BYABYUBYO Hiragana Flashcards — Printable, Front and Back

Free Printable Hiragana Flashcards for Beginners

These BYABYUBYO hiragana flashcards drill the tenth set of yōon combined kana — び plus a small ゃ, ゅ, or ょ. Like all yōon, these form a single syllable (bya, byu, byo). The BY group is the dakuten counterpart of the HY group (HY + ゛ = BY) — same shapes, voiced /b/ instead of /h/.

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 BY combined kana unlock essentials around medicine and counting: 病院 (byouin, 'hospital'), 病気 (byouki, 'illness'), 三百 (sanbyaku, 'three hundred' — phonetic shift from ひゃく), 平等 (byoudou, 'equality'), and rare-but-real onomatopoeia like びゅーびゅー (byuubyuu, 'whooshing wind').

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 BY combined kana matter

The BY yōon group is small in scope but critical in vocabulary. びゃ is the rarest of the three in everyday native vocabulary — its main role is in the phonetic shift of 百 ("hundred") after certain numerals: 三百 (sanbyaku, 300), 八百 (happyaku, 800 — written with っ), 六百 (roppyaku, 600 — also written with っ). びゅ is rare — appears mostly in onomatopoeia (びゅう, byuu, the whoosh sound of wind; びゅーびゅー, byuubyuu, "howling") and a few loanwords (デビュー, debyuu, "debut"). びょ is the densest of the trio: 病院 (byouin, "hospital"), 病気 (byouki, "illness / disease"), 病室 (byoushitsu, "hospital room"), 平等 (byoudou, "equality"), 描写 (byousha, "description / portrayal"), 秒 (byou, "second" — the time unit). For anyone who'll need to talk about health, time, or counts above 200, びょ in particular is essential.

Keep practising

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

• Interactive びゃびゅびょ 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.