Want to learn Japanese hiragana? In this blog, we share our own PDF learning Hiragana practice sheets and links to some popular apps for learning Japanese. Just started learning Japanese? Head to our main article about the Japanese writing system for a more comprehensive guide!

Apps for Learning Hiragana

If you are just getting started with learning Hiragana, you may think that it is easier to learn with an App.

Apps are convenient and easy to take with you to practice using while you are out and about. However, we also suggest that you take some time to physically write the characters, as it will cement them in your brain.

That being said, we recommend several apps for being fun and easy to use.

Learn Hiragana & Katakana with Dr. Moku

Dr. Moku’s Hiragana and Katakana Mnemonics are 2 separate apps. One for Hiragana and one for Katakana. In each app, they associate all the kana with pictures, making it easy for you to remember them.

It also uses mnemonic hacks (tying each character to a visual story-based meaning) rather than just rote memorization.

Mindsnacks – Limited Free Version

Mindsnacks has a visually appealing interface, and the limited free version allows you to practice learning Hiragana and Katakana characters.

It is the closest thing to a learning video game that we have found.

Hiragana Learning Chart – Writing Practice PDFs

If you are looking for a more analog way to practice and learn hiragana – we have included a sample of a few of the practice homework sheets from our Japanese Crash Course below:

Open the image in a new tab by clicking on it- you can print it!

How to use the homework sheets:

Use the hiragana chart here to locate the correct symbol. (Right-click to save as – or left-click to open)

Draw a line to the corresponding character and connect them.

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Looking for something more advanced? Check out our JLPT Kanji Workbook PDFs!

Hiragana FAQ

What is Hiragana used for?

Hiragana is a fundamental script in Japanese, used for writing sentences, grammatical particles (like は, が, を), and parts of words. It is also used for words that don’t have kanji or for furigana (small hiragana above kanji to show pronunciation).

How many Hiragana characters are there?

There are 46 basic Hiragana characters. Some characters can change their sounds when small marks (゛or ゜) are added, like か (ka) → が (ga) or は (ha) → ぱ (pa).

What’s the easiest way to learn Hiragana?

The best ways to learn Hiragana are:

• Learn mnemonics (e.g., し (shi) looks like a smiling face)
• Practice writing daily
• Use flashcards to memorize characters
• Listen to Hiragana songs or use learning apps

What’s the difference between Hiragana and Katakana?

Hiragana is mainly used for native Japanese words and grammar, while Katakana is used for foreign words (like “coffee” → コーヒー), onomatopoeia, and emphasis.

Can I write everything in Hiragana?

Yes, but it’s not ideal. Japanese writing combines Hiragana, Katakana, and Kanji, so writing everything in Hiragana can be hard to read and understand.

Hiragana, katakana, and kanji make up the Japanese writing system. When you start learning Japanese, figuring out how to read and write can feel overwhelming; after all, Japanese is completely different from the Roman alphabet! You then learn that there are three different writing systems used all at once. How is that even possible? Not to worry – these systems are simpler than you might expect! Each one has unique, defining characteristics and uses; once you learn more about these, reading and writing Japanese will be a breeze!

We’ve covered smaller articles for each Japanese writing system. Don’t forget to check out our downloadable hiragana chart and quiz for a more detailed guide and resource recommendation.

Origins of the Japanese Alphabet

Do you know about the history and the origin of hiragana and katakana? Originally, the Japanese ancestors did not have a writing system. Around the fifth century, they started using kanji, ideograms that were adopted from China and Korea. They only used the phonetic reading of the kanji, regardless of their meaning. At that time, the ideograms were called manyogana (万葉仮名).

However, kanji’s characters are composed of many strokes. They take longer to write, as you have noticed by now! Due to their difficulty, those ideograms were slowly simplified into kana alphabets, namely hiragana and katakana. They are called syllabograms, as each character corresponds to one sound in the Japanese language. According to historians, the change was initiated by Buddhist priests who thought kanji could not accurately represent the Japanese language and that a phonetic alphabet would be better.

Examples of Change

On the left is the manyogana, and on the right are simplified hiragana and katakana forms.

• 安 →あ 阿 → ア (a)
• 以 →い 伊 → イ(i)
• 宇 →う、ウ(u)
• 衣 →え 江 → エ(e)
• 於 →お、オ(o)

This change is thought to have occurred between the eighth and ninth centuries.  Hiragana can be considered a simplified calligraphy form of the kanji’s strokes. On the other hand, katakana is taken from a single element of a kanji. In some cases, the Hiragana and Katakana are created from different ideograms.

Some hiragana and Katakana express the same sound and have similar shapes, such as り and リ. However, some can be dissimilar, such as あ and ア. Hiragana is said to be cursive, while katakana is more angular. Do take note that one sound can have more than one hiragana. In 1900, the two kana scripts, hiragana and katakana, were codified. This led to the clear establishment of rules for the Japanese system in 1946.

