Japanese: A Comprehensive Guide to Kana, Kanji, Pitch Accent, and Politeness

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction

Japanese sits at the crossroads of technology, culture, and global business. It powers the interfaces of beloved games and consumer electronics, carries the voices of anime and film, and anchors a rich literary tradition from court poetry to contemporary novels. For learners and professionals alike, three forces shape everything you read or ship: a mixed writing system, a pitch‑accent sound pattern that is subtle but audible, and a layered system of politeness that encodes social relationships. Mastering these early pays dividends—your reading accelerates, your speech sounds natural, and your translations feel like they were written for the audience, not merely converted into their words.

This guide focuses on practical understanding rather than trivia. You’ll see how the scripts cooperate on a real page, what pitch accent means in common words, how grammar flows in live sentences, and how politeness reshapes tone. If you build products, you’ll also see how Japanese text behaves in interfaces—where line breaking differs, where names reverse, and why counters and numerals deserve special care.

Key takeaways:

Learn kana quickly, then layer kanji through frequent compounds.
Train pitch accent alongside pronunciation from day one.
Treat particles as meaning‑carriers, not decorations.
Choose register (polite/honorific/humble) to match relationships.
Design UIs with CJK line breaking, elastic lengths, and native name/address order.

A 60‑Second History

Japanese evolved through a long conversation with its neighbors and its own internal reforms. Classical literature shows an early language comfortable with Chinese characters, but the emergence of kana scripts made it possible to write native grammar with elegance and speed. During the Meiji era, as Japan modernized, it absorbed and coined terms for Western ideas—fields like philosophy (哲学), science (科学), and society (社会) entered common use through Sino‑Japanese compounds. In the twentieth century, orthography was streamlined, and official kanji lists (now the 常用漢字) were established for education and public life. The contemporary standard—shaped by schools and broadcasters—coexists with lively regional dialects, yet remains mutually intelligible in formal settings.

Timeline highlights:

Classical → Early modern: kanji dominance balanced by kana for grammar.
Meiji modernization: rapid coinage of technical vocabulary via 漢語。
Post‑war reforms: simplified kana orthography; 当用→常用漢字 lists.
Media standardization: NHK and education cement the “Tokyo” accent.

Writing Systems

Japanese text is a braid of three threads. Hiragana represents the grammar and the soft flesh of the sentence: particles such as は and を，verb endings like 食べる・食べた，and many native words that do not carry kanji. Katakana carries sharp edges—loanwords like コンピュータ，brand names, onomatopoeia, and emphasis in technical or advertising contexts. Kanji provides the dense core of meaning in content words: 学生，情報，経済。In real writing, all three appear together because each has a defined job.

At a glance:

Hiragana: grammar endings, function words, many native words.
Katakana: loans/emphasis/onomatopoeia; tech/product names.
Kanji: content words; 常用 (public literacy) and 人名用 (names) lists.

Two conventions help readers parse the braid. Okurigana are kana endings that follow kanji to indicate inflection, as in 高かった or 読ませる; they disambiguate stems and make conjugations transparent at a glance. Furigana are small kana above or beside kanji that show pronunciation, used in children’s books, news articles introducing unusual names, and literature that wants to ensure a particular reading. Alongside these, the distinction between on’yomi (Sino‑Japanese readings like がく for 学) and kun’yomi (native readings like まな‑ぶ) explains why one character can sound different in 学校 (がっこう) and 学ぶ (まなぶ). The system is not chaotic—readings follow patterns that become predictable with exposure.

Romanization (rōmaji) is a crutch worth using thoughtfully. Hepburn is friendlier for English readers and dominates signage; Kunrei is more systematic but less common in public. Use rōmaji to learn the map, then move quickly to kana and kanji so that your eye and ear match the script you will actually encounter.

Pronunciation and Pitch Accent

Japanese rhythm is measured in mora rather than syllables. The word おおきい has four beats—お・お・き・い—even though an English speaker might feel only three. Length matters. こう and こ are different, and the small っ in がっこう signals a doubled consonant that you must hold. Once you hear these distinctions, you cannot unhear them; they determine meaning as clearly as any consonant does.

