Japanese alphabet chart with pictures
46 letters · tap 🔊 to hear each one.
| Picture | Letter | Word | Meaning | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ant | |||
 | dog | |||
 | rabbit | |||
 | pencil | |||
 | rice ball | |||
 | umbrella | |||
 | giraffe | |||
 | bear | |||
 | caterpillar | |||
 | koala | |||
 | fish | |||
 | deer | |||
 | watermelon | |||
| cicada | ||||
 | sky | |||
 | egg | |||
 | butterfly | |||
 | moon | |||
 | letter | |||
 | clock | |||
 | eggplant | |||
 | carrot | |||
 | stuffed toy | |||
 | cat | |||
 | saw | |||
 | flower | |||
 | aeroplane | |||
 | ship | |||
 | snake | |||
 | star | |||
 | window | |||
 | mandarin orange | |||
 | bug | |||
 | glasses | |||
 | peach | |||
 | mountain | |||
 | snowman | |||
 | sailboat | |||
 | trumpet | |||
 | apple | |||
 | staying home | |||
 | lemon | |||
 | candle | |||
 | crocodile | |||
 | read a book | |||
| mandarin orange (ends in ん) |
Japanese letter tracing is the step between knowing a letter and writing it. On this page your child picks a letter from the row, traces over it with a finger, and watches it fill with colour. Then the letter and its word are spoken in Japanese and English, with a picture, so the shape, the sound and the meaning arrive together.
How the Japanese tracing game works
- Pick a letter from the row at the top, or start with あ.
- Trace it with one finger. The ring in the corner fills as more of the letter is covered.
- Listen: when the letter is done it is spoken aloud with its word.
- Press ▶ for the next letter. After a few letters a marble drops into Golu's jar.
↺ clears the board for another try. The ✓ button finishes a letter for children who use a keyboard or switch.
Tips for grown-ups
- Two or three letters a day is plenty. Stop while it is still fun.
- After the screen, write the same letter big on paper, in sand or with a wet finger on the floor.
- Say the word from the picture and look for that thing at home.
- Our free Japanese alphabet tracing worksheet has the same letters to print.
All 46 letters in this game
あ · い · う · え · お · か · き · く · け · こ · さ · し · す · せ · そ · た · ち · つ · て · と · な · に · ぬ · ね · の · は · ひ · ふ · へ · ほ · ま · み · む · め · も · や · ゆ · よ · ら · り · る · れ · ろ · わ · を · ん
How to use this page at home
Say it, then find it
Play for a few minutes, then look for the same thing away from the screen: japanese words on the shelf, in the kitchen, on the way to school. A child learns a word properly when they meet it twice, once on the screen and once in their hand.
Ten minutes is enough
Short and happy beats long and tired. Stop while your child still wants more, and come back tomorrow: the same page on five short days teaches far more than one long sitting. Nothing here is scored, so there is no reason to push.
Use both languages
Tap the language button at the top to hear the words in your home language first and the second language after. Hearing the same picture named in two languages is one of the few things research agrees builds attention as well as vocabulary.
Now do it for real
When the screen goes off, do something with your hands. Try ⚖️ Make a balance — an easy science experiment for ages 4-6, with every step read aloud in your language. You will need a hanger or a ruler, two cups and string, small things to weigh; nothing that needs a trip to a shop.
There are 56 more on the things to do at home page, and free printable worksheets if you would rather have something on paper. Ten minutes on a screen and twenty minutes off it is a good shape for a day at this age.
Free tools for parents
A few other free CodingMarble tools that help with this page:
- JPG to PDF — turn photos of your child's finished sheets into one PDF to keep or send to a teacher.
- Merge PDF — join several printed-and-scanned sheets into a single file.
