Hiragana Every character below comes with a real word from Miki's world — the words you'll actually hear in episodes, not textbook filler.
A note on the romaji: you'll see it everywhere on this page, on purpose. Romaji is a bridge, not a crutch — it gets you reading today, and you drop it when you don't need it anymore. Anyone who tells you to avoid it entirely is gatekeeping. Anyone who tells you to stay on it forever is lying. Cross the bridge.Tap any character to watch it drawn stroke by stroke.
あ a
あさ — morning
3 strokes · tap
い i
いま — now
2 strokes · tap
う u
うち — home — the casual word, 'my place'
2 strokes · tap
え e
えき — train station
2 strokes · tap
お o
おかね — money
3 strokes · tap
か ka
かえる — to head home
3 strokes · tap
き ki
きょう — today
4 strokes · tap
く ku
くつ — shoes — the ones you kick off at the door
1 stroke · tap
け ke
けさ — this morning
3 strokes · tap
こ ko
こんばん — tonight
2 strokes · tap
さ sa
さいふ — wallet
3 strokes · tap
し shi
しごと — work, job
1 stroke · tap
す su
すき — to like — a food, a song, a person
2 strokes · tap
せ se
せまい — cramped — like a Tokyo apartment
3 strokes · tap
そ so
そと — outside
1 stroke · tap
た ta
たかい — expensive
4 strokes · tap
ち chi
ちかてつ — subway
2 strokes · tap
つ tsu
つかれた — "I'm tired" — the end-of-shift word
1 stroke · tap
て te
てんき — weather
1 stroke · tap
と to
ともだち — friend
2 strokes · tap
な na
なつ — summer
4 strokes · tap
に ni
にちようび — Sunday
3 strokes · tap
ぬ nu
ぬるい — lukewarm — coffee that sat too long
2 strokes · tap
ね ne
ねる — to sleep
2 strokes · tap
の no
のむ — to drink
1 stroke · tap
は ha
はたらく — to work
3 strokes · tap
ひ hi
ひま — free, nothing going on — 'hima?' is a whole text message
1 stroke · tap
ふ fu
ふつう — normal, usually
4 strokes · tap
へ he
へや — room, apartment
1 stroke · tap
ほ ho
ほんとう — really — as in 'hontou?!'
4 strokes · tap
ま ma
まじで — seriously?! — friends-only register
3 strokes · tap
み mi
みず — water
2 strokes · tap
む mu
むずかしい — difficult
3 strokes · tap
め me
めざまし — alarm clock
2 strokes · tap
も mo
もうすぐ — soon, any minute now
3 strokes · tap
や ya
やすみ — day off
3 strokes · tap
ゆ yu
ゆっくり — slowly, taking it easy
2 strokes · tap
よ yo
よる — night
2 strokes · tap
ら ra
らいしゅう — next week
2 strokes · tap
り ri
りょうり — cooking
2 strokes · tap
る ru
るす — not home — where you are when the delivery arrives
1 stroke · tap
れ re
れいぞうこ — fridge
2 strokes · tap
ろ ro
ろく — six — as in a 6 a.m. alarm
1 stroke · tap
わ wa
わたし — I, me
2 strokes · tap
を o
コーヒーをのむ — to drink coffee
3 strokes · tap
ん n
ごはん — a meal, food
1 stroke · tap
Dakuten & Handakuten Add two little strokes (゛) or a small circle (゜) and the sound shifts — か (ka) becomes が (ga), は (ha) becomes ぱ (pa). Same shapes you already know, voiced.
が ga
がまん — toughing it out, gritting through it
5 strokes · tap
ぎ gi
ぎんこう — the bank
6 strokes · tap
ぐ gu
ぐっすり — soundly — how you sleep after a double shift
3 strokes · tap
げ ge
げんき — well, full of energy — 'genki?' is a whole check-in
5 strokes · tap
ご go
ごみ — trash — and Tuesday is burnable day
4 strokes · tap
ざ za
ざんぎょう — overtime — the word you dread hearing
5 strokes · tap
じ ji
じかん — time — as in 'got any?'