Japanese Writing System #1: Hiragana

Whenever you just start out learning Japanese, hiragana is usually the first writing system you learn. Hiragana is technically a syllabary or a way of writing where symbols represent whole syllables (such as “ba” and “to”) instead of individual sounds (such as “b” or “t”)⁵. This is because all Japanese words are made up of these small syllables, so there’s no need to write out individual sounds!

In Japanese, there are 46 basic syllables:

• The basic vowels: a, i, u, e, o.
• The k-line: ka, ki, ku, ke, ko.
• The s-line: sa, shi, su, se, so. (Notice that the “si” sound is instead replaced by “shi.”)
• The t-line: ta, chi, tsu, te, to. (Notice that the “ti” and “tu” sounds are instead pronounced closer to “chi” and “tsu.”)
• The n-line: na, ni, nu, ne, no.
• The h-line: ha, hi, fu, he, ho. (Notice that the “hu” sound is actually said as “fu.”)
• The m-line: ma, mi, mu, me, mo.
• The y-line: ya, yu, yo.
• The r-line: ra, ri, ru, re, ro.
• Wa, o/wo, and n. (These sounds are unique, so they are generally placed together. The “o/wo” symbol can be pronounced either way and “n” is considered a whole syllable in Japanese.)

There are also 23 additional syllables in Japanese; these are formed with additional marks that we’ll cover in a minute.

• The g-line: ga, gi, gu, ge, go.
• the z-line: za, ji, zu, ze, zo. (Notice that “ji” is used instead of “zi.”)
• The d-line: da, ji, zu, de, do. (“ji” and “zu” are pronounced the same way as in the z-line but have different uses.)
• The b-line: ba, be, bu, be, bo.
• the p-line: pa, pi, pu, pe, po.

Writing Hiragana

So, now that we’ve covered the basic sounds, let’s see how these syllables are written down in hiragana:

Hiragana is generally round in shape, with lots of curves and bends. This characteristic is a key way to tell what symbols are hiragana! You can also combine a consonant with a / ya / yu / yo / sound by attaching a small 「や」、「ゆ」、or 「よ」 to the / i / vowel character of each consonant.

Now, let’s take a look at those 23 additional sounds:

• the g-line: が(ga), ぎ(gi), ぐ(gu), げ(ge), ご(go).
• the z-line: ざ(za), じ(ji), ず(zu), ぜ(ze), ぞ(zo).
• the d-line: だ(da), ぢ(ji), づ(zu), で(de), ど(do). 
• the b-line: ば(ba), べ(be), ぶ(bu), べ(be), ぼ(bo).
• the p-line: ぱ(pa), ぴ(pi), ぷ(pu), ぺ(pe), ぽ(po).

Did you notice something about the above sounds? The hiragana for the g-line is identical to the k-line, and the same goes for the z-line and s-line, the t-line and the d-line, the h-line and the b- and p-lines! The only difference is the addition of diacritical marks; these marks go to the upper right of the hiragana and can be either two short diagonal marks (called a dakuten) or a small circle (called the handakuten). This is pretty nice, as you don’t have to memorize even more symbols!

There are also contracted sounds in Japanese. These sounds are basically combinations of sounds ending in “-i” and the y-line and are considered one syllable as well^. All you have to do for these is add a small y-line hiragana after the main hiragana! (Notice that not all of these syllables keep the “y” sound.)

• the k-line: きゃ(kya), きゅ(kyu), きょ(kyo)
• the s-line: しゃ(sha), しゅ(shu), しょ (sho)
• the t-line: ちゃ(cha), ちゅ(chu), ちょ(cho)
• the n-line: にゃ(nya), にゅ(nyu), にょ(nyo)
• the h-line: ひゃ(hya), ひゅ(hyu), ひょ(hyo)
• the m-line: みゃ(mya), みゅ(my) みょ(myo)
• the r-line: りゃ(rya), りゅ(ryu), りょ(ryo)
• the g-line: ぎゃ(gya), ぎゅ(gyu), ぎょ(gyo)
• the z-line: じゃ(ja), じゅ(ju), じょ(jo)
• the b-line: びゃ(bya), びゅ(byu), びょ(byo)
• the p-line: ぴゃ(pya), ぴゅ(pyu), ぴょ(pyo)

So, that is the basics of how hiragana is written. However, there are also double consonants and long vowels, which are written with variations in hiragana (and katakana). We recommend checking out our full-length article about double consonants and long vowels to learn more about those!

How to Use Hiragana

Hiragana can be used for many things; it’s like the all-rounder of writing Japanese, and it represents all the syllables of the Japanese language! Hiragana is used when writing verb endings, particles, grammar words (such as conjunctions), and many native Japanese words, as well as for words that do not have a corresponding kanji character. Hiragana is also used in furigana; this is when hiragana is written in a small font above kanji for those who don’t know the kanji’s reading.

