Hiragana and Katakana - Complete Basics of Japanese

This app is ad-supported and completely FREE! You can remove the ads through an in-app purchase, but we have tried to make them as unobtrusive as possible. Thank you!

Quickly master both Hiragana AND Katakana in one app. Purchase once and learn on your iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad for no extra charge.

Ever wanted to learn Japanese but didn't know where to begin? Learning hiragana first is often suggested by Japanese teachers and many textbooks (Genki, Japanese for Busy People Kana version, etc) virtually require it. This app will help you master both syllabaries* quickly and painlessly.

This app has over 250 sound files featuring all the main hiragana and katakana characters (we will be adding all of the combination characters soon as a free update!) and about 150 example words using characters learned.

- Universal app: iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad
- Learn using Study cards with all information on a single card or with Flashcards to flip to see answers
- Quiz yourself after studying each section and review any missed answers
- Search all hiragana, katakana, and example words
- Random function: tap if you are feeling lucky -- great for reviewing all hiragana and katakana
- Lessons -- an additional way to study all hiragana and katakana
- (on iPad) view random hiragana on the front page

If you are sure you want to learn Japanese, you may want to grab our "Japanese Phrases & Lessons" app instead (or you can click on our "TheJapanesePage.com" link at the top to see all our apps). This includes most (but not all) of what is here for hiragana and katakana AND also includes kanji and grammar lessons plus almost 3,000 sound files of common words and phrases.

If you have ANY questions or comments, please don't hesitate to contact us.

* Although often called "alphabets," Hiragana and Katakana are more properly called "syllabaries" since each character more or less represents a syllable.