Overlaying this rhythm is pitch accent. Japanese does not rely on heavy stress to mark words; instead, pitch rises and falls in learned patterns. Many everyday words differ only by where the pitch drops: はし can be 箸 (chopsticks), 橋 (bridge), or 端 (edge), and native speakers track the difference unconsciously. The Tokyo pattern is the reference used in education and media, and internalizing it early keeps your speech from sounding strangely flat or mis‑accented.

Practical cues:

Train minimal pairs (おばさん vs. おばあさん; 雨/飴). Shadow short clips and mimic rhythm and pitch.
Check accent patterns for high‑frequency words in an accent dictionary.
Notice 連濁 (rendaku): compounds like 手紙 (てがみ) voice the second element.

Accent notation and contours:

Dictionaries (e.g., NHK) mark accent with a number like [0], [1], [2]… where 0 = heiban (no downstep), and n ≥ 1 indicates the drop happens after the n‑th mora. The particle following the word is always low after the drop.

Pattern	Notation	Pitch course (H/L)	Particle after	Notes
Heiban	[0]	L H H … (no drop in word)	low	Many loanwords and proper nouns
Atamadaka	[1]	H L … (drop after 1st mora)	low	2‑mora pairs like 雨(あめ)[1] vs. 飴(あめ)[0]
Nakadaka	[n]	L H … ↓ … (drop mid‑word)	low	n between 2 and last mora
Odaka	[n=last]	L H … H (drop after last)	low	Particle reveals the drop

ASCII contours (schematic):

Heiban [0]    : _ ¯ ¯ (word)  _ (particle)
Atamadaka [1] : ¯ _ _ (word)  _ (particle)
Nakadaka [n]  : _ ¯ ¯ _ (drop) _ (particle)
Odaka [last]  : _ ¯ ¯ (last)   _ (particle)

Example pair (Tokyo):

雨(あめ)[1] ≈ ¯ _ | が (low)
飴(あめ)[0] ≈ _ ¯ | が (low)

Tip: verify specific words in NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 or OJAD; regional varieties (e.g., Kansai) differ systematically from Tokyo.

Practice Words by Pattern

Note: Patterns shown are for Tokyo Japanese; always verify with a reliable source (NHK/OJAD), as dialects and lexical variants exist.

Heiban [0]: パソコン、かばん、さくら、しゃしん
Atamadaka [1]: 雨(あめ)、兄(あに)、テレビ
Nakadaka [2]: 心(こころ)、男(おとこ)、頭(あたま)
Odaka [last]: 女(おんな)、日本(にほん)

Core Grammar

At heart, Japanese is a topic–comment language with flexible order. Particles mark relationships instead of stiff word positions doing all the work. は introduces what you want to talk about; が often points to the specific subject that satisfies or contrasts with that topic. A sentence like 昨日は雨が降った places 昨日 as the frame and 雨 as the thing that happened. Objects take を，destinations and times often take に，locations of action take で，and the possessive の stitches nouns together. These particles are not ornaments; they are the backbone that keeps meaning stable even when you rearrange phrases for emphasis.

Useful anchors:

Particles: を (object), に (goal/time), で (location/method), と (with/quote), も (also), へ (direction), の (possessive), から/まで (from/to).
Verbs: dictionary form (行く), polite ます (行きます), て‑form builds progressives/requests (読んでいる/見てください).
Adjectives: i‑adjectives inflect (高い→高かった); na‑adjectives take the copula (静かだ/静かです).
Pronoun drop: もう食べた？is complete without“you”; context carries subject.

Particles quick map:

Particle	Core role	Example	Meaning
は	topic/contrast	日本は寿司が有名だ。	As for Japan, sushi is famous.
が	subject/new info/emphasis	雨が降っている。	It is raining.
の	possession/linking nouns	日本の文化	Japan’s culture.
を	direct object	本を読む。	Read a book.
に	time/goal/indirect object	七時に駅に行く。	Go to the station at 7.
で	location/method	公園で走る。バスで行く。	Run in the park; go by bus.
へ	direction (toward)	学校へ行く。	Go toward school.
と	and/with/quotation	友達と行く。「行く」と言った。	Go with friend; said“go.”
も	also/even	私も行く。	I’ll go too.
から/まで	from/to (range, limit)	9 時から 5 時まで	From 9 to 5.

