Kana are symbols that are used to represent the sounds of the Japanese language. They can be used like an alphabet to "spell out" any Japanese word. In general, each kana symbol represents a combination of one consonant plus one vowel sound, or a single syllable, like "ka," "so," or "mu." For this reason, the complete set of kana symbols is called a "syllabary."
Japanese use two different kana syllabaries, each with 46 basic symbols. Both syllabaries represent the same set of sounds, but they are used for different purposes. One kana syllabary is called the hiragana, which are used to write native Japanese words and word endings for which there are no kanji.
The second kana syllabary is called the katakana. Katakana are typically used to spell out foreign words and names, or they may be used for emphasis the way Westerners use italics.
Below is a short sentence in Japanese that means, "Next year I plan to go to America." The pronunciation of each symbol is written beneath it. Place your mouse over any symbol to see if it is a kanji, hiragana, or katakana.
