po / ポ
The last of the P row — ホ with a handakuten becomes “po.” Opens mailbox, point, and pocket.
Pronunciation
The character ポ represents the syllable 'po'. It is ホ with the handakuten that hardens 'h' to 'p'. Common in loanwords for post, point, pop, pocket, pot, sports, passport, and many compounds.
ポ is ホ (ho) plus the handakuten ゜. It opens loanwords like ポスト (mailbox), ポイント (point), ポケット (pocket), ポップ (pop), and ends パスポート (passport). Same 木-like ホ shape, with a circle for “po.”
How to write ポ
Trace ポ 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 ホ exactly: a horizontal bar, a long vertical through it, then two short legs flicking down to the left and right.
Add the handakuten (゜): a single small circle at the upper right — stroke 5 — above the body.
Origin
Katakana ポ shares its shape with ホ, from the kanji 保 (“protect”). The handakuten ゜ turns “ho” into “po.”
Common words starting with ポ
Printable practice sheet
Print this worksheet to practice writing ポ by hand — the top row shows the stroke order to trace, then fill the blank squares.
Lock it into memory
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