Long Vowels and Double Consonants in Hiragana

In Japanese hiragana, double consonants are represented by adding a small “tsu” character (っ) before the consonant that is doubled. For example, the word “katta” (勝った), meaning “won”, would be written as かった, with a small “tsu” between the two “t” characters.

Long vowels in hiragana are done by extending a consonant or vowel with another vowel, depending on the vowel in accordance with the following chart.

For example, the word “ookii” (大きい), meaning “big”, would be written as おおきい.

Vowel Sound	Extended by	Example
a	あ	おばあさん
i, e	い	おおきい、きれい
u, o	う	こうこう、くうき

Example

Let’s start off with a simple sentence – “My pet’s name is Bob.” (What a funny name for a pet!) In Hiragana, this looks like this:

わたしの ぺっと の なまえ は  ぼぶ です。
Watashi no petto no namae wa bobu desu.

So, we can write a whole Japanese sentence just using hiragana! This is how most people (including native speakers) start off reading and writing Japanese. Of course, as you learn about katakana and kanji, some of these words will be replaced.  However, you will see that the particles (の [no] and は [wa]) and the native verb です(desu) will remain the same, as these are some of the things that specifically use hiragana!  

Now that you’ve learned the basics, it’s time for practice! Head on over to our list of practice sheets, apps, and quizzes to make sure you’ve got a solid understanding of hiragana!

Tips for Writing in Japanese

1. There are no spaces in the Japanese writing system

Japanese is written with no spaces, so a combination of hiragana, kanji, and katakana helps distinguish words within a sentence. As you improve your Japanese writing and reading skills, you’ll start to feel that reading kanji is often easier than reading a sentence that consists solely of hiragana.

2. Be careful of hiragana characters that sound and look similar

Pay more attention when pronouncing “tsu” and “su”. Beginner-level students also have a hard time discerning ro (ろ), re (れ), ru (る) — and nu (ぬ) and me (め) because they look similar.

3. Correct stroke order and direction are important

Writing hiragana with the correct stroke order and direction will help you intuitively know how to write new characters, and it has a big effect on how readable it ends up looking.

Japanese Writing System #2: Katakana

After hiragana, it’s a good idea to learn katakana next; katakana works the exact same way that hiragana does, just using different characters; some katakana symbols even look similar to their hiragana counterparts!  In fact, hiragana and katakana are often collectively referred to as kana, since they are so similar!

Writing Katakana  

the basic vowels	ア(a), イ(i), ウ(u), エ(e), オ(o)
the k-line	カ (ka), キ(ki), ク(ku), ケ(ke), コ(ko)
the s-line	サ(sa), シ(shi), ス(su), セ(se), ソ(so)
the t-line	タ(ta), チ(chi),ツ(tsu), テ(te), ト(to)
the h-line	ハ(ha), ヒ(hi), フ(fu), へ(he), ホ(ho)
the n-line	ナ(na), ニ(ni), ヌ(nu), ネ(ne), ノ(no)
the m-line	マ(ma), ミ(mi), ム(mu), メ(me), モ(mo)
the y-line	ヤ(ya), ユ(yu), ヨ(yo)
the r-line	ラ(ra), リ(ri), ル(ru), レ(re), ロ(ro).
	ワ(wa), ヲ(o/wo), and ン(n).

Now, let’s take a look at those 23 additional sounds:

• the g-line: ガ(ga), ギ(gi), グ(gu), ゲ(ge), ゴ(go).
• the z-line: ザ(za), ジ(ji), ズ(zu), ゼ(ze), ゾ(zo).
• the d-line: ダ(da), ヂ(ji), ヅ(zu), デ(de), ド(do). 
• the b-line: バ(ba), ビ(bi), ブ(bu), べ(be), ボ(bo).
• the p-line: パ(pa), ピ(pi), プ(pu), ぺ(pe), ポ(po).

The contracted sounds are also formed in the same way as in hiragana. However, katakana has additional combinations with small vowel letters to transcribe foreign sounds that did not originally exist in Japanese. These are generally easy to pronounce, as you simply combine the consonant of the main katakana symbol with the vowel of the smaller one.

Examples of this include the フェ (fe) in カフェ (kafe), the ティ (ti) in パーティー (paatii), and the ウィ (wi) in ハロウィーン (harowiin)!

You can see that katakana is simpler and has more straight lines than hiragana; this is one major way to tell them apart!

If you want to learn more about katakana, check out our article below and get a free, downloadable PDF of our chart!

Read More: What is Katakana? Free Katakana Chart and Learning Guide

How and When to Use Katakana

Another way to tell them apart is by their usage. Katakana is used for foreign loanwords or words from different languages. ハンバーガー (hanbaagaa, hamburger) and アルバイト (arubaito, part-time job) are examples of Japanese words taken from English and German, respectively. Many non-Japanese names are spelled using katakana as well!

Katakana is also often used for onomatopoeic words, which are words that imitate sounds, such as “pikapika” (sparkling), “gacha” (clacking sound), or “wanwan” (dog’s bark).

