The term kana (仮名) may refer to a number of syllabaries used to write Japanese phonological units, morae.
Usually, hiragana is the default syllabary, and katakana is used in certain special cases.
A Gojūon (五十音, “fifty sounds”) is a traditional system ordering kana characters by their component phonemes.
Mnemonics to remember the order of each line of kana: Ah, Kana Symbols, Take Note How Many You Read Well.
Hiragana
Hiragana is used to write native Japanese words with no kanji representation.
| a | i | u | e | o | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| あ | い | う | え | お | |
| k | か | き | く | け | こ |
| s | さ | し | す | せ | そ |
| t | た | ち | つ | て | と |
| n | な | に | ぬ | ね | の |
| h | は | ひ | ふ | へ | ほ |
| m | ま | み | む | め | も |
| y | や | ゆ | よ | ||
| r | ら | り | る | れ | ろ |
| w | わ | を | |||
| n | ん |
Katakana
katakana is most commonly used to write words of foreign origin that do not have kanji representations, as well as foreign personal and place names.
| a | i | u | e | o | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ア | イ | ウ | エ | オ | |
| k | カ | キ | ク | ケ | コ |
| s | サ | シ | ス | セ | ソ |
| t | タ | チ | ツ | テ | ト |
| n | ナ | ニ | ヌ | ネ | ノ |
| h | ハ | ヒ | フ | ヘ | ホ |
| m | マ | ミ | ム | メ | モ |
| y | ヤ | ユ | ヨ | ||
| r | ラ | リ | ル | レ | ロ |
| w | ワ | ヲ | |||
| n | ン |