten & handakuten, youon compound kana, small っ sokuon
The five vowels あいうえお (a, i, u, e, o) are the foundation of every hiragana row. Each consonant row follows the same vowel sequence.
Character
Reading
Strokes
Key writing tip
あ
a
3
Horizontal stroke first, then the curved vertical, then the loop — close the loop on the third stroke
い
i
2
Two separate curved strokes; left stroke is shorter and higher, right stroke curves down longer
う
u
2
Short horizontal tick on top, then the main curved body below — do not connect them
え
e
2
Horizontal stroke first, then the vertical with a distinctive rightward hook at the bottom
お
o
3
Like あ but ends with a crossing stroke; the third stroke crosses through the second and curves right
All 46 Hiragana by Row
Row (行)
あ (a)
い (i)
う (u)
え (e)
お (o)
Stroke counts
あ行
あ
い
う
え
お
3 / 2 / 2 / 2 / 3
か行
か
き
く
け
こ
3 / 4 / 1 / 3 / 2
さ行
さ
し
す
せ
そ
3 / 1 / 2 / 3 / 2
た行
た
ち
つ
て
と
4 / 2 / 1 / 1 / 2
な行
な
に
ぬ
ね
の
4 / 3 / 2 / 4 / 1
は行
は
ひ
ふ
へ
ほ
3 / 2 / 4 / 1 / 4
ま行
ま
み
む
め
も
3 / 2 / 3 / 2 / 3
や行
や
—
ゆ
—
よ
3 / — / 2 / — / 2
ら行
ら
り
る
れ
ろ
2 / 2 / 2 / 3 / 1
わ行
わ
—
—
—
を
2 / — / — / — / 3
(n)
ん
—
—
—
—
1
5 Core Stroke Order Rules
These five principles apply across all hiragana (and kanji). Internalize them and stroke order becomes predictable rather than something to memorize character by character.
#
Rule
Example
1
Left to right
三 — write each horizontal stroke from left to right
2
Top to bottom
に — the top horizontal comes before the lower vertical strokes
3
Horizontal before vertical (usually)
た — horizontal crossing stroke comes before the vertical descender
4
Outer before inner enclosures
国 (kanji) — the outer frame is drawn before the contents inside
5
Closing/sealing stroke last
日 (kanji) — the bottom sealing stroke is the final stroke of the enclosure
Most Confused Hiragana Pairs
These pairs look similar and cause consistent errors even after learners think they know hiragana. Study the specific difference for each pair.
Pair
How to tell them apart
ぬ vs め
ぬ ends with a loop curving left; め ends curving clockwise to the right. Think: ぬ = noodle loop left.
は vs ほ
は has 3 strokes; ほ has 4 — it has an extra horizontal bar at the top of the right side.
わ vs れ vs ね
わ has no loop at the bottom; ね and れ both have loops. れ's loop opens to the right; ね's loop closes back into the stroke.
さ vs き
さ is 3 strokes; き is 4 — it has an extra horizontal bar that the さ lacks.
る vs ろ
る ends with a hook that curves back on itself (a closed loop); ろ ends open with no hook or loop.
の vs め
の is a single oval written in one sweeping motion; め has two distinct internal strokes.
Dakuten (゛) and Handakuten (゜)
Adding diacritics to hiragana characters creates new voiced or semi-voiced sounds without needing entirely new characters.
Base row
Dakuten (゛) — voiced
Example words
か行 (k)
が行 (g): が ぎ ぐ げ ご
学校(がっこう), 銀行(ぎんこう)
さ行 (s)
ざ行 (z): ざ じ ず ぜ ぞ
雑誌(ざっし), 地図(ちず)
た行 (t)
だ行 (d): だ ぢ づ で ど
大学(だいがく), どこ
は行 (h)
ば行 (b): ば び ぶ べ ぼ
勉強(べんきょう), バス
Handakuten (゜) — the small circle — only applies to the は row and creates a p sound: ぱ ぴ ぷ ぺ ぽ. Example: ぱん (bread), ぴかぴか (sparkling).
Compound Kana — Youon (拗音)
Compound kana (youon) are formed by pairing a consonant kana with a small や ゆ よ. The small kana is written at roughly half size and the two together represent a single syllable beat.
