Katakana Stroke Order: Every Row, Animated

Katakana has 46 basic characters, and each one is written in a fixed order of strokes. This page shows all of them as short animated videos, one row of the chart at a time, with the stroke count for every kana. The videos are recorded from the Kana Charts screen of Kana Challenge.

The short answer

Write katakana from top to bottom and from left to right, the same as hiragana. Each basic katakana takes between 1 and 4 strokes: 4 kana take 1, 24 kana take 2, 16 kana take 3, 2 kana take 4. Pick a row below to watch the exact order, or print the katakana stroke order chart (A4 PDF) to practice on paper.

Learning both scripts? Hiragana stroke order has the same row-by-row videos for all 46 hiragana.

All 46 katakana at a glance

The number in brackets is the stroke count.

Four rules that cover most katakana

1. Top to bottom.
2. Left to right.
3. When two strokes cross, the horizontal stroke usually comes first.
4. A corner is one stroke: the pen turns without lifting, as in コ, フ and ワ.

The one direction to watch is the long stroke of シ and ン: it is written upward, from the bottom left. The videos below show it in motion.

Katakana stroke order: A row (vowels) (ア イ ウ エ オ)

These five are the vowels, in the same order as in hiragana. ア and イ take 2 strokes; ウ, エ and オ take 3.

Play

Look-alikes: ア and マ (M row) look alike. In ア the last stroke is long and sweeps down to the left. In マ the last stroke is a short tick going down to the right.

Katakana stroke order: K row (カ キ ク ケ コ)

カ, ク and コ take 2 strokes; キ and ケ take 3. Adding ゛ turns this row into ガ ギ グ ゲ ゴ.

Play

Look-alikes: ク takes 2 strokes. ケ takes 3: it adds a short line across the middle. コ and ユ (Y row) are the other pair to watch: コ is a closed corner, while the bottom line of ユ sticks out past the box on both sides.

Katakana stroke order: S row (サ シ ス セ ソ)

シ is read shi, not si. サ and シ take 3 strokes; ス, セ and ソ take 2.

Play

Look-alikes: シ, ツ, ソ and ン are the set every learner mixes up. First count the short strokes: シ and ツ have two, ソ and ン have one. Then check the long stroke: in シ and ン it rises from the bottom left; in ツ and ソ it falls from the top right. The short strokes of シ lie flat, and those of ツ stand more upright.

Katakana stroke order: T row (タ チ ツ テ ト)

チ is read chi and ツ is read tsu. Every kana in this row takes 3 strokes except ト, which takes 2. A small ッ marks a doubled consonant, as in ベッド (beddo, bed).

Play

Look-alikes: チ starts with a slanted stroke; テ starts with a flat line. ツ belongs to the シ, ツ, ソ, ン set described in the S row.

Katakana stroke order: N row (ナ ニ ヌ ネ ノ)

ノ is a single stroke, and ネ takes 4, one of only two katakana that do. ニ looks like the kanji 二 (に, ni, two).

Play

Look-alikes: ナ starts with a flat line across. メ (M row) is two diagonal strokes crossing, with no flat line.

Katakana stroke order: H row (ハ ヒ フ ヘ ホ)

フ is read fu. フ and ヘ are single strokes, and ホ takes 4. Adding ゛ gives バ ビ ブ ベ ボ, and adding ゜ gives パ ピ プ ペ ポ.

Play

Look-alikes: ウ (A row), ワ (W row) and フ are a counting set: ウ takes 3 strokes, starting with a small tick on top, ワ takes 2 and フ takes 1. ヘ is almost the same shape as hiragana へ.

Katakana stroke order: M row (マ ミ ム メ モ)

マ, ム and メ take 2 strokes; ミ and モ take 3. ミ is three short slanted strokes, written from the top down.

Play

Look-alikes: マ pairs with ア (A row): check the last stroke. メ pairs with ナ (N row): check the first stroke.

Katakana stroke order: Y row (three kana) (ヤ ユ ヨ)

This row has only three kana. Written small (ャ ュ ョ), they combine with other kana, as in キャ (kya).

Play

Look-alikes: ユ and コ (K row) look alike. コ is a closed corner; in ユ the bottom line sticks out past the box on both sides.

Katakana stroke order: R row (ラ リ ル レ ロ)

The Japanese r is a quick single tap of the tongue, somewhere between English r, l and d. レ is a single stroke; ロ takes 3.

Play

Look-alikes: ロ is drawn like the kanji 口 (くち, kuchi, mouth), with the same 3 strokes. In katakana words, read it as ro.

Katakana stroke order: W row and ン (ワ ヲ ン)

ヲ is pronounced o and is rare in katakana text. ン is the one kana that is a consonant on its own. The long vowel mark ー stretches the sound before it, as in コーヒー (koohii, coffee).

Play

Look-alikes: ワ belongs to the ウ, ワ, フ counting set (see the H row). ン belongs to the シ, ツ, ソ, ン set (see the S row): its long stroke rises from the bottom left.

More kana resources

Print it: the katakana stroke order chart (A4 PDF) or the US Letter PDF, with every stroke numbered.

Prefer YouTube? Watch all ten katakana rows in order as a playlist.

Related reading: Hiragana Stroke Order: Every Row, Animated, Hiragana vs. Katakana: When to Use Which and Learn Hiragana and Katakana. To practice writing the rows you just watched, print the katakana worksheets. To check you can read what you write, try the free katakana quiz.

Stroke order data: KanjiVG, kanjivg.tagaini.net, licensed CC BY-SA 3.0.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the correct stroke order for katakana?

Katakana follows the same rules as hiragana and kanji: strokes go from top to bottom and from left to right, and when two strokes cross, the horizontal stroke usually comes first. A stroke that turns a corner, as in コ or フ, is one stroke. The row sections on this page show the exact order for each of the 46 basic katakana.

How many strokes does each katakana have?

Each basic katakana takes between 1 and 4 strokes. In this chart, 1 stroke: ノ, フ, ヘ, レ; 2 strokes: ア, イ, カ, ク, コ, ス, セ, ソ, ト, ナ, ニ, ヌ, ハ, ヒ, マ, ム, メ, ヤ, ユ, ラ, リ, ル, ワ, ン; 3 strokes: ウ, エ, オ, キ, ケ, サ, シ, タ, チ, ツ, テ, ミ, モ, ヨ, ロ, ヲ; 4 strokes: ネ, ホ.

How do you tell シ, ツ, ソ and ン apart?

Count the short strokes first: シ and ツ have two, ソ and ン have one. Then look at the long stroke. In シ and ン it is written upward from the bottom left; in ツ and ソ it falls from the top right. Writing them in the right order makes the difference visible, because the direction of the last stroke shows in its shape.

Is katakana stroke order different from hiragana?

The rules are the same. Katakana is built from straighter strokes and sharper corners, so most characters take 2 or 3 strokes; only ネ and ホ take 4. A few look almost the same in both scripts, such as へ and ヘ, and り and リ.

Is there a printable katakana stroke order chart?

Yes. The katakana stroke order chart is a free PDF in A4 and US Letter sizes, with every stroke numbered from the same KanjiVG data used on this page. The links are in the resources section below.

Is there an app that animates katakana stroke order?

Kana Challenge has a Kana Charts screen where you tap any hiