So you want to learn japanese but you have no clue where to begin? A good start would be to know the japanese alphabet in order to be able to understand basic writings, public signs and other information. It will also make it easier to learn japanese grammar and phonetics.
The japanese language uses four different writing systems. Hiragana and Katakana are similar to european alphabet systems and consist of 46 symbols each, plus some modifications to alter their sounds. In contrast to the English alphapet, symbols do not represent individual letters but sounds. Both writing systems are generalized as 'Kana' and were independently developed by buddhistic monks in the 9th century. Today, Katakana is mainly used for foreign words and names, while Hiragana is used for all the rest.
The third and much older writing system is the so called Kanji which was developed in the 3rd century. The japanese people borrowed the symbols from the chinese, but besides that there are not many similarities between both languages. Every Kanji symbol represents a whole word. In order to read a newspaper, one should know at least 2000 of the 50000 existing Kanji symbols. Two different readings, Kun and On make the whole learning process even more complicated and time consuming. Fortunately, Kanji is often combined with so called Furigana, a translation into Hirigana and Katakana written on top of the Kanji symbols, thus much easier to read for foreigners.
Another possibility for writing japanese texts is to use latin characters instead of Kana or Kanji symbols, so called Romaji. The process of transforming japanese symbols into the latin alphabet is called Romanization. There are three major kinds of Romanization: Hepburn, Nihon-shiki and Kunrei-shiki, which are usually used for foreign text only. They also help you learning the pronounciation of Kana syllables.
This website focuses on the two easier writing systems, Hiragana and Katakana. It is rather meant to be a reference for those who already have some knowledge of these systems. On the next pages you will find reference charts. On top of every Kana symbol you can find it's corresponding Romanji using the Hepburn system. Once you believe you learned all symbols, you can go to the Flashcards Game and test your knowledge. On the Links page you can find a list of other ressources that help you getting started with the apanese language.
All you need to use this website is a web browser of your choice, preferably the latest Internet Explorer or Opera. In order to play the flashcard game, your browser must also have JavaScript enabled. Now have fun and good look with Kana!