🌸Welcome to Sakura Saku Japanese Lesson!🌸
I’m Asami. This blog is for English speakers who want to learn Japanese easily.
You can find simple lessons, tips, and summaries of my Twitch streams here.
Whether you’re a beginner or just practicing, this blog will help you enjoy learning Japanese.
Let’s have fun learning together!
This is Part 1 of this lesson , so stay tuned for Part 2!
🌸Three Ways to Write Japanese: Hiragana, Katakana, and Romaji
Are you new to Japanese?
Then you’ve probably seen some strange-looking characters — but don’t worry!
Japanese has three writing systems, and we’ll go over them step by step.
Let’s start!
① Hiragana（ひらがな）
Hiragana characters are round and soft.
They look like this: あ、い、う (a, i, u)
🟣 Used for:
・Basic Japanese words
・Grammar (particles like は, を, で)
・Children’s books
💡 You will see hiragana everywhere in Japanese writing.
So it’s the first system you should learn.
② Katakana（カタカナ）
Katakana characters are sharp and straight.
They look like this: ア、イ、ウ (a, i, u)
🟡 Used for:
・Foreign words (ex: コーヒー = coffee)
・Foreign names (ex: アンナ = Anna)
・Onomatopoeia / Sound effects (ex: バン! = Bang!)
💡 Katakana is often used in menus, manga, and signs.
③ Romaji（ローマ字）
Romaji is not a Japanese character system, but it helps beginners.
✍️ Used for:
・Writing Japanese sounds with English letters
・Examples: aiu, konnichiwa, sushi
🟢 Good for beginners, but Japanese people don’t use romaji in daily life.
It’s a bridge to help you read and pronounce Japanese at first.
🌟 Don’t worry!
These three systems might seem confusing now,
but we will learn them little by little together!
Let’s start with Hiragana next time. 😊
🌸 Introduction to Kanji: Japanese Characters with Meaning
In addition to Hiragana and Katakana, Japanese also uses Kanji.
Kanji are different because they come from Chinese, and each Kanji has a meaning — not just a sound.
Let’s look at two simple examples below!
📘 What is Kanji?
Kanji are characters that show both how something is read and what it means.
- 山 is read yama and means mountain.
- 水 is read mizu and means water.
Isn’t that cool? 😄
Just one character can tell you a sound and an idea!
I think Kanji is interesting for me!
🌱 Don’t worry!
You don’t need to memorize any Kanji right now.
Just remember:
Each Kanji has a meaning and a reading.
We’ll learn more Kanji step by step in future lessons!
🌸Let’s Learn Hiragana!
Hiragana is one of the basic writing systems in Japanese.
You’ll see it everywhere — in signs, messages, storybooks, and even children’s writing.
It’s mainly used for native Japanese words and grammar.
For example, the word neko (cat) is written as: ねこ
Hiragana letters look curved and soft — like this: あ、い、う、え、おDoesn’t it look gentle and friendly? 😊
Don’t worry about memorizing everything right now.
We’ll practice step by step in future lessons — you’re not alone!
🌸Let’s Start with the Basics: あ・い・う・え・お
So let’s start learning Hiragana!
The most important sounds in Japanese are: a, i, u, e, o
These are the five Japanese vowels — just like “a, e, i, o, u” in English, but in a different order.
In Hiragana, they look like this:
あ (a), い (i), う (u), え (e), お (o)
These five characters are the foundation of Japanese pronunciation.
You’ll see them everywhere and use them all the time.
Let’s get familiar with their shape and sound — one step at a time.
We’ll practice together, so don’t worry if it feels new! 😊
To be continue in Part2. Please stay tuned!
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To stay updated on my lessons, follow me on:
Instagram&X – where I post useful Japanese phrases, culture tips, and short lesson previews.
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I also upload full lesson videos to YouTube, so you can watch or review anytime.
And don’t worry — chat names won’t appear in the videos. Your privacy is important.
youtube.com/@sakura_saku.lesson
I’m truly grateful for your time and support.
Your interest in Japanese means so much to me.
Let’s keep learning together!
