yu / ゆ
The middle of the Y row — two graceful strokes 'yu' that open words for dreams, snow, and hot water.
Pronunciation
The character ゆ represents the syllable 'yu', a soft 'y' followed by 'u' (with relaxed lips). Part of the や-row. The small version ゅ is used to form yōon syllables.
ゆ sits second in the Y row and packs into beloved everyday nouns — 夢 (dream), 雪 (snow), お湯 (hot water), 勇気 (courage). Its small version ゅ attaches to other characters to produce combined kana like きゅ (kyu), しゅ (shu), りゅ (ryu). The shape is closely related to め (me) — both have flowing looping bodies — but ゆ's body is more elongated and sits balanced over a long horizontal anchor.
How to write ゆ
Trace ゆ 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 long flowing stroke shaped like a sideways tear-drop. Start at the upper left, sweep down and around in a closed loop on the lower right, then exit with a small flick. Almost a comma or sideways P.
A long horizontal stroke crossing the body of stroke 1 near the middle — extends to the left and right, longer than the loop above it. This horizontal anchor is ゆ's defining feature, visually distinguishing it from め.
Origin
Hiragana ゆ traces back to the cursive form of the kanji 由 (yu) — meaning "reason" or "cause." The kanji's square outer body collapsed into the looping upper stroke; its central vertical preserves into the long horizontal anchor that defines ゆ today.
Common words starting with ゆ
Printable practice sheet
Print this worksheet to practice writing ゆ by hand — the top row shows the stroke order to trace, then fill the blank squares.
Lock it into memory
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