3 strokes · tap
ず zu
ずつう — a headache — the fluorescent-lights kind
4 strokes · tap
ぜ ze
ぜんぶ — all of it, everything
5 strokes · tap
ぞ zo
かぞく — family
3 strokes · tap
だ da
だいじょうぶ — it's fine, I'm OK — the reflexive reassurance
6 strokes · tap
ぢ ji
はなぢ — a nosebleed
4 strokes · tap
づ zu
つづく — to be continued — the end-of-episode card
3 strokes · tap
で de
でんしゃ — the train — the packed morning kind
3 strokes · tap
ど do
どようび — Saturday
4 strokes · tap
ば ba
ばんごはん — dinner
5 strokes · tap
び bi
びょうき — being sick — the call-in-to-work kind
3 strokes · tap
ぶ bu
ぶちょう — the department boss
6 strokes · tap
べ be
べんり — convenient — the whole point of a konbini
3 strokes · tap
ぼ bo
ぼんやり — zoning out — staring at nothing after work
6 strokes · tap
ぱ pa
いっぱい — a lot; full — 'onaka ippai', stuffed
4 strokes · tap
ぴ pi
ぴったり — a perfect fit — the shift that lines up with your train
2 strokes · tap
ぷ pu
てんぷら — tempura
5 strokes · tap
ぺ pe
ぺこぺこ — starving — 'onaka pekopeko' after a long shift
2 strokes · tap
ぽ po
ぽかぽか — toasty-warm — a good-nap afternoon
5 strokes · tap
Small Kana Written small, these don't stand alone — the little っ doubles the next consonant, and ゃ/ゅ/ょ fuse onto the kana before them (き + ゃ = kya). You need them to read real words.
っ small tsu
きっぷ — a train ticket
1 stroke · tap
ゃ small ya
おちゃ — tea — green, and always offered
3 strokes · tap
ゅ small yu
しゅみ — a hobby — what you do on your day off
2 strokes · tap
ょ small yo
しょうゆ — soy sauce
2 strokes · tap
The Ones That Look Alike Some hiragana are just out to get you. さ (sa) and ち (chi) are near-mirror images. ぬ (nu) and め (me) differ by one loop. は (ha), ほ (ho), and ま (ma) all hang off the same vertical line. Every beginner mixes these up — it's not you, it's the alphabet. The fix isn't squinting harder; it's knowing exactly which detail to look at. Here's the tell for each pair, plus a real word to anchor each character so it stops being an abstract squiggle.
さ (sa) faces LEFT — the hook at the bottom curls back toward the way you read from. ち (chi) faces RIGHT — same body, mirror-flipped, hook opening the other way. If the tail hooks toward the start of the line, it's さ.
さいふ (saifu, wallet) vs ちこく (chikoku, running late) — the two states of every commute morning: grab the さいふ, still ちこく.
ぬ (nu) finishes with a LOOP — the tail curls back and ties itself off. め (me) finishes OPEN — same crossing body, but the tail just swings out and stops, no loop. Loop = ぬ, no loop = め.
ぬるい (nurui, lukewarm — the coffee you forgot about) vs めんどい (mendoi, can't-be-bothered) — the ぬるい コーヒー you left because you were too めんどい to reheat it.
All three share a vertical stem. は (ha): vertical + one horizontal cross, then a separate loop on the right. ほ (ho): same as は but with TWO horizontal crosses. ま (ma): two horizontals but the loop is at the BOTTOM, tied into the stem, not floating on the right. Count the crossbars (は=1, ほ=2) and check where the loop sits (right = は/ほ, bottom = ま).
はらう (harau, to pay), ほしい (hoshii, want it), まだ (mada, not yet) — the internal monologue at any register: ほしい, but はらう? …まだ.
See the tell in motion The difference is in the drawing. Watch both at once — the stroke that gives each one away is the same stroke you'd write differently.
Watch the tail. さ (sa) hooks back toward the start of the line; ち (chi) is the same body mirror-flipped, hooking the other way. Tail toward the start means さ.
Replay Watch the finish. ぬ (nu) ties itself off in a loop; め (me) swings open and stops. Loop or no loop is the whole difference.
Replay Stroke-order data from KanjiVG (kanjivg.tagaini.net) , CC BY-SA 3.0 .