myo / みょ
The last MY combined kana — み plus a small ょ becomes 'myo'. The workhorse of the MY group — anchors 苗字 (myouji, 'family name') and the slang 微妙 (bimyou, 'iffy').
Pronunciation
The compound character みょ represents the syllable 'myo', formed by combining み (mi) with a small ょ. It is pronounced as a single syllable 'myo'.
みょ is み (mi) plus a small ょ (yo). Together they make a single syllable /myo/. It's the most useful of the MY yōon: 苗字 (myouji, "family name / surname") is a JLPT N5 word you'll encounter on every form and self-introduction. 妙 (myou, "strange / mysterious / curious") appears in 微妙 (bimyou, "subtle / delicate / iffy"), one of the most-used modern Japanese adjectives — used to express ambivalence about anything from food to weather ("hmm, kinda iffy"). It also appears in 寿命 (jumyou, "life span") and 絶妙 (zetsumyou, "exquisite / superb").
How to write みょ
Trace みょ 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 み exactly: two strokes.
Write a small ょ next to み. Stroke 3 is a short horizontal at the upper middle (of the small character); stroke 4 is the looping body. Keep ょ at roughly half the height of み.
Origin
みょ is the written combination of み (from 美, mi) and a small よ (from 与, yo). Unlike みゃ and みゅ, みょ has a real footprint in everyday Japanese thanks to 苗字 (family name) — making it the only MY yōon you'll write regularly.
Common words starting with みょ
Printable practice sheet
Print this worksheet to practice writing みょ 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.