Hiragana Lessons - Stroke Guide to は、ひ、ふ、へ、ほ (Ha, Hi, Fu, He, Ho)

Cropped Hand Of Person Writing On Paper At Table
Mng Mn Xi / EyeEm / Getty Images

Hiragana is a part of the Japanese writing system. It is syllabary, which is a set of written characters that represent syllables. Thus, hiragana is a basic phonetic script in Japanese. In most cases, each character corresponds to one syllable though there are few exceptions to this rule. 

Hiragana is used in many instances, such as writing articles or miscellaneous words that have no kanji form or an obscure kanji form. 

With the following visual stroke-by-stroke guide, you will learn to write hiragana characters は、ひ、ふ、へ、ほ (ha, hi, fu, he, ho). 

Ha - は

how to write the hiragana ha character

Namiko Abe

Here's how to write the hiragana character for "ha." Please remember, it is important to follow the stroke order when writing Japanese characters. Learning the proper stroke order is also a great way to help you to remember how to draw the character.

Sample word: はた (hata) flag

Hi - ひ

how to write the hiragana hi character

Namiko Abe

Only one stroke and similar to a cursive "u" in English, the character for "hi" is an easier one to learn.

Sample word: ひかり (hikari) light

Fu - ふ

how to write the hiragana fu character

 Namiko Abe

Write the hiragana character for "fu" by following the numbered strokes.

Sample word: ふね (fune) boat

He - へ

how to write the hiragana he character

Namiko Abe 

Here's how to write the hiragana character for "he".

Sample word: へや (heya) room

Ho - ほ

how to write the hiragana ho character

Namiko Abe 

Follow the visual guide to flawlessly write the hiragana character for "ho".

Example: ほし (hoshi) star

More Lessons

If you want to see all 46 hiragana characters and hear the pronunciation for each, check out the Hiragana Audio Chart page. Additionally, here is a Handwritten Hiragana Chart.

To learn more about Japanese writing, take a look at Japanese Writing for Beginners.

Format
mla apa chicago
Your Citation
Abe, Namiko. "Hiragana Lessons - Stroke Guide to は、ひ、ふ、へ、ほ (Ha, Hi, Fu, He, Ho)." ThoughtCo, Apr. 5, 2023, thoughtco.com/how-to-write-hiragana-ha-hi-fu-he-ho-2027945. Abe, Namiko. (2023, April 5). Hiragana Lessons - Stroke Guide to は、ひ、ふ、へ、ほ (Ha, Hi, Fu, He, Ho). Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/how-to-write-hiragana-ha-hi-fu-he-ho-2027945 Abe, Namiko. "Hiragana Lessons - Stroke Guide to は、ひ、ふ、へ、ほ (Ha, Hi, Fu, He, Ho)." ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/how-to-write-hiragana-ha-hi-fu-he-ho-2027945 (accessed March 29, 2024).