Japanese alphabet

Katakana chart

Katakana is one of the three Japanese writing systems. It is used for words that come from other languages — コーヒー (kōhī, coffee), ホテル (hoteru, hotel) and タクシー (takushī, taxi) — and for foreign names. Its 46 basic characters, plus the voiced and combined forms below, write every sound of modern Japanese. Select a character to see how it reads and which words use it.