How to Memorize the Kana Chart: Learn the Rows and Columns

The gojūon (五十音, “fifty sounds”) chart has been used in Japan for about a thousand years. The earliest known example of the layout is in a manuscript called the Kujakukyō Ongi, from the early eleventh century, and the arrangement is thought to have been influenced by the Siddhaṃ script used for writing Sanskrit (Wikipedia, “Gojūon”).

In other words, the chart was made to organise sounds from the start. Japanese children learn to read and write hiragana and katakana in grades 1 and 2 of elementary school (Course of Study for Elementary Schools, 2017, in Japanese). If you are learning kana as an adult, I think the fastest and surest way is to use that structure, rather than memorising the chart one symbol at a time.

How the chart works: gyō and dan

In the traditional chart, which is written vertically, the column on the far right is あいうえお (a i u e o). The か column comes next to its left, then さ, and the わ column is at the far left.

• Gyō (行): a column. Every kana in it shares a consonant. The か column is か き く け こ (ka ki ku ke ko).
• Dan (段): a row across. Every kana in it shares a vowel. The あ row is あ か さ た な は ま や ら わ.

In my developer interview about StudyX Japanese Letters Table, I was asked why the app’s chart starts with the あ column on the right and runs left. My answer: “Japanese is a language written vertically, so I followed that.” Charts in textbooks for learners are often horizontal instead, with あいうえお running across. The relationship between consonants and vowels is the same either way.

The key point is that almost every kana is a consonant from its column combined with a vowel from its row. か is the k column and the a row. み is the m column and the i row. Instead of 46 symbols, you are learning five vowels and the order of ten columns. That is a much lighter load.

An order to follow

This is the order I would suggest.

1. The five vowels. あ い う え お. Every other column is built on them, so say them aloud until they come without thinking.

2. The heads of the columns. あ, か, さ, た, な, は, ま, や, ら, わ (a, ka, sa, ta, na, ha, ma, ya, ra, wa). Saying this line gives you a map of the chart. When you meet a kana you don’t know, you can find it quickly.

3. One column at a time. For the k column, か き く け こ. Once you know the head of the column, you add the five vowels in order. One column a day is plenty.

4. The exceptions. See the next section.

5. Dakuten and handakuten. Adding ゛ turns the k column into g (が), s into z (ざ), t into d (だ) and h into b (ば). Adding ゜ works only on the h column and gives p (ぱ). These are not new charts to learn, just a mark added to columns you already know.

6. Katakana. Katakana uses exactly the same chart. Once the order is in your head, learning katakana is a matter of learning new shapes, not a new system.

Writing practice can follow a different order. The order that is best for reading is not the easiest order for writing, and I cover that in What Order to Teach Hiragana In: Start with the Easiest to Write.

Where the pattern breaks

The chart is well designed, but not everything follows the rule. Knowing where it breaks saves confusion later.

Kana whose consonant shifts. し in the s column, ち and つ in the t column, and ふ in the h column sound a little different from their neighbours. That is why Hepburn romanization writes them shi, chi, tsu and fu (Hepburn vs Kunrei Romaji: Why Japanese Is Spelled Two Ways).

Empty cells. The y column has only や, ゆ, よ, and the w column only わ and を. Depending on the chart, the gaps are left blank or filled with old kana no longer in use.

を and ん. In modern speech, を is pronounced the same as お. ん belongs to no column or row and sits outside the chart.

Looking, listening and saying it aloud

I think it is better not to rely only on your eyes or only on repeating the chart aloud. When I was asked which matters most of seeing, hearing and writing, I said:

They all matter equally. More than any one of them, the relationships between them are what’s essential, and what matters is that those relationships grow rich.

Point at a kana and say it. Hear a sound and find it in the chart. Look at a kana and write it. Reaching the same kana by different routes is what ties shape and sound together.

Checking what you know

Checking does not need to be elaborate.

• Cover part of the chart with your hand and say the hidden kana.
• Point to the head of a column and say the rest of it.
• Have someone say a sound, or play one, and find it in the chart.
• Find kana from a column you have learnt in real words: signs, packaging, a picture book.

The last one matters most to me. Being able to recite the chart and being able to read kana in a word are not quite the same skill.

I don’t think you need scores or rewards to keep going. In the interview, I explained why the app has none:

Children find joy in trial and error itself, so I don’t think outside rewards are needed.

I believe the same is true of adults more often than we admit.

How much each day

I can’t give you a reliable number of minutes. What I can say is that a little every day tends to be easier to keep up than a long session at the weekend. Stop before you are tired of it and open the chart again the next day.

Learning with StudyX Japanese Letters Table

StudyX Japanese Letters Table is a kana chart app where every cell plays its sound. The chart follows the traditional vertical layout, with the あ column on the right and the わ column on the left. Tap a kana and you hear it.

Buttons at the bottom switch between hiragana, katakana, uppercase romaji and lowercase romaji. The ゛, ゜ and ゃ buttons change the chart to dakuten, handakuten and contracted sounds, so you can see the “add a mark to a column you know” idea directly. Romaji mode can help at the very start, and you can switch back to kana as soon as you are ready.

In the listening game, ききとりあそび, the app plays a word one sound at a time and you tap the kana in the order you heard them. A mistake sends you back to the first kana. There are no scores, rewards or progress records. On iPad there is a space below the chart to write with a finger or Apple Pencil. It has no model to trace; it is a blank space for writing while looking at the chart. The iPhone version has no writing space.

The app runs in landscape on both iPhone and iPad. It is a one-time purchase with no ads and no in-app purchases. The on-screen labels are in Japanese. As I said in the interview, “A tool that is simple, beautiful and easy to use is, by its nature, for everyone.”

For a first session, see Getting Started with StudyX Japanese Letters Table. For ways to use it day to day, see Everyday Ideas for StudyX Japanese Letters Table.