Every beginner has the same moment of panic: Japanese has three writing systems. Hiragana, katakana, kanji — thousands of characters. Where do you even start?
Deep breath. It’s much simpler than it looks, because there’s a correct order — and almost everyone who struggles is struggling because they started in the wrong place.
1. Hiragana first — always
Hiragana (ひらがな) is the phonetic backbone of Japanese: 46 basic characters that represent every sound in the language. Children’s books are written in it. It appears as furigana (reading guides) above difficult kanji. Everything builds on it.
Timeline: about 2–3 weeks at 15 minutes a day. Write each character by hand as you learn it — muscle memory beats staring at charts.
2. Katakana second
Katakana (カタカナ) represents the exact same 46 sounds with different, angular shapes. It’s used for foreign words (コーヒー koohii, coffee), sound effects, and emphasis — like italics.
Timeline: 1–2 weeks, because you already know all the sounds. You’re just learning new outfits for them.
3. Kanji third — the long game
Kanji (漢字) are the Chinese characters — thousands of them, ~2,000 for general fluency, ~100 for JLPT N5. This is a marathon, not a sprint, and there’s one rule that changes everything:
Learn words, not characters. Don’t memorize all seven readings of 生 in isolation. Learn 学生 (gakusei, student), 先生 (sensei, teacher), 生まれる (umareru, to be born) as complete words. The readings stick because they’re attached to meaning.
Pace: 5–10 new kanji a week is plenty. Consistency beats cramming.
4. Romaji — the trap to avoid
Romaji (roman letters) feels comfortable, and that’s the problem. It teaches you wrong pronunciation — し isn’t quite “shi,” ふ isn’t “fu,” and つ has no English equivalent at all. Use romaji for your first week if you must, then drop it like a bad habit. Your ears will thank you.
Your first 4 weeks, mapped out
Weeks 1–2: Hiragana, 15 minutes a day, handwriting.
Week 3: Katakana (it’ll feel easy after hiragana).
Week 4: Your first 20 kanji — as words — plus basic greetings.
One month in, you’ll be reading real Japanese. Not fluently, not fast — but really reading. That’s further than most “someday I’ll learn Japanese” people ever get.
Want a guide for the first steps?
My beginner courses walk you through exactly this sequence — kana in weeks, not months, with a native speaker correcting you before bad habits form. Book a trial lesson here and let’s get you reading real Japanese.