Katakana chart — all 71 characters

The full katakana chart

16 rows, in gojūon (五十音) order — the order Japanese dictionaries and classrooms use.

Katakana — common questions

How long does it take to learn katakana?

Usually a little longer than hiragana — not because it's harder, but because you meet it less often, so it gets less incidental review. Two to three weeks of daily practice is typical.

Why is katakana harder to remember than hiragana?

Two reasons. Several katakana look alike (ソ and ン, シ and ツ), and you simply read less katakana day to day, so there's less repetition. Deliberate practice matters more here than with hiragana.

How many katakana characters are there?

46 basic characters plus 25 with dakuten (゛) or handakuten (゜) — 71 in total, matching hiragana sound for sound. All 71 are tested on the JLPT N5.

Is katakana still used in modern Japanese?

Constantly. Menus, product names, brand names, tech vocabulary and any word borrowed from another language are written in katakana — so you'll meet it everywhere in daily life in Japan.