01OVERVIEW
Front Matter
SCRIPT · PROFILE
Katakana
Syllabary created in the 9th century from components of Chinese characters — "katakana" means "fragmentary kana." Primarily used for foreign words, foreign names, onomatopoeia, and emphasis.
Syllabary created in the 9th century from components of Chinese characters — "katakana" means "fragmentary kana." Primarily used for foreign words, foreign names, onomatopoeia, and emphasis. In early computing, katakana was used to input Japanese via ASCII. In modern Japanese pop culture (anime, games, manga), katakana has become a symbol of cyberpunk and sci-fi futuristic aesthetics.
04SPECIMEN
The Letters
Signs · Unicode · TypesSample GlyphsClick to copy
Glyph evolution
Form change over time
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06MECHANICS
Reading Mechanics
Direction · Method↔
Direction
Left to Right (LTR)
Left to right or vertical, same as hiragana.
α
System
Syllabary
⌨
Input method
Direct Unicode input
Keyboard layout
Standard IME · input chart
Katakana Roman Input (Japanese IME)
Type Roman letters then press F7 to convert to Katakana. e.g. ka→カ, shi→シ
タta
テte
イi
スsu
カka
ンnn
ナna
ニni
ラra
セse
チchi
トto
シshi
ハha
キki
クku
マma
ノno
リri
レre
ツtsu
サsa
ソso
ヒhi
コko
ミmi
モmo
ネne
ルru
メme
space
⌫
💡 Katakana used for loanwords and onomatopoeia. Press F7 for katakana, F6 for hiragana conversion in IME.
07LINEAGE
The Lineage
Family · DescendantsPhylogeny
Ancestors & descendants
Phylogeny
Related scripts
Ancestors · Descendants · Family
08REACH