Katakana can also be used to emphasize words, similar to how words might be italicized or bolded in English. You can usually see this more in signs or advertisements, like メガネ, megane (glasses) or ラーメン (raamen, glasses).

Long Vowels and Double Consonants in Katakana

Long vowels in katakana are so much simpler than hiragana. All long vowel sounds are denoted by a simple dash: ー.

For example, the word “アート” (aato), meaning “art”, has a long “a” sound represented by the horizontal line over the “a” character.

Double consonants in Katakana are represented using a small “tsu” character (ッ) just like in Hiragana. For example, the word “バッグ” (baggu), meaning “bag”, has a double “g” sound represented by the small “tsu” character.

Example of Katakana

Remember the pet with the funny name? Let’s take another look at that sentence, this time adding in katakana – try to guess where the katakana will be!

わたしのペットのなまえは ボブ です。
Watashi no petto no namae wa bobu desu.

Did you guess petto and bobu? Both of these words are English loanwords and names, so they would be written in katakana. Including katakana when writing Japanese is also a great way to make the words easier to distinguish from each other; writing in all hiragana could make it hard to tell words apart, since Japanese doesn’t normally use spaces!

Difference between Hiragana and Katakana

Why are there 2 syllabic Japanese scripts? In the event that the difference is stylistic, you will learn that hiragana is used to write native Japanese words. Those words will have no kanji representation, and the ideogram will be too ancient or too difficult to write. This kana script is also the one used to write grammatical elements such as particles: を (wo)、に (ni)、へ (he;e)、が (ga)、は (ha).

On the contrary, the Japanese use katakana to write words of foreign origin and foreign names. If you like to read manga in Japanese, you will certainly notice that katakana is also used to represent onomatopoeia and emphasis.

Have you heard of the word “furigana”? Furigana are hiragana and katakana characters written in small forms above kanji in order to show the pronunciation. Furigana is used in kids’ books and Japanese language textbooks for learners, in order to teach the reading of unknown kanji.

Japanese Writing System #3: Kanji                                                               

Kanji is usually the last system to be learned, even for native Japanese speakers! Kanji are Chinese characters and were Japan’s first writing system. They were first introduced to Japan over 1,500 years ago; hiragana and katakana actually evolved from these symbols!

Kanji are complex characters that represent words or ideas, and they form the backbone of the Japanese writing system. In fact, it is estimated that there are over 50,000 kanji characters, although only a fraction of those are commonly used.

Reading Kanji

Kanji is different from hiragana and katakana in that there are multiple ways to pronounce a single character. This is because there is a Chinese way to read a character (called the on-yomi) and a Japanese way (the kun-yomi). The on-yomi was the original way, but when kanji started to be used to write native Japanese words, new pronunciations were added¹. So, if you see a character pronounced one way in one word but differently in another, this is why!

Writing Kanji

Radicals

All kanji are made up of one or more radicals. A radical is simply a small symbol that, either by itself or when combined with other symbols, makes up a complete kanji character. Take, for instance, the radical 一. By itself, this is the complete kanji for ichi (one). But, it can be added with the radical亅to form the kanji 丁! There are 214 total radicals used in 13 different positions when forming kanji, though some radicals and positions are used more frequently than others. If you think of all kanji as being made up of these smaller radicals, then they will be easier to learn!

There are roughly four main types of kanji, based on how and why the radicals are arranged¹:

1. Pictograms

These kanji originally came from pictures, simply drawing the object itself to represent it in writing¹. It’s like writing “😊” to represent “smiley face” – just like emojis today! Take a look at 山 (yama, mountain) for example; doesn’t the character 山 remind you of how a mountain looks, with a pointy peak at the top?

2. Simple Ideograms

These kanji originally used lines and dots to “represent numbers or abstract concepts.¹” So, instead of drawing an object, you would try to visually represent the idea you wanted to convey. Take “up” and “down” for instance; drawing a dot above a line could represent “up” while a dot below a line would signify “down.” This is where 上 (ue, up) and 下 (shita, down) came from¹!

3. Compound Ideograms

Basically, these are kanji formed by combining two or more simpler kanji¹. The kanji used in 休む (yasumu, to rest), for example, is a combination of 人 (hito, person [often written as ⺅ when used as a radical]) and 木 (ki, tree)¹. A lot of the time, the two simpler kanji are chosen because of their connection to the resulting character. For 休, a person leaning against a tree would be resting – which is why 人 and 木 were chosen to form this character!  

4. Phonetic-ideographic Characters

These kanji are usually found when a character’s original on-yomi sounded like a native Japanese word, but the kanji associated with the sound didn’t represent the word’s meaning. So, to remedy this, those in the past added an additional kanji to clarify the meaning. In other words, these kanji are formed by combining one kanji that has the word’s pronunciation and another kanji that represents the word’s meaning. One example of this is the character for sei (clean). Water is generally associated with cleaning, so the kanji for water 水 (mizu, often written as ⺡) is added to the kanji 青 (sei, blue) to get 清 sei (clean).

