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Learn Japanese — Start with Hiragana & Katakana, Then Keep Going
If you're new to Japanese, kana is where you start — that's Hiragana and Katakana, two scripts of 46 characters each. Once you can read them, the language stops looking like a wall. This site is built to get you over that wall and keep you moving: from kana through kanji, into grammar drills that teach you how words actually combine, and into spaced-repetition decks that pace your vocabulary so the words stick. Same site, same canvas, same flow. Pick a character and start writing.
How It Works
- Practice writing — Draw straight on the canvas, no guides, no rules. Just you and the character. This is the warm-up.
- Play — Hit Play to watch the strokes animate in the right order. It's the fastest way to absorb how a character is supposed to flow.
- Trace — Follow the visible touchpoints with your finger or stylus. Same character, same order, but now with rails — the muscle memory starts building here.
- Free Hand — Once you've got the shape, write freehand. The site catches strokes that drift off-path so you know in real time when something's off.
- Recall — The guides come down. You write the character from memory. A spaced-repetition engine schedules what comes back next based on how you actually performed per stroke, and a counter tells you how many clean attempts you need before moving on — so there's no guessing about whether you've "learned" it.
- Hint — Stuck partway through? Hint shows the next stroke animated. Use it; it's not cheating.
- Games — When you've had enough writing for a while, the games are where the reading sticks — timed match drills, falling-kana puzzles, a prefecture map that quizzes you on the kana names of all 47 of them. Pick one and play for ten minutes; it counts as practice.
Flashcards & Printable Resources
Sometimes you don't want a screen. Hiragana flashcards let you flip through the characters one at a time when you've got a spare minute. For physical practice, the Hiragana practice sheets are printable PDFs with proper grid lines for stroke-order tracing, and the cut-out flashcards print as a sheet you can scissor apart and quiz yourself with later.
Build Custom Vocabulary Decks with Handwriting SRS
Once individual characters feel natural, words are next. Search the vocabulary library by kana, romaji, or meaning, and add anything you want to study to a deck. Each card shows the meaning and an empty canvas — you write the reading from memory, then rate yourself Hard, Medium, or Easy. A spaced-repetition algorithm inspired by SuperMemo uses that rating to pick when the card comes back: minutes for Hard, days or weeks for Easy. Tweak the parameters in the deck's Settings if you want to dial in your own retention curve. Per-deck progress lives on a Schedule tab so you can see what's due now, what's due today, and what's still learning.
What Comes After Hiragana
Once you can read Hiragana and Katakana, the next questions tend to come fast. How do I read this kanji? Why is there a は there instead of a が? How do I say "I went" instead of "I go"? Those are kanji, grammar, and vocabulary problems — and they're all here. You don't have to leave the site or open a new tab to keep going.
Kanji
Kanji uses the exact same canvas you've been using for kana — tap a character, trace the strokes, write it from memory. The twist with kanji is that each one usually has two readings: an on'yomi (from Chinese, used in compound words) and a kun'yomi (native Japanese, usually when the kanji stands alone). Both are right there on the side panel along with the meaning, stroke count, and a few example compounds so you see the character in context. Browse by JLPT tier if you're studying for the test, or by lesson if you'd rather follow a sequence.
Grammar Lessons
Grammar gets practiced here the same way you'd practice anything else: small, frequent reps. Some exercises drill word order — you drag Japanese tokens into sentence shape. Some drill particles — you tap the right は or が into a blank. Some are matching games — you connect Japanese phrases to their meanings, or kanji to their readings. Others test verb conjugation patterns. The lessons walk you from basic "X is Y" sentences (です / じゃない) up through particles, past tense, negative forms, relative clauses, and the patterns you'll see in real Japanese.
