jo / じょ
The last J combined kana — じ plus a small ょ becomes 'jo'. Anchors 'skillful' (上手), 'woman' (女), and 'information' (情報).
Pronunciation
The compound character じょ represents the syllable 'jo', formed by combining じ (ji) with a small ょ. It is pronounced as a single syllable 'jo' (like the 'jo' in 'joke').
じょ is じ (ji) plus a small ょ (yo). Together they make a single syllable /jo/. It's one of the densest yōon in Sino-Japanese compounds: 上手 (jouzu, "skillful / good at"), 女 (jo, "woman" — productive root: 女性 josei, 女子 joshi, 少女 shoujo), 助手 (joshu, "assistant"), 情報 (jouhou, "information"), 状況 (joukyou, "situation"), 冗談 (joudan, "joke"), 序文 (jobun, "preface"), 除く (nozoku, "to exclude" — but compare 除 as じょ in compounds like 削除 sakujo, "deletion"). Word-initial じょ is /jo/.
How to write じょ
Trace じょ 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.
Write じ exactly: three strokes.
Write a small ょ next to じ. Stroke 4 is a short horizontal at the upper middle (of the small character); stroke 5 is the looping body. Keep ょ at roughly half the height of じ.
Origin
じょ is the written combination of じ (し + dakuten ゛) and a small よ (from 与, yo). It's the densest of the J trio in Sino-Japanese vocabulary, thanks to highly productive kanji roots (上 "top", 女 "woman", 情 "feeling", 状 "condition") all providing じょ in compounds.
Common words starting with じょ
Printable practice sheet
Print this worksheet to practice writing じょ by hand — the top row shows the stroke order to trace, then fill the blank squares.
Lock it into memory
Reading is only half of it. Drill the hiragana you’ve learned with spaced-repetition flashcards — the fastest way to make them stick.