As you can see, kanji are definitely more complex than hiragana or katakana, but don’t worry – there are plenty of simple kanji too! Plus, knowing the radicals and kanji types will help to make learning and remembering kanji easier. Knowing the stroke order, or the steps in which each character is written, can help make memorization easier too; check out this site to look up any kanji and see its stroke order (and other helpful information)!

Uses

Kanji is used for nouns, verb stems, and adjectives. So, kanji are used for most major words that you will encounter in everyday Japanese! While hiragana and katakana are crucial, you also can’t rely on just those when reading and writing; you have to learn kanji as well!

Example

Let’s take one last look at Bob, this time reading the sentence as it would be written in everyday Japanese:

私のペットの名前はボブです。
Watashi no petto no namae wa bobu desu.

Well, using kanji certainly makes the Japanese sentence shorter! In this case, the pronoun watashi (I) and the noun namae (name) use kanji. If there was a different verb in this sentence (like “look” or “ate”), then there would most likely be kanji there as well. Finally, using these new symbols makes the sentence even easier to read, as they are visually quite different than hiragana or katakana!

While all of this might seem overwhelming at first, it’s nothing you can’t handle with a little practice! Simply writing the kanji out is a great way to see how the radicals work together and to memorize their combinations; but, if you’re looking for something a little bit more high-tech, there are also some kanji apps we recommend you can use to practice as well!

Conclusion

Well, we certainly covered a lot of ground today! Let’s review everything to make sure you remember what we learned.

Japanese has three types of writing systems: hiragana, katakana, and kanji. Hiragana is curvy, represents small syllables, and is used for grammatical information, particles, and native Japanese words! Katakana is straight, also represents small syllables, and is used for loanwords from other languages. Kanji are complex characters made up of radicals, represent a concept, a sound, or a mixture of the two, and are used for nouns, verb stems, and adjectives.

And those are the main points! Not so bad, right? You are now ready to start reading and writing Japanese like a pro! If you feel like you need more help, though, feel free to reach out to us or join one of our many Japanese language classes here!

FAQ

What is the Japanese writing system?

The Japanese writing system uses Hiragana, Katakana, and Kanji scripts.

What does Hiragana represents?

Hiragana represents native Japanese words, grammatical particles, and verb endings.

What does Katakana represents?

Katakana represents foreign words, loanwords, onomatopoeic words, and emphasis.

How many characters are there in hiragana and katakana?

There are 46 characters in each of the Hiragana and Katakana scripts.

What is the closet thing to English chracters?

There is no such thing as the Japanese alphabet, but the closest things would be called hiragana and katakana.

How many kanji I should learn?

To be considered fluent in Japanese, you must learn from 1500 to 2500 kanji characters.

While China and Japan may be relatively close geographically and both shape today’s cultural, economic, business, and pop culture landscapes, the Chinese and Japanese languages have clear distinctions.

The Chinese language is estimated to be spoken by more than one-fifth of the world’s population. Japanese, on the other hand, is primarily spoken in Japan. And due to the massive influence and reach of both China and Japan, many language learners often struggle with the dilemma of choosing whether to learn Chinese or Japanese, and the fundamentals of what makes each language so special and unique from the other. 

In this article, we will help distinguish between the Chinese and the Japanese languages so that you can adopt a greater appreciation and understanding of each one, and determine which language is more aligned with your language learning wants and needs! 

History of the Chinese and Japanese Languages

Chinese Language

The Chinese and Japanese languages have ancient roots, tracing back thousands of years for both written and oral communication.  The modern Chinese language originated from the Proto-Sino-Tibetan language family, which emerged in the Yellow River region of northern China approximately 6,000 years ago. The historical timeline of the Chinese language can be divided into 4 distinctive eras: 

1. Ancient Chinese: 18th century BC – 3rd century AD
2. Middle Chinese: 4th century AD – 12th century AD
3. Early Modern Chinese:13th – 20th century
4. Modern Chinese: 20th century to present day

Each of these evolutionary eras marks a distinct shift in both the spoken and written Chinese language. 

For instance, Ancient Chinese featured many monosyllabic consonants (a word with only one syllable, ex. “hi” or “see”) and lack of inflections (changing a word’s form to align with a certain tense, ex. “chased” or “jumped”), marking the early emergence of a language without the later fine-tuning and specifics quite yet. 

Middle Chinese marked the early development of tonal variation, including level (píng) — a stable pitch, rising (shǎng) — a pitch that rises during the syllable, and departing (qù) — a falling pitch. During this period, the distinction between aspirated and unaspirated sounds also emerged. Aspirated sounds required a stronger burst of air upon pronunciation, whereas unaspirated sounds involved much less airflow.

