Languages › Japanese Hiragana Lessons - Stroke Guide to は、ひ、ふ、へ、ほ (Ha, Hi, Fu, He, Ho) Share Flipboard Email Print Mng Mn Xi / EyeEm / Getty Images Japanese Essential Japanese Vocabulary History & Culture Japanese Grammar By Namiko Abe Namiko Abe Japanese Language Expert B.A., Kwansei Gakuin University Namiko Abe is a Japanese language teacher and translator, as well as a Japanese calligraphy expert. She has been a freelance writer for nearly 20 years. Learn about our Editorial Process Updated on February 12, 2019 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 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 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 Namiko Abe Write the hiragana character for "fu" by following the numbered strokes. Sample word: ふね (fune) boat He - へ Namiko Abe Here's how to write the hiragana character for "he". Sample word: へや (heya) room Ho - ほ 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. Cite this Article 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 June 2, 2023). copy citation