What are the Three Scripts?
Japanese is unique because it uses three scripts simultaneously, often in the same sentence. This looks intimidating at first, but each script has a clear job. Once you understand their roles, reading Japanese becomes far less mysterious.
Hiragana (ひらがな) — 46 basic characters representing sounds. This is the foundation of Japanese writing. It's curvy, flowing, and the first thing you learn. Our introductory lesson on hiragana and katakana walks you through both scripts with practice. Examples: あ, き, す, て, の.
Katakana (カタカナ) — Another set of 46 characters for the same sounds, but with a different look. The strokes are sharper and more angular. Examples: ア, キ, ス, テ, ノ.
Kanji (漢字/かんじ) — Characters borrowed from Chinese, each carrying meaning. There are roughly 2,000 in common use (the jouyou kanji). Examples: 山 (mountain), 食 (eat), 学 (study).
When to Use Each Script
| Script | Used for | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Hiragana | Particles, verb endings, grammar, native words without common kanji | は, が, を, たべる (the る ending), きれい |
| Katakana | Foreign loanwords, emphasis, sound effects, scientific names | コーヒー (coffee), アメリカ (America), テレビ (TV) |
| Kanji | Nouns, verb/adjective stems, meaning-carrying words | 食べる (to eat), 大学 (university), 新しい (new) |
Here's the thing: a single sentence will typically contain all three. That's not chaos. It's actually helpful because the different visual shapes let your eyes quickly parse the structure.
Seeing All Three Together
Take this sentence:
トムさんは東京で日本語を勉強しています。
(Tomu-san wa Toukyou de nihongo wo benkyou shiteimasu.)
— Tom is studying Japanese in Tokyo.
Let's break it down by script:
- トム (katakana) — foreign name "Tom"
- さん (hiragana) — honorific suffix
- は (hiragana) — topic particle
- 東京 (kanji) — Tokyo (east + capital)
- で (hiragana) — particle meaning "at/in"
- 日本語 (kanji) — Japanese language
- を (hiragana) — object particle
- 勉強 (kanji) — study
- しています (hiragana) — grammar ending (ongoing action)
See how the kanji carry the core meaning, hiragana handles the grammar glue, and katakana flags the foreign word? That pattern repeats everywhere.
How Kanji Readings Work
Each kanji can be read in multiple ways, which is one of the genuinely tricky parts:
On'yomi (音読み) — The Chinese-derived reading, typically used when kanji appear in compound words. 山 is read as サン in 富士山 (Fujisan).
Kun'yomi (訓読み) — The native Japanese reading, often used when a kanji stands alone or has hiragana attached. 山 is read as やま when you say 山に登る (yama ni noboru — climb a mountain).
A rough rule: compound kanji words (two or more kanji together) tend toward on'yomi, while single kanji with hiragana endings tend toward kun'yomi. There are plenty of exceptions, but this gets you started.
Furigana (ふりがな) are the tiny hiragana written above kanji to show the reading. You'll see them in children's books, manga, and learning materials. They look like this: 漢字.
Radicals (部首/ぶしゅ) are the building blocks inside kanji. The kanji 休 (rest) combines 人 (person) and 木 (tree) — a person leaning against a tree to rest. Learning common radicals helps you guess meanings and remember characters faster.