Learn Hiragana あ a

This Hiragana character is the first vowel sound that you will meet on your journey to learn Japanese.

Although not technically a word on its own, あ can be used to denote surprise like the English “huh?”. 

The Katakana counterpart to あ is ア.

あ is pronounced like the expression “ah”. The Hiragana あ is made with 3 strokes.

Mnemonics to help learn Hiragana あ a

You can see in the video that there is a letter ‘A’ hidden right in the middle of this Hiragana character.

How to write Hiragana あ a

Start from the left with a horizontal stroke to the right. Then intersect this with the verticle stroke going down. Have this stroke lightly curve right about halfway down. Follow with the complex 3rd stroke, starting at its top right. Curve leftward and loop around, intersecting with its start once and the previous stroke twice. This stroke ends slightly under and to the right of where the 2nd stroke ended. 

Word samples using Hiragana あ a

More about Hiragana あ a

Here is an informative and rather strange video about all of the emotional nuances of the Hiragana character あ. (Ehh..this video possibly something which you will want to listen with headphones if people are around!)

Don’t forget, you can learn all Hiragana in one day with Dr. Moku’s Mnemonics. Available for iOS and Android or you can also get the physical versions on Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk and your local European Amazon