All Hiragana Characters
Master every Hiragana family: あ い う え お (A I U E O), か き く け こ (Ka Ki Ku Ke Ko), さ し す せ そ (Sa Shi Su Se So), た ち つ て と (Ta Chi Tsu Te To), な に ぬ ね の (Na Ni Nu Ne No), は ひ ふ へ ほ (Ha Hi Fu He Ho), ま み む め も (Ma Mi Mu Me Mo), や ゆ よ (Ya Yu Yo), ら り る れ ろ (Ra Ri Ru Re Ro), and わ を ん (Wa Wo N).
Frequently Asked Questions
How many Hiragana characters are there?
46. They're grouped into families by consonant sound — A-I-U-E-O, then Ka-Ki-Ku-Ke-Ko, Sa-Shi-Su-Se-So, and so on down the chart. Each one represents a single syllable, which makes Hiragana phonetic and consistent in a way English handwriting isn't.
What is the correct stroke order for Hiragana?
Every character has a specific order — generally left-to-right, top-to-bottom — and writing them out of order makes the result look off even if you can't quite say why. Stroke order also makes you faster once it's automatic. The site shows the right order for every character; trace it a few times and it'll start to feel like the only way the strokes could possibly go.
What is the difference between Hiragana and Katakana?
Same sounds, different shapes. Both scripts cover the same 46 syllables — the difference is when each one shows up. Hiragana handles native Japanese words and grammatical bits like particles and verb endings. Katakana handles foreign loanwords (anything borrowed from English, French, Portuguese, etc.) and the occasional bit of emphasis or stylistic choice. You need both.
How long does it take to learn Hiragana?
Recognition tends to take a couple of weeks with daily reps. Writing from memory takes longer — a month or so before it really feels automatic. The faster path is spaced repetition: short, frequent sessions instead of long cram sessions, with the characters you're shakiest on coming back sooner.
Is Study Hiragana free?
Yes. Use everything on the site without signing up for anything.
How does the spaced repetition algorithm work?
The basic idea: cards you got right yesterday don't need to come back today, but cards you got wrong should come back soon — and the gap between reviews should grow each time you remember the card. The algorithm here (loosely based on SuperMemo) tracks each card's history and your most recent rating (Hard / Medium / Easy) and uses that to pick the next interval. Easy cards drift out to days or weeks. Hard cards come back in minutes. If you want to tune how aggressively the schedule grows, the deck's Settings tab exposes the knobs.
Can I build my own vocabulary decks?
Yes. Open Vocabulary mode, search the library — by kana, romaji, or English meaning — and tap "+" to add any word to a deck. Build whatever decks make sense for you: JLPT N5 verbs, kitchen words, things you saw in a manga last weekend. Each card shows the meaning and an empty canvas where you write the kana reading from memory, then rate yourself Hard / Medium / Easy. The rating drives when the card comes back. Cards you grade Hard re-appear once more in the same session so you get a second shot; Medium and Easy graduate immediately and come back in days or weeks.
What should I learn after Hiragana?
Whichever kana set you didn't start with — hiragana and katakana cover the same sounds with different shapes, and you'll see both in real Japanese. After that, kanji and grammar are the next walls. Kanji because there are a lot of them; grammar because you have to start asking why は instead of が. The good news: both are on this site, built into the same canvas and drill flow you've been using.
Does this site teach kanji?
Yes. Kanji mode uses the same handwriting canvas as kana — tap a character, trace the strokes, write from memory. The catch with kanji is that each one usually has two readings: an on'yomi (from Chinese) and a kun'yomi (native Japanese). Both are on the side panel along with the meaning and a few example compounds so you see the character in context. You can browse by JLPT tier if you're studying for the test, or by lesson if you'd rather follow a sequence.
Does this site teach Japanese grammar?
Yes. The grammar lessons walk you from basic "X is Y" sentences (です / じゃない) up through particles, verb conjugation (る-verbs, う-verbs, irregulars), negatives, past tense, and relative clauses. Each lesson has interactive drills instead of static explanations — drag tokens into sentence shape, tap the right particle into a blank, connect Japanese phrases to their English meanings, spin a wheel of verb endings. The point is to actually use the rule, not just read about it.