If you’re looking to learn Japanese, hiragana is your first step. One of three main character sets within the Japanese writing system – along with katakana and kanji – hiragana will teach you the essentials. While not strictly an alphabet, hiragana has 46 characters that each represents a syllabic sound (rather than a single consonant).
Hiragana was first practiced in the 5th century, when it began to signify the pronunciation of Chinese characters. But it wasn’t originally accepted by everyone, as men still preferred to stick with the regular kaisho kanji, otodoke (“male hand”), while women tended to use the more cursive kanji (sōsho). As such, hiragana was mainly used by women at first. And, because early literary classics such as The Tale of Genji were written by female authors in hiragana, some still feel that it has a “feminine” quality!
Since each hiragana character has a set sound, it’s relatively simple to teach yourself. From online guides and handy tables, to cute, illustrated flashcards, learning hiragana has never been so easy!
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