Early Modern Chinese set the groundwork for the Chinese that we recognize today, including more disyllabic words (a word with more than one syllable, like  “sunshine” or “rainbow”), as well as the gradual shift towards Mandarin. 

Modern Chinese marks a significant change as the Mandarin dialect, which emerged in Beijing, becomes the official language across China and is widely spoken by the vast majority of the Chinese population. 

Japanese Language

The Japanese language is a member of the Japonic family, which comprises all of the languages spoken on the Japanese islands. The origins of the Japanese language date back approximately 2,000 years, coinciding with the Yayoi peoples’ arrival on the Japanese islands. The Japanese language can be sectioned off into three evolutionary categories:

1. Old Japanese: 710-794 
2. Early Middle Japanese: 800-1200
3. Late Middle Japanese: 1200-1600
4. Modern Japanese: 1600 to present day 

The Japanese language developed across each of these distinctive eras. Old Japanese utilized Man’yogana, which was an ancient Japanese writing system that focused on sounds derived from Chinese characters to convey meaning instead of a literal translation, as well as the introduction of a basic syllable before it later advanced. 

Early Middle Japanese saw the beginning stages of hiragana (native Japanese words) and katakana (loan words from foreign languages) in the written Japanese language, as well as an increased volume of words borrowed from Chinese characters to implement their meaning into the Japanese language, known as kanji. 

Late Middle Japanese saw the erasure of many nominal inflections (modifying a noun to adjust to a new element such as number or possession, like “horses” or “the horse’s hay”), which were previously used, as well as the introduction of loan words (katakana) from English. 

An important aspect of Modern Japanese as we know it today is the introduction of keigo, which is an honorific language that modifies words and titles depending on who the speaker is talking to and the degree to which they are showing respect or familiarity. The modern era also saw increased romaji, or romanized spelling of Japanese words (like “arigato gozaimasu” or “sumimasen”). If you are interested in tips and tricks to learn for newcomers to the Japanese language, take a look at our article detailing how to learn Japanese from scratch. 

Chinese vs Japanese Writing Systems 

The Chinese and Japanese writing systems are quite different from one another in many ways. 

Chinese Writing System

First and foremost, Chinese utilizes two writing systems called hanzi, which encompasses all Chinese characters, both traditional and simplified, and pinyin, which uses the Latin alphabet to convey Chinese sounds. There is also zhuyin, which is predominantly used in Taiwan to transcribe sounds from Mandarin. 

Japanese Writing System

Japanese, on the other hand, has three writing systems. It utilizes hiragana, which includes all native Japanese words; katakana, which is used for foreign loan words; and kanji, which is composed of logographic Chinese symbols. For an in-depth look into the Japanese writing systems, check out our article diving into hiragana, katakana, and kanji. 

While Japanese may borrow certain logographic symbols from Chinese, the pronunciation can be entirely different. For example, the logograph 水 (shuǐ) means water in Chinese, and the Japanese Kanji for water 水 (mizu) are identical in terms of character and meaning, but are pronounced differently. 

Chinese also has simplified and traditional characters, unlike Japanese. Simplified characters are easier to write and involve fewer intricate details, while traditional characters are more akin to historical accuracy but involve far more complex designs. Simplified characters are often utilized in mainland China and Taiwan, while traditional characters are more common in the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau. Japanese also has its own writing system composed of simplified Kanji, called shinjitai. 

Want to start learning Japanese? We recommend joining conversation-focused beginner lessons at Coto Academy, available on a part-time or full-time basis. You’ll build a solid foundation in hiragana, katakana, and essential grammar, while gaining confidence to speak Japanese from day one.

Pronunciation and Phonetics

Chinese and Japanese pronunciation differ quite a bit from one another. Before we discuss the differences between the two, it is helpful to understand the key differences between pitch and tone as they relate to language. Pitch is what conveys the emotion or emphasis on a word, while tone utilizes pitch to create an entirely different meaning of a word.

Chinese Language

Chinese is a tonal language, with four distinct tones that can change the meaning of a word entirely. In the Modern Chinese language, the four tones are: 

1. 1st tone: level pitch (ex. wēn) where you maintain a high and steady pitch
2. 2nd tone: rising pitch (ex. wén) where you begin with a middle pitch and increase to a higher pitch
3. 3rd tone: falling-rising (ex. wěn), whee you begin with a middle pitch and then lower it, then proceed to raise your pitch again 
4. 4th tone: falling (ex. wèn), where you start off high-pitched and then sharply drop your tone 

Depending on the tone used, the meaning of the word above changes significantly, so mastering tones is a key element of learning the Chinese language! 

There is also a “neutral tone” in Chinese, although it is not considered its own tone; rather, it is considered an unaccented and unstressed syllable and lends its pitch to whichever tone appeared before it, as the neutral tone cannot exist alone. 

Japanese Language

Japanese is far less reliant on tonal variations to convey meaning. However, the importance of pitch is still prevalent in the Japanese language, with high and low pitches distinguishing words that are otherwise pronounced the same. 

