There are not one but three writing systems that work together in the Japanese alphabet system: namely Hiragana, Katakana & Kanji. Here’s an in-depth guide.

Yes, it’s true. Japanese has three completely separate sets of characters, called kanji, hiragana, and katakana, that are used in reading and writing. That first rendering of “Tokyo” is in kanji, with ...

Regularly practice writing hiragana, katakana and kanji to improve your recognition and recall. Read your written practice aloud to reinforce the connections between the symbols and speech.

Katakana is today considered Japan’s second native script, to be learned after hiragana.It is usually studied in the first grade of elementary school, although some children master it before then.

Learn 100+ essential Japanese words for beginners! Get clear meanings and easy pronunciation guides to quickly start speaking ...

Katakana is frequently used to write foreign words that make their way into the Japanese language. Since native English speakers will recognize some words written in katakana, the alphabet itself ...

Last week, using the film title シン・ ゴジラ (Shin Gojira, "Shin Godzilla") as a springboard, I dived into some of the many ways the katakana syllabary is put to use when writing Japanese ...