Pitfall contrasts:

に vs. で：学校に行く (go to/destination) vs. 学校で勉強する (study at/location of action). Existence and residence prefer に：東京に住んでいる，部屋に猫がいる。Using で with 住む/いる is unnatural.
は vs. が：私は学生です (topic/introduction) vs. 私が学生です (it’s I who am the student—focus/contrast). が often marks new or contrasted info: 誰が来ましたか。— 田中さんが来ました。

Politeness and Keigo

Politeness is not a veneer in Japanese; it is a system that encodes social distance and direction of respect. 丁寧語 (teineigo) is the polite register you hear in shops and offices, built on です・ます and set phrases that soften requests and acknowledgments. 尊敬語 (sonkeigo) lifts the other party with honorific verbs and constructions—ご覧になる，いらっしゃる—while 謙譲語 (kenjōgo) lowers the speaker or in‑group with humble forms—参る，申す，拝見する。The two are not interchangeable, and misplacing them can turn a polite sentence awkward.

Common pairs (neutral → humble / honorific):

行きます → 参ります / いらっしゃいます
見ます → 拝見します / ご覧になります
言います → 申します / おっしゃいます

Choose the pair that matches who acts and who deserves deference; register is a relationship, not a synonym swap.

Keigo in Real Dialogues

Front desk (丁寧語 + 尊敬語/依頼):

A: いらっしゃいませ。ご予約はお名前を頂戴できますか。[丁寧語/謙譲語]

B: 田中でございます。[丁寧語]

A: ありがとうございます。少々お待ちいただけますか。[丁寧語/依頼]

Client visit (自己紹介・訪問) — 謙譲語中心：

A: 株式会社オープンエルの山田と申します。いつもお世話になっております。[謙譲語/丁寧語]

A: 本日はご挨拶に伺いました。こちら、資料をご用意いたしました。[謙譲語]

B: わざわざありがとうございます。どうぞお掛けください。[丁寧語]

Reviewing materials (尊敬語で相手の行為を立てる)：

A: 先ほどのご提案、部長はもうご覧になりましたか。[尊敬語]

B: まだでして、本日中にご確認いただく予定です。[丁寧語/尊敬語]

Email closing (定型句、謙譲語＋丁寧語)：

— 承知いたしました。ご確認のほどよろしくお願い申し上げます。[謙譲語/丁寧語]

Contrast (カジュアル vs. フォーマル)：

カジュアル: これ見た？明日行ける？
フォーマル: ご覧になりましたか。明日ご都合いかがでしょうか。[尊敬語/丁寧語]

Why 参ります instead of 行きます? Because the speaker (自分) is moving toward the listener’s space or benefit; humble form (謙譲語) is required to lower the speaker/in‑group.

Counters, Numbers, and Dates

Counting in Japanese is not one size fits all. Nouns couple with counters that reflect shape or category; the counter you choose is part of the meaning. Pricing uses 円 and typically avoids decimals; signage notes whether amounts are 税込 (tax included) or 税別 (before tax). Time expressions rely on fixed readings that reward memorization: 四時 is よじ，七時 is しちじ，and context decides whether 7 is なな or しち。

Essential counters:

人 (people), 名 (formal people), 歳/才 (age)
枚 (flat items), 本 (long cylindrical), 個 (general small items)
匹 (small animals), 頭 (large animals)
冊 (bound volumes), 台 (machines), 回 (occurrences)

Counters → typical nouns:

Counter	Typical nouns (examples)	Example	Meaning
人	people (名 is more formal)	三人の学生	three students
枚	flat: 紙，切符，皿	切符を二枚	two tickets
本	long: ペン，瓶，傘	ペンを一本	one pen
個	small items: りんご，卵	卵を六個	six eggs
匹/頭	small/large animals	犬が三匹	three dogs
冊	books/magazines	本を五冊	five books
台	machines: 車，パソコン，冷蔵庫	車二台	two cars
回	times/occurrences	一回だけ	only once

Counter gotchas:

Irregular readings: 一人 (ひとり), 二人 (ふたり); from 三人 (さんにん) onward, use 〜にん。
Homograph caution: 二本 (にほん，two long items) vs. 日本 (にほん，Japan)—context disambiguates.