Before we discuss the different pitches and how to make them, we must first understand what a mora is. 

Mora is the unit of sound that the Japanese language follows, similar to a syllable in English. However, moras are unique since they are given equal length, whereas syllables can be given unequal length in terms of time. An example of this is バス (basu) versus bus, with ba-su being two moras and the English spelling of bus only having one syllable. With this information taken into account, the four pitch patterns in Japanese are as follows:

1. Heiban (平板). Unaccented and flat (most Japanese words fall under this category) 
2. Atamadaka (頭高). The first mora begins high, and then the second mora drops to a low pitch
3. Nakadaka (​​中高). The first mora is low-pitched before transitioning to a higher pitch in the middle, and then falling back to a low mora 
4. Odaka (尾高). The first unit is flat and then rises to a high pitch for the duration of the word

For example, “ame” can mean either rain (雨) or candy (飴) depending on the pitch, with rain being a higher-pitched and candy being lower-pitched. 

If you are interested in learning more about the intricacies of the Japanese language and what makes it challenging to learn, feel free to read our other article detailing why Japanese is a challenging language to learn. Context clues can help Japanese learners differentiate between meanings and are more beginner-friendly since a Japanese speaker can likely still understand what is trying to be said, whereas Chinese is more difficult as improper tonal variation makes it far more difficult to discern the intended meaning. 

Grammar Sentence and Structure 

Chinese sentence structure uses subject-verb-object (SVO) order, while Japanese structure consists of subject-object-verb (SOV) order. 

An example showcasing this differentiation is the sentence “I listen to music” in Chinese and Japanese. 

In Japanese, it is “私は音楽を聴きます” (Watashi wa ongaku o kikimasu), or “I music listen to” if translated literally into English. 

The same sentence in Chinese would be “我听音乐” (Wǒ tīng yīnyuè), or “I listen to music”, which sounds more familiar to speakers of SVO languages, including English.

Japanese grammar also differs quite a bit from Chinese grammar when it comes to affixes, which are additions to the beginning or end of a root word to alter its meaning and purpose. This is represented by the usage of honorifics such as -chan (ちゃん), -san (さん), -sama (様), and -kun (君), which are added onto the end of a person’s name to convey varying levels of relation and formality. While Chinese also utilizes honorifics, it is far less integral grammar-wise to the overall structure and tone of a sentence than is the case in Japanese.   

Verbs in Chinese vs Japanese Language

The ways in which verbs are used and modified in Chinese vs. Japanese writing marks another area in which the two languages contrast with each other. 

In Chinese, verbs do not inflect and remain the same regardless of the tense or number; instead, the usage of particles such as 了(le) for completed actions and 在 (zài) for actions which are still being undergone indicates tense. An example of this is “I swam” or “ 我游泳了” (Wǒ yóu yǒng le), as well as “I am swimming” or “我在游泳” (Wǒ zài yóu yǒng). On the other hand, Japanese verbs can be altered depending on aspects such as tense, negation, and politeness level. For example, some forms of “to eat” include: 

Japanese	Meaning	Formality
食べます (tabemasu)	To eat	Formal
食べません (tabemasen)	Don’t eat	Formal
食べました (tabemashita)	Ate	Formal
食べる (taberu)	To eat	Informal
食べない (tabenai)	Don’t eat	Informal
食べた (tabeta)	Ate	Informal

As you can see, there are many different ways in which verbs can be conjugated in Japanese! Saying “to eat” in Chinese, on the other hand, would simply be 吃 (chī), regardless of any and all factors which may influence Japanese conjugation. 

Vocabulary and Share Words: Japanese vs. Chinese Characters  

Many Japanese characters are borrowed from Chinese logograms (kanji), intrinsically linking certain parts of Japanese vocabulary with those of Chinese.  

Surprisingly, Japanese features far more foreign loan words (katakana) than Chinese, with Chinese placing more emphasis on translating the meaning of the word rather than the sounds produced. As a result, certain Kanji can be recognized by Chinese speakers, and borrowed words such as テレビ (terebi), カメラ (kamera), and ホテル (hoteru) can be understood by English speakers, giving Japanese vocabulary much more foreign influence than Chinese vocabulary. 

In the case of Kanji, however, pronunciation may differ from its Chinese origins. A few of these “false friends” include:

Logograph	Chinese	Japanese
老婆	Lǎo pó (wife)	Rouba (old woman)
汽車	Qì chē (car)	Densha (train)
走	Zǒu (to walk)	Hashiru (to run)
床	Chuáng (bed)	Yuka (floor)

Similarities Between Chinese and Japanese Languages 

While both Chinese and Japanese may have many differences from one another, there are also a few noteworthy similarities that the two languages share. As discussed previously, a sizable portion of Japanese words are derived from Chinese logograms, oftentimes with shared meanings even if the pronunciation differs. Examples of this include: 

English	Kanji	Japanese (JP)	Chinese (CN)
Person	人	hito	rén
Mountain	山	yama	shān
Fire	火	hi	huǒ
Fish	魚	sakana	yú

Another similarity between Japanese and Chinese languages is the name order placement, with the family name coming before the first name in both introductions and in writing. 

Additionally, the use of measure words is a commonality shared between Chinese and Japanese, which is a concept that classifies the specific objects or things that are being counted. For example, when counting people, instead of using the generic numberings of ichi (1), ni (2), san (3) in Japanese or yī (1), èr (2), sān (3) in Chinese, there is a specific counting system that the category of “people” falls under. Hitori, futari, sannin, and so on, and yī rén, liǎng ge rén, sān ge rén, and so on are the counting systems that would be used to count people in Japanese and Chinese, respectively. 

So, Which is Easier? Chinese or Japanese Language?

Now that we have done a deep dive into Chinese and Japanese languages, it boils down to the question: which one is easier?

Both the Chinese and Japanese languages have their fair share of language-specific and common difficulties, so learning each will be a rewarding challenge for those who are willing to tackle it head-on. However, taking into account all the factors we have discussed in this article and our comparisons of the two languages, the question of “which language is more difficult?” ultimately boils down to two categories: speaking and writing. 

In relation to speaking, Chinese is more difficult than Japanese due to the complex tones, which require hard work and discipline to be able to master and discern during spoken conversation. 

Japanese, on the other hand, is not reliant on tone and is easier to speak and understand, with more leeway in terms of context clues and less need for a trained ear. On the other hand, in terms of writing, Japanese is more challenging than Chinese due to the three writing systems (hiragana, katakana, kanji) and more complex grammar and sentence structure. Being already familiar with Chinese will give you a helpful upper hand! Check out our article detailing the unique relationship between understanding Chinese and learning Japanese.

Which Language Should You Learn?

Both Chinese and Japanese are challenging yet rewarding languages to learn, and both will offer you great satisfaction. So, which one should you study? If you are planning on living, studying, or working in either China or Japan, then you should learn the native language of the respective country. 

Chinese language is a great choice if you plan on going into business, economics, or international relations due to its global dominance and power. Japanese, on the other hand, is an amazing choice due to its worldwide influence in the entertainment, media, technology, and pop culture spheres. Or if you simply want to learn a language for fun, then both are great options!

Conclusion

Both Chinese and Japanese are becoming increasingly popular languages to learn, and Japan is quickly emerging as a top destination for people looking to build their careers.

The good news? If you’re a native Chinese speaker, learning Japanese can be easier than you think! That’s where Coto Academy’s Intensive Japanese Lessons come in.

Our programs are designed to support learners at every level, from complete beginners to advanced speakers. With experienced teachers, immersive lessons, and a clear, step-by-step approach, you’ll strengthen your grammar, expand your vocabulary, and gain confidence using Japanese in real-life situations. Chinese learners can also take full advantage of their kanji knowledge while focusing on areas that need extra attention.

And for English speakers deciding between learning Japanese or Chinese, why not start your journey with Coto Academy? If you choose to learn Japanese, join our well-balanced lessons that focus on every aspect of the language: grammar, kanji, vocabulary, reading, and listening — all while getting plenty of conversation practice.

Why join Coto Academy?

• Small classrooms with only up to 8 students for personalized support
• Professional native Japanese teachers, all trained to help you succeed
• Over 60 different Japanese classes across 18 levels, tailored to your needs
• School locations in Shibuya, Minato, Iidabashi, and Yokohama, plus a fully online Japanese language school, so that you can learn anywhere, anytime!

FAQ

How different are the Chinese and Japanese languages?

Chinese and Japanese are very different languages, even though Japanese borrows a large amount of Chinese logograms. The Kanji pronunciation of these logograms often differs greatly from the pronunciation in Chinese. Chinese also follows the SVO order, while Japanese follows the SOV order in terms of sentence structure. Additionally, Chinese utilizes complex yet subtle tonal changes to convey the meaning of a word, while Japanese utilizes pitch to a lesser extent. 

Can a Chinese person understand a Japanese person?

No, a native Chinese speaker and a native Japanese speaker would have a lot of difficulty understanding each other. Chinese is heavily reliant on tones to convey meaning, which makes it quite a lot different from Japanese, which is more based on pitch. Similarly, Japanese Kanji can be pronounced differently from the Chinese pronunciation, even if the logograph itself conveys the same meaning. 

What is the 80/20 rule in Japanese?

The 80/20 rule is the idea that if you know approximately 20% of the Japanese language, you will be able to get by in 80% of scenarios in Japan. If you understand even a quarter of the language, navigating Japanese life will become much easier and smoother.

What is the difference between Chinese and Japanese characters?

The Chinese language utilizes one system (hanzi), while the Japanese language uses three systems (hiragana, katakana, and kanji)  for its writing systems.