PYAPYUPYO Hiragana Flashcards — Printable, Front and Back

Free Printable Hiragana Flashcards for Beginners

These PYAPYUPYO hiragana flashcards drill the eleventh and final set of yōon combined kana — ぴ plus a small ゃ, ゅ, or ょ. Like all yōon, these form a single syllable (pya, pyu, pyo). The PY group is the handakuten counterpart of the HY group (HY + ゜ = PY) — same shapes, plosive /p/ instead of /h/. It's also the only handakuten yōon in the chart.

You get double-sided flashcards printed on letter-size paper (8.5 × 11 inches). The front of each card shows the Japanese word in hiragana; the back shows the English meaning plus the romaji reading. The PY combined kana unlock phonetic number shifts (六百 roppyaku, 800 happyaku), vivid onomatopoeia (ぴょんぴょん pyon-pyon 'hopping'; ぴゅーぴゅー pyuupyuu 'whistling wind'), and a small set of loanwords (ピューマ puma).

What's on each card?

• Front: the Japanese word written in large hiragana, with the romaji pronunciation below.
• Back: the English meaning, mirrored so it lines up with the front when you print double-sided.
• Subtle StudyHiragana.com watermark on each card so the deck stays branded after cutting.

How to print and assemble

• Click the Print button above (or press Ctrl/Cmd + P).
• Choose two-sided printing and flip on the long edge — this keeps front and back aligned.
• Use standard 8.5" × 11" letter paper. Card stock works too if you want sturdier cards.
• Cut along the dashed lines to separate the six cards on each sheet.
• Optional: laminate the cards for longer life.

How to study with hiragana flashcards

The point of beginner hiragana flashcards isn't just memorising characters — it's connecting them to real vocabulary the moment you learn them. Use the deck this way:

• Hold a card so only the front (hiragana) is visible. Read it aloud and try to recall the meaning.
• Flip the card to check. If you got it right, set it in a "knew it" pile; if not, return it to the deck.
• Shuffle and repeat until the "didn't know it" pile is empty.
• Switch directions: look at the English meaning and try to recall the hiragana spelling. This is harder but builds active recall.

Why PY combined kana matter

The PY yōon group is the final set in the hiragana chart — the only handakuten yōon, formed by HY + the round circle ゜ instead of the two-tick dakuten ゛. ぴゃ appears mostly in phonetic shifts of 百 ("hundred") after specific numerals: 六百 (roppyaku, 600 — written 六っぴゃく in older orthography but 六百 in modern), 八百 (happyaku, 800). It's also the iconic Japanese sneeze sound — はくしょん is the most common but ぴゃっくしょん is a kids' variant. ぴゅ is rare — mostly wind onomatopoeia (ぴゅーぴゅー, pyuupyuu, "whistling wind") and loanwords (ピューマ, pyuuma, "puma"). ぴょ appears most often in the onomatopoeia for hopping (ぴょんぴょん, pyon-pyon, "hop-hop"; ぴょこんと, pyokonto, "with a sudden bow"), and a few loanwords (ピョートル, Pyotr — Peter). With ぴょ, you've reached the end of the standard hiragana chart.

Keep practising

After you've mastered these PYAPYUPYO flashcards, deepen your hiragana skills with our other free tools:

• Interactive ぴゃぴゅぴょ guide — pronunciation, stroke order, and a writing canvas to practice each character.
• Printable hiragana flashcards by character — single-character flashcard sheets for each row of the chart.
• Full hiragana chart — all 46 basic hiragana characters at a glance.
• StudyHiragana.com home — interactive practice with stroke order, recall games, and spaced repetition.