Kana & sounds
Start with the 46 kana and the one-mora rule.
Kana chartあ い う え お
The 46 basic kana, one click each.
Open → The five vowelsa · i · ɯ · e · oVowel quality, including the unrounded u.
Open → Voiced and semi-voicedか が ・ は ば ぱThe k/g, h/b/p contrasts.
Open → Contracted soundsきゃ しゃ ちゃTwo characters, one mora.
Open → Kana that don't read as writtenは→wa ・ を→oParticles and the di/du kana.
Open → Kana for loanwordsファ ティ ウィ ヴFa, ti, wi, vu, she.
Open →Rhythm & pitch
Long vowels, geminates, syllabic n, devoicing, and the four accent patterns.
Mora and rhythmきって = 3 morae
Japanese counts morae, not syllables.
Open → Long vowelsおばさん / おばあさんOne mora changes the word.
Open → Geminate consonantsきて / きってThe hold in kitte.
Open → Syllabic nかん ・ かんい ・ かんがOne kana, four places of articulation.
Open → Vowel devoicingすき → skiWhy suki sounds like ski.
Open → The r rowら り る れ ろA tap, not l and not Mandarin r.
Open → The four accent patternsねこ↓ ・ やま↑Heiban, atamadaka, nakadaka, odaka.
Open →Beyond the basics
The topics learners actually look for: katakana English, devoicing rules, compounds.
How to read this strand
- Start with the kana chart: click a few cells and hear each kana alone.
- Then read mora and rhythm — Japanese counts beats, not syllables.
- Then the four accent patterns, where a wrong contour changes the word.
Where the numbers come from
The page list comes from ja_pages.py; kana counts come from the single table in ja_mora.py.