Learn Hiragana and Katakana in PAIRS

Learn how to read and write ALL of the Japanese Hiragana and Katakana and ALL other Japanese phonetic sounds in 2 hours.
Studying hiragana and katakana together can help eliminate a lot of frustration that comes from learning the kana separately.

In this video we give you stories to help memorize how to read each hiragana and katakana character, writing practice for each kana, and fun kana reading practice to help reinforce everything you've learned.

We also cover special kana characters, and ways you can modify sounds with Dakuten (濁点), Han-dakuten (半濁点), Sokuon (促音) also known as the small つ, and combinations of kana characters. So lets learn the Japanese alphabet together, today!

Writer & Director: @ToKiniAndy
Native Voice and Calligraphy: Tokini Yuki
Video Editor: @Come2JapanDan

0:00 Introduction to Hiragana and Katakana
2:05 あ　ア
5:52 い　イ
7:50 う　ウ
9:24 え　エ
11:29 お　オ
15:01 か　カ
16:52 き　キ
18:36 く　ク
20:20 け　ケ
23:43 こ　コ
25:08 Reading Practice 1
27:35 さ　サ
29:33 し　シ
31:31 す　ス
33:30 せ　セ
35:22 そ　ソ
38:10 た　タ
40:04 ち　チ
41:46 つ　ツ
44:19 て　テ
46:21 と　ト
48:09 Reading Practice 2
50:12 な　ナ
52:59 に　ニ
55:14 ぬ　ヌ
57:09 ね　ネ
59:32 の　ノ
1:01:20 は　ハ
1:03:37 ひ　ヒ
1:05:50 ふ　フ
1:07:48 へ　ヘ
1:09:52 ほ　ホ
1:12:09 Reading Practice 3
1:14:39 ま　マ
1:16:38 み　ミ
1:19:01 む　ム
1:21:00 め　メ
1:22:51 も　モ
1:24:46 や　ヤ
1:27:00 ゆ　ユ
1:29:09 よ　ヨ
1:30:53 Reading Practice 4
1:33:17 ら　ラ
1:35:19 り　リ
1:37:34 る　ル
1:39:43 れ　レ
1:41:35 ろ　ロ
1:43:40 わ　ワ
1:45:52 を　ヲ
1:48:09 ん　ン
1:51:35 Reading Practice 5
1:56:41 Dakuten, Han-dakuten and Sokuon
2:01:12 Reading Practice 6
2:06:20 Combinations of Hiragana and Katakana
2:08:25 Reading Practice 7
2:12:53 Special Katakana Combinations

#beginnerjapanese

[lezer]

It's honestly ridiculous how much time and effort was put into this video. Such an amazing job, you guys. If there ever was a kana learning video to end all kana learning videos, that must be it. While I'm way past this stage personally, the newcomers into Japanese who will find this are so, so lucky. Me, I'm just gonna watch it slowly for the heck of it, and because I'm very interested in the historical origins of kana (seriously, that one is just a cherry on top).

[Grcchus]

Doing hiragana and katakana side by side is a BRILLIANT idea thank you so much for making this.

[jenniferli]

That's one of the best Japanese learning videos for beginners I've ever seen.

[davidhunt]

I must say, this is an absolute YouTube Hall-of-Fame-worthy video.

An amazing effort. Wonderful teaching.

This is going to be a go-to classic that benefits people for many, many years. A great example of how passion and commerce can combine to serve others and add a worthwhile and lasting gift to the human family.

[kamalani]

Like a lot of latchkey baby boomer kids in Hawai'i, I attended Japanese language school classes after elementary school. To this day I am familiar with the very baby language. So I can say "The little bunny eats candy" but I can't say "I'll meet you at the restaurant after work." Now that I'm retired, I can finally return to learning Japanese again, leaning on what I remember from kid-time but also studying as a successful adult LOL Thanks so much for your videos!

[michelle-zpef]

I don't know how people learn this in just 2 days or something lol. I'm a week in and still half way there... but this Video is so good. It makes so much sense to learn in pair. When I tried to learn it separately I got confused and stopped lol😂

[bren_d]

With how much I visit Japan and amount of Japanese media I consume, I'm finally making the commitment to learning the language. Your other video detailing how you'd relearn Japanese and this video helping me learn kana really makes this step by step progress feel possible. Really really appreciate the structure and overall thought put into these videos! Subscribed and without further ado, I will be consuming all your content 😂

[stevenpam]

I've been dabbling with Japanese for a little while (I started in preparation for a trip earlier this year, and the small amount I had learnt was really worthwhile!), but only just came across your channel via a Reddit recommendation. Great timing!
Learning Hiragana and Katakana together makes so much sense. Looking forward to sinking my teeth into this one. Thanks for your marathon effort.

[oXDestroXo]

YAKUZA MENTIONED.

Great video. people seem a lot faster than me at memorizing kana but i'm doing my best :)

がんばって ! ありがとう

[feiz]

I am 15 minutes in and honestly cannot express how grateful I am to have this video. This feels like a cheat code. Caught myself learning with a huge smile. Thank you Andy.

[chill]

As the bilingual speaking Chinese and english at the same time, ur video helps a lots!! Thank u so much❤

[computeronzin]

Not today, but someday.
This is the best beginner Japanese I will ever bother with.
Thanks

[josephalexander]

I had to stop teaching myself for a while (life happened), but I am glad this video is still here! If you guys haven't been to this guys website yet I highly recommend it! Cant wait to go back on there to start back up again! Thanks again Tokini Andy!!

[mertaltunsu]

holy moly this channel has grown so much in the past 3 years! wishing all the best

[jnnnsr]

I started learning Japanese today, and I'm so thankful i found your channel from the very start !
Thank you so much for all the effort and creativity ❤❤❤❤❤❤

[imnotreal]

I already know both and I can’t watch it now because I have to work but I just wanted to compliment you on the thumbnail cause I burst out laughing

Can’t wait to watch it though

[izzyjones]

This video is the start of my Japanese learning journey! You just made this ridiculously easy (and more fun) to learn so thank you thank you thank you! I was offered to go to a learning school over in Japan but before I go (in 2026), I will use your videos and material to study :) <3

[Pancakes_softpaws]

Not even 10 minutes in the video and it's helping me alot i was confused before this vid. This is いい❤️😂

[heliak]

Thank you for helping us gain a better understanding of Japanese.
You're a savior😍❤

[MirusTear]

I'm glad I found this. I'm restarting learning japanese again and this is helpful since I struggled so much with katakana.