PAPIPUPEPO Hiragana Flashcards — Printable, Front and Back

Free Printable Hiragana Flashcards for Beginners

These PAPIPUPEPO hiragana flashcards drill the P row — the only handakuten row in hiragana. The mark ゜ is a small open circle, distinct from the two ticks ゛ of the dakuten rows. Adding ゜ to an H-row kana produces the sharp plosive /p/ sound: は (ha) becomes ぱ (pa), ひ (hi) becomes ぴ (pi), and so on. The P row closes out every diacritic variant in the chart.

You get double-sided flashcards printed on letter-size paper (8.5 × 11 inches). The front of each card shows the Japanese word in hiragana; the back shows the English meaning plus the romaji reading. The P row appears heavily in loanwords from English (ペン pen, パン bread, ピアノ piano, プール pool, ポスト post) and in onomatopoeia (ぴかぴか — sparkling, ぽかぽか — warm and sunny). Native Japanese words also use the P row, especially after ん (e.g. さんぽ sanpo, "a walk").

What's on each card?

• Front: the Japanese word written in large hiragana, with the romaji pronunciation below.
• Back: the English meaning, mirrored so it lines up with the front when you print double-sided.
• Subtle StudyHiragana.com watermark on each card so the deck stays branded after cutting.

How to print and assemble

• Click the Print button above (or press Ctrl/Cmd + P).
• Choose two-sided printing and flip on the long edge — this keeps front and back aligned.
• Use standard 8.5" × 11" letter paper. Card stock works too if you want sturdier cards.
• Cut along the dashed lines to separate the six cards on each sheet.
• Optional: laminate the cards for longer life.

How to study with hiragana flashcards

The point of beginner hiragana flashcards isn't just memorising characters — it's connecting them to real vocabulary the moment you learn them. Use the deck this way:

• Hold a card so only the front (hiragana) is visible. Read it aloud and try to recall the meaning.
• Flip the card to check. If you got it right, set it in a "knew it" pile; if not, return it to the deck.
• Shuffle and repeat until the "didn't know it" pile is empty.
• Switch directions: look at the English meaning and try to recall the hiragana spelling. This is harder but builds active recall.

Why the P row matters

The P row is the chart's only handakuten row — and it's incredibly useful in modern Japanese. It dominates two large vocabulary families: loanwords from European languages (パン pan "bread", ペン pen, ピアノ piano, プール puuru "pool", ポスト posuto "post / mailbox") and onomatopoeia, the rich Japanese system of mimetic words (ぴかぴか pikapika "sparkling", ぽかぽか pokapoka "warm and sunny", ぱくぱく pakupaku "munching", ぷりぷり puripuri "firm / springy"). Native Japanese words also use the P row after ん, where /h/ assimilates to /p/: 散歩 (sanpo, "a walk"), 心配 (shinpai, "worry"), 鉛筆 (enpitsu, "pencil"). With the P row, you've covered every basic and diacritic kana in the hiragana chart.

Keep practising

After you've mastered these PAPIPUPEPO flashcards, deepen your hiragana skills with our other free tools:

• Interactive ぱぴぷぺぽ guide — pronunciation, stroke order, and a writing canvas to practice each character.
• Printable hiragana flashcards by character — single-character flashcard sheets for each row of the chart.
• Full hiragana chart — all 46 basic hiragana characters at a glance.
• StudyHiragana.com home — interactive practice with stroke order, recall games, and spaced repetition.