Dates in public life follow the Gregorian calendar, but era years remain standard in official documents. 令和 7 年 corresponds to 2025, and forms often use YYYY 年 M 月 D 日。Weekdays compress to 月火水木金土日，and season words permeate greetings and business emails, especially in set openings.

Word Formation and Loanwords

Japanese vocabulary layers three strata with distinct flavors. 和語，the native stock, tends to feel intimate and concrete. 漢語，the Sino‑Japanese layer, supplies much of the abstract and technical vocabulary and carries a formal tone in compounds such as 情報処理 or 事業計画。外来語，loanwords written in katakana, fill the modern lexicon: アプリ，アカウント，クラウド。Japan also creates 和製英語—English‑looking expressions with local meanings—so a コンセント is an electrical outlet, not“consent,”and サラリーマン says something about culture as much as employment.

Sound symbolism is a feature, not a quirk. Onomatopoeia and mimetic words add texture that English often lacks neat equivalents for: ドキドキ captures a heartbeat of excitement or nerves, しっとり evokes pleasant moisture or a calm mood. Translators must decide whether to keep these words, gloss them, or recreate the effect in the target language through rhythm and imagery.

Digital Typing and Typography

Most users type Japanese with an IME: enter rōmaji, convert to kana, then select the intended kanji candidate. The workflow is fast, but careless conversion can yield the wrong homophone—橋 instead of 箸—so proofreading is not optional. Doubling consonants creates the small っ (gakkō → がっこう), and long vowels are represented in kana rather than diacritics; academic rōmaji sometimes marks them with macrons (ō, ū), but everyday writing does not.

IME and typography tips:

Confirm candidates before hitting Enter; homophones are common (箸/橋/端).
Type double consonants for っ and long vowels as ou/oo/uu where appropriate.
Prefer full‑width punctuation and quotes: 「…」『…』 over ASCII quotes.
Use ruby (ルビ) for names/rare kanji; keep vertical writing in print workflows.

Localization and i18n Essentials

Interfaces feel native when they respect how Japanese text flows. Line breaking (禁則処理) must prevent opening punctuation from starting a line and closing punctuation from being stranded; since Japanese does not put spaces between words, you need CJK‑aware wrapping rather than naïve character counts. Text length changes when users convert kana to kanji, so designs that depend on exact character limits tend to fail—use elastic layouts and avoid truncating names and addresses.

Do/Don’t:

Do use CJK line‑breaking rules; don’t rely on spaces between words.
Do allow elastic widths; don’t cap labels by hard character limits.
Do respect Family‑Given order and native addresses; don’t “westernize” domestic forms.
Do index by readings (よみ) for sorting/search; don’t sort by raw code points alone.

Code examples (React/TypeScript):

// Date/time formats
const d = new Date('2025-10-15T14:30:00+09:00');
const jaLong = new Intl.DateTimeFormat('ja-JP', { dateStyle: 'long', timeStyle: 'short', hour12: false }).format(d);
// → 2025年10月15日 14:30

const jaEra = new Intl.DateTimeFormat('ja-JP-u-ca-japanese', { dateStyle: 'long' }).format(d);
// → 令和7年10月15日

// Name order toggle
type Person = { givenName: string; familyName: string };
function formatName(person: Person, locale: string) {
  return locale === 'ja' ? `${person.familyName} ${person.givenName}` : `${person.givenName} ${person.familyName}`;
}

// Postal code normalization (7 digits, optional 〒 and hyphen)
function normalizePostal(input: string) {
  const digits = input.replace(/[^0-9]/g, '');
  return digits.length === 7 ? `${digits.slice(0,3)}-${digits.slice(3)}` : digits;
}

Japan‑specific UI patterns:

郵便番号→住所自動補完（7桁郵便番号から都道府県・市区町村の候補を提示）
フリガナ入力欄（氏名のカナ別入力：セイ／メイ）＋自動カナ変換のオプション
名前順切替（国内は姓→名、国際表示は名→姓）
税込/税別価格表示切替（ECでの明示義務に留意）
24時間制既定、週起点と祝日カレンダーのローカル化

