How to Write in Japanese Script

Japanese writing is difficult to learn.

The Japanese writing system is one of the most complicated in the world. Consisting of three separate character sets (alphabets), Japanese writing is difficult to learn. Kanji, the Chinese characters used in Japan, number in the tens of thousands. The two kanji-derived scripts, hiragana and katakana, are an easier chore, but learning them alone will leave still leave you illiterate.

Things You'll Need

• Paper
• Pen or Pencil

Instructions

1. Begin with katakana, the easiest Japanese script is katakana, which is used for foreign names or loan words. For example, see the symbols to the left. These three characters represent the English sounds for "n" "so" and "no" The top black symbols are katakana symbols. The bottom blue symbols represent the same sounds in hiragana, the native japanese kanji-derived symbol alphabet.

2. Watch the stroke order. The green and red arrows in the above sample show stroke order. Stroke order is important for writing the characters smoothly and remembering their patterns. The katakana "n" character above is a two-stroke character. One stroke for the top "dot" and one for the "check." It is helpful to think of painting - a stroke is one motion with the brush not breaking contact with the paper.

3. Practice hiragana. After mastering the writing of katakana, the next step is to work on hiragana, the kanji-derived Japanese alphabet for native Japanese words. Somewhat more stylized than katakana, hiragana is more common than katakana in Japanese print. A few common hiragana characters and their stroke order is shown to the left. From top to bottom, these characters represent the English sounds "sa" "shi" "su" "se" and "so."

4. Learn kanji. The last and most difficult part of learning to write Japanese script is kanji, the Chinese characters indispensable to understanding and writing Japanese. Like traditional Chinese, these characters don't necessarily represent sounds but rather whole words, actions, and ideas. Your best bet for learning to write kanji is use a methodical approach.

5. Start with the simplest kanji and work your way up. Writing them over and over while repeating their meaning is the traditional and most effective approach. Try the additional resources for a system for learning kanji. Once you have mastered a few hundred, you will be ready to combine them with hiragana and katakana to write whole sentences in Japanese. Good luck!

Tips & Warnings

• Japanese writing is traditional written vertically (top to bottom) but has also been adapted to a left to right system.

Resources

• Japanese Writing Tutor
• The Kanji Site - Learn Japanese Kanji
• Introduction to Hiragana Stroke Order
• Kanji Stroke Order Guide
• Kanji Alive - Web-based Kanji Learning