he / へ
The fourth of the H row — a single quick stroke 'he' that doubles as the direction particle, pronounced 'e' in that role.
Pronunciation
The character へ represents the syllable 'he', a soft 'h' followed by 'e' as in 'pet'. Part of the は-row. The particle へ (pronounced 'e' when used as a directional marker meaning 'to' or 'towards') is one of the most common particles in Japanese.
へ is one of the simplest hiragana — a single rising-then-falling stroke, almost a small mountain. As a regular kana it's pronounced he and appears in 部屋 (room), 下手 (unskilled). But like は, へ pulls double duty as a particle: it marks the destination of motion ("to / toward"). In that role, へ is pronounced e, not he (another spelling relic). Whenever you see へ between a place noun and a verb of motion, say e.
How to write へ
Trace へ on the canvas at the top of the page. Animated arrows show each stroke's direction; trace along them and the stroke fills in. Each numbered step below explains what that stroke does.
A single stroke shaped like a low, broad mountain. Start at the lower left, rise diagonally upward to a sharp peak just right of centre, then drop back down diagonally to the lower right. Quick, angular — no curves. The character should look like a shallow upside-down V or a child's drawing of a hill.
Origin
Hiragana へ evolved from the cursive form of the kanji 部 (he as an archaic reading) — meaning "section" or "part." The kanji's complex layered strokes collapsed into a single rising-and-falling stroke, preserving only the upward then downward motion of its right-side radical.
Common words starting with へ
Printable practice sheet
Print this worksheet to practice writing へ by hand — the top row shows the stroke order to trace, then fill the blank squares.
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