Base
+ ゃ
+ ゅ
+ ょ
き (ki)
きゃ (kya)
きゅ (kyu)
きょ (kyo)
し (shi)
しゃ (sha)
しゅ (shu)
しょ (sho)
ち (chi)
ちゃ (cha)
ちゅ (chu)
ちょ (cho)
に (ni)
にゃ (nya)
にゅ (nyu)
にょ (nyo)
ひ (hi)
ひゃ (hya)
ひゅ (hyu)
ひょ (hyo)
み (mi)
みゃ (mya)
みゅ (myu)
みょ (myo)
り (ri)
りゃ (rya)
りゅ (ryu)
りょ (ryo)
ぎ (gi)
ぎゃ (gya)
ぎゅ (gyu)
ぎょ (gyo)
じ (ji)
じゃ (ja)
じゅ (ju)
じょ (jo)
び (bi)
びゃ (bya)
びゅ (byu)
びょ (byo)
ぴ (pi)
ぴゃ (pya)
ぴゅ (pyu)
ぴょ (pyo)
Important: full-size や ゆ よ after a consonant kana are two separate sounds. Only small ゃ ゅ ょ form a single compound syllable.
Small っ — The Sokuon (促音)
Small っ is written exactly like つ but at approximately half size. It represents a doubled consonant: the following consonant is held for one full mora beat.
Word
Romanization
Meaning
Note
きって
ki-t-te
stamp (postage)
The っ doubles the t in te
ざっし
za-s-shi
magazine
The っ doubles the sh sound
いっぽん
i-p-pon
one (long object)
The っ doubles the p sound
がっこう
ga-k-kō
school
The っ doubles the k sound
When writing っ by hand, make sure it is clearly smaller than a full-size つ. If they look the same, the word meaning changes entirely.
5 Common Mistakes in Hiragana Writing
Wrong loop direction on ぬ and め.ぬ loops to the left; め curves clockwise to the right. Reversing the loop direction makes the characters look like each other, causing reading errors.
Confusing き (4 strokes) with さ (3 strokes).き has an extra horizontal bar crossing the vertical stroke. If you write き with only 3 strokes, it reads as さ.
Writing small っ the same size as full つ. Size matters: っ must be visibly smaller than つ. In the word きって, if both characters are the same size, it looks like きつて, which is a different (non-) word.
Making ん look like る or の.ん is written as one stroke that sweeps up and then curves back left — it does not loop closed like る and is not a round oval like の. Practice the ending carefully.
Not closing the loops on あ, め, ぬ. These characters require their loops to be fully closed. An open loop makes あ look unfinished and ぬ/め look like each other or like other characters entirely.
FAQ
How many hiragana characters are there?
There are 46 basic hiragana arranged in 10 rows (行, gyō). The 5 vowels (あいうえお) form the first row, followed by 9 consonant rows through わ, plus ん. Adding dakuten (゛) for voiced sounds creates roughly 25 more, and handakuten (゜) on the は row adds 5 more (p-sounds). Compound youon kana add further combinations, bringing the total to well over 100 possible syllables.
What is the correct stroke order for hiragana?
The five core rules are: (1) left to right; (2) top to bottom; (3) horizontal before vertical in most characters; (4) outer strokes before inner enclosures; (5) the closing or sealing stroke is written last. Following these rules consistently builds accurate muscle memory and produces legible handwriting that Japanese readers will recognize immediately.
What is the difference between ぬ and め?
ぬ ends with a loop that curves to the left. め ends curving clockwise to the right. Both have a similar enclosure shape in the body, so the loop direction is the key distinguishing feature. A helpful mnemonic: ぬ (noodles) loop left like noodles spilling over; め (eye) goes right in a clockwise circle.
How is small っ different from regular つ?
Small っ (sokuon) is written exactly like つ but at roughly half size. It represents a doubled consonant — the following consonant sound is held for one mora beat. For example, きって (stamp) is ki-t-te. When writing by hand, make っ clearly smaller than full-size つ; identical size makes words unreadable.
What are youon compound kana?
Youon are compound syllables formed by combining a consonant kana with a small ゃ ゅ ょ. For example, き + small ゃ = きゃ (kya). Together they form a single syllable beat, not two. Full-size や ゆ よ after a consonant kana would be two separate sounds. The small size is the only visual indicator, so size matters greatly in writing.
How do dakuten and handakuten change hiragana sounds?
Dakuten (゛) turns voiceless consonants into voiced ones: か→が (k→g), さ→ざ (s→z), た→だ (t→d), は→ば (h→b). Handakuten (゜) only applies to the は row and creates p-sounds: は→ぱ, ひ→ぴ, ふ→ぷ, へ→ぺ, ほ→ぽ. This effectively expands the writing system by 30 syllables without creating new character shapes.
The YoruLearn app includes hiragana recognition drills with spaced-repetition review — so you see each character at exactly the right interval to cement it in long-term memory before moving on.
