ji / ジ
The second Z-row katakana — シ with a dakuten becomes “ji” (not “zi”). Opens juice, jeans, and ends orange, image.
Pronunciation
The character ジ represents the syllable 'ji'. It is シ with the dakuten that voices 'sh' to 'j'. Extremely common in loanwords — appears in juice, jeans, message, image, and many more.
ジ is シ (shi) plus the dakuten ゛, and it's read “ji,” not “zi” — just as し→じ in hiragana. It keeps シ's giveaway shape: two marks down the left and an upward sweep. It opens ジュース (juice), ジーンズ (jeans), and ends オレンジ (orange), メッセージ (message).
How to write ジ
Trace ジ 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 シ exactly: two short marks down the left side, then a long stroke sweeping UP from the lower left to the upper right.
Add the dakuten (゛): two small ticks at the upper right — strokes 4 and 5 — above the body. (Don't confuse シ's two left marks with the dakuten's two — they sit on different parts of the character.)
Origin
Katakana ジ shares its shape with シ, simplified from the kanji 之 (shi). The dakuten ゛ voices it to “ji” — the same shift as hiragana し→じ.
Common words starting with ジ
Printable practice sheet
Print this worksheet to practice writing ジ 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 katakana you’ve learned with spaced-repetition flashcards — the fastest way to make them stick.