Translation and AI Tips

Three habits improve JP↔EN work immediately. First, segment thoughtfully. Japanese lacks spaces, and sentences often chain clauses with the て‑form or relative modifiers; tokenizers that ignore abbreviations or honorifics will split poorly. Second, protect register. 丁寧語 does not always map to flowery English—usually it maps to neutral, professional tone—while 尊敬語 and 謙譲語 demand asymmetric treatment of subject and object. Third, handle counters and ellipsis with intent. 三人 should become“three people,”not“three persons,”and if a subject is omitted in Japanese because context is clear, resist the reflex to add pronouns that the target audience would not use.

Translator’s checklist:

Preserve register and relationship (customer vs. team, senior vs. junior).
Normalize counters into idiomatic target phrases with the right nouns.
Keep conventional katakana tech terms; avoid inventing rare kanji.
Add subjects only when clarity truly requires them.
Provide prompts/glossaries to AI; review keigo and numerals/dates carefully.

Common Pitfalls

❌ 私はコーヒーを好きです → ✅ 私はコーヒーが好きです（“好き”は対象を「が」で取る）
❌ 学校で住んでいます → ✅ 学校に住んでいます／東京に住んでいます（存在・居住は「に」）
❌ ご覧します → ✅ 拝見します（謙譲）／ご覧になります（尊敬）

A Practical Learning Path (Timeline)

Week 1–2: Kana + Pronunciation Foundation

Deliverables: hiragana/katakana (reading + basic handwriting), mora timing, long vowels, small っ.
Daily: 20–30 min SRS; 10 min minimal‑pair listening; shadow 2–3 short lines.

Weeks 3–4: Core Grammar + Pitch Accent Habit

Deliverables: particles (は/が/を/に/で/の/も/へ/から/まで), ます形・辞書形・て形。Basic sentence chains with て形。
Practice: read graded snippets with audio; check accent numbers for high‑frequency words; write 5–8 lines/day.

Month 2–3: Kanji by Compounds + Micro‑Conversations

Deliverables: 300–400 high‑frequency kanji via common compounds; counters in real contexts (人/枚/本/個/回…).
Practice: 2×15‑min conversation sessions/week (italki/HelloTalk); weekly email template in 丁寧語。

Month 3–6: Domain Reading + Keigo Routines

Deliverables: 800–1000 kanji recognition; keigo templates for greetings, requests, scheduling, apologies.
Practice: read domain articles (tech/business) 3×/week; record 60‑second voice notes; get quick corrections.

Ongoing: Integrate, Measure, Iterate

Metrics: WPM reading speed with comprehension; % correct accent on a tracked wordlist; time‑to‑compose for standard emails.
Maintenance: rotate review decks; replace rōmaji with kana/kanji everywhere; keep one keigo interaction/day.

A Few Useful Phrases

おはようございます／こんにちは／こんばんは — polite greetings for morning, day, and evening. すみません covers“excuse me”and“I’m sorry,”useful everywhere from trains to shops. これをください asks for an item; おすすめは何ですか invites a recommendation. Directions begin with 駅はどこですか，and business emails often close with ご確認のほどよろしくお願いいたします，a set phrase that politely requests review.

Where to Learn More

Build your toolkit with reliable references and audio. NHK’s resources—including the 日本語発音アクセント辞典—anchor pitch accent; OJAD provides visual accent plots for verbs and nouns. For grammar, Imabi and the three‑volume“A Dictionary of Basic/Intermediate/Advanced Japanese Grammar”explain form and nuance with clarity. Jisho and Weblio are excellent dictionaries for quick checks, and NHK News Web Easy or graded readers offer comprehensible input with audio. Spaced‑repetition tools such as Anki help with kanji and vocabulary, but regular reading and conversation turn study into skill.

Japanese rewards early attention to writing, sound, and register. Learn kana quickly, listen closely for length and pitch, and practice politeness that fits the situation. If you translate or localize, design for line breaking, name order, addresses, and counters from the start. Those decisions—often invisible when done well—are exactly what make Japanese text feel like it belongs.

For quick JP↔EN checks or document translation, try OpenL Japanese Translator: https://openl.io/translate/japanese