bu / ブ
The middle of the B row — フ with a dakuten becomes “bu.” Opens blog, brand, and boots.
Pronunciation
The character ブ represents the syllable 'bu'. It is フ with the dakuten that voices 'f' to 'b'. Common in loanwords — brown, blog, brand, blue, boots, book, and many others.
ブ is フ (fu) plus the dakuten ゛. It opens loanwords like ブログ (blog), ブランド (brand), ブーツ (boots), ブルー (blue). Same single-stroke フ shape, voiced to “bu.”
How to write ブ
Trace ブ 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 フ exactly: a single stroke across the top, then turning and sweeping down to the lower left.
Add the dakuten (゛): two small ticks at the upper right — strokes 2 and 3 — sitting above the body.
Origin
Katakana ブ shares its shape with フ, from the kanji 不 (“not”). The dakuten ゛ voices “fu” into “bu.”
Common words starting with ブ
Printable practice sheet
Print this worksheet to practice writing ブ 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. Write the katakana you’ve learned from memory in the trainer — the ones you struggle with come back sooner, until they stick.