Remembering Hiragana

Learning any new language is tough, but learning Japanese is tougher! Before you can even think about memorizing the thousands of Kanji – Chinese characters used for writing – you have to start with Hiragana.

This is a hybridized phonetic alphabet. There are only fifty characters to remember, but they bear no resemblance whatsoever to Roman letters. It can be a boring task, unless of course you do what many beginner students of Japanese do and come up with little stories to help you remember them. Look at their shapes… what do they make you think of? Its helpful, makes the task fun and perhaps even gives some insight into the learner’s character. Below I’ve selected a few examples and the stories that I chose to go along with them…






This is the symbol for ku. It was one of the easiest for me to remember as it looks like a bird with its mouth wide open going ku ku ku!





This is the symbol for ta. Having had a Catholic upbringing and hence having grown up around the symbol of the cross, whenever it appeared in hiragana I couldn’t but help integrate it into the story. In this particular example I looked at the two lines next to the cross, and imagined them as tattoo markings. Hence, Jesus had gotten himself a tattoo. Ta.





This is the symbol for mo. Again the tattoo imagery comes to mind. This time it looks like a prison tattoo… not too dissimilar perhaps from the tattoo Mo Shaik got in prison… (I will not be held liable in the event that Mo Shaik has in fact never been to prison. In my mind, he has! Apologies to any non-South Africans.)





This is the symbol for na. The circular part of the drawing at the lower end of the image next to the cross looks like it could be a shit – it could be many other things – but to me it’s a shit. And the twirly line above it is the smell line rising up. Now, this is where the story took on a personal twist. Back in high school I had a geography teacher who used to say `Na!` instead of `No` `Na! What’s this? Na! Na!` Hence, in my visualization someone has taken a shit next to the cross and my geography teacher has seen it and he’s going, `Na! Na! What’s this? Taking a shit next to the cross? Na! `




Ni. Easy, a ninja swinging nunchuks!



The sound is Ya. The top wave is Hitler’s moustache. The bottom wave is him sticking out his arm to give an effeminate heil. And, of course, Hitler often says `Ya, Ya! `





This represents the sound Yo. Check him out, he’s a cool kid. The horizontal line is his cap and he’s got it pulled down low and he’s saying, `Yo! Wazzup! Yo!`





Se. A violent image came to mind here. It looks like a sword has been driven into a sitting man’s chest! That’s right, someone finally got to settle a score!



Mi. Another violent image. This time the sword has gone into the man’s back. This guy signed up for national duty, he was a patriot. He had a wife and kids. But in the end, the military fucked him over. They stabbed him in the back!




Hi. So who is this guy over here? He’s an effeminate man – possibly but not definitely gay (and slightly plump) – holding out his arms in an effeminate pose going –` Hi guys! How is everyone?


Wo. And now for the final installment. Allow the C shape to morph the wide open mouth of a hungry crocodile. It’s waiting in the river and you’re standing on the bank, and you watch as one of your friends - the other figure in the diagram - goes for a run and takes a jump into the river – not seeing the crocodile’s open mouth – and just before he descends into the beast’s bowls, you shout `Wo! Wo! Wo!`
But alas it is too late. Your friend is dead.