What kanji, hiragana, and katakana are, where each came from, how they are used, and what each looks like when written with a brush.
- Kanji carry meaning; hiragana and katakana represent sounds.
- Both kana scripts developed from kanji: hiragana from cursive forms, katakana from parts of characters.
- Foreign names are normally written in katakana, but many visitors also write them in kanji chosen for sound and meaning.
Next Step
Write in kanji, hiragana, or katakana
The beginner class is 60 minutes, guided in English, and the teacher helps you choose what to write.
How the three scripts work together
A typical Japanese sentence mixes all three scripts. Kanji are used for the core of most nouns, verbs, and adjectives. Hiragana handle grammar, such as particles and verb endings, and words that are not usually written in kanji. Katakana are used mainly for words borrowed from other languages and for foreign names.
Hiragana and katakana are syllabaries: each character stands for a sound rather than a meaning. Modern Japanese uses 46 basic characters in each.
Kanji
Kanji are characters that came to Japan from China, and each one carries meaning as well as one or more readings. Japan's official list of characters for general use, the joyo kanji, has 2,136 characters since its 2010 revision.
In calligraphy, kanji give the most variety. A single character can be written in kaisho, gyosho, or sosho, and its strokes include the press, turn, and sweeping endings that make brush writing distinctive. A one-character piece such as 夢 (dream) or 和 (harmony) is a common choice for a first work.
Hiragana
Hiragana developed from cursive forms of man'yogana, kanji that were used only for their sound to write Japanese. For example, あ comes from a shortened form of 安. In the Heian period hiragana was closely associated with women at court and was called onnade, or women's hand; The Tale of Genji was written largely in it.
Because hiragana grew out of cursive writing, its shapes are rounded and flowing. With a brush, hiragana trains smooth curves and changes of speed rather than sharp corners. A short hiragana word, or a phrase that mixes kanji and hiragana, makes a soft-looking piece.
Katakana
Katakana developed from fragments of man'yogana characters. It is said to have been created around the 9th century by Buddhist monks in Nara as a shorthand for reading and annotating texts. Its shapes are short and angular.
Today katakana is used for loanwords such as アイスクリーム (ice cream), foreign names and place names, sound words, and emphasis. That makes it the standard script for writing a foreign visitor's name in Japanese. With a brush, katakana is simple to form, so it is a good way to practice clean starts and stops.
- Kanji: meaning-based, most strokes, widest range of styles
- Hiragana: rounded, developed from cursive kanji
- Katakana: angular, used for foreign names and loanwords
What you can write in a class
In a beginner class you can write in any of the three scripts. Common choices are your name in katakana, which is how it would normally be written in Japanese; your name in kanji, chosen for sound and meaning; a single kanji word; or a short word in hiragana.
At Manji Shodo, the 60-minute beginner class at Shitaya Jinja Kaikan includes brush practice and a final piece to take home, with guidance in English. The teacher helps choose kanji for names, and can show how the same name looks in katakana if you want to compare.