M
マミムメモ — The M Row
01
Why the M row is easy to remember
The M row — マ ミ ム メ モ — adds an “m” to the vowels, sounding just like hiragana ま み む め も. It has a couple of friendly memory hooks: ミ is the kanji 三 (three) on its side, and メ is the crossing strokes of 女 (woman). With this row done, you're two-thirds of the way through the basic syllabary.
Memory hook: ミ (mi) is just 三 (three) tilted — three short bars. And メ (me) is the little X at the heart of the kanji 女. Spotting the parent shape makes both stick fast.
02
Pronunciation at a glance
03
Loanwords built on the M row
The M row opens a wide field of everyday loanwords. Here are two for each character.
マイクmaikumicrophone, mic
マスクmasukumask
ミルクmirukumilk
ミニminimini
ムードmūdomood, atmosphere
ムービーmūbīmovie
メールmēruemail
メモmemomemo, note
モデルmoderumodel
モニターmonitāmonitor
04
What's next
Next is the small ヤ-row (ヤ ユ ヨ) — just three characters. After that come the R and W rows, and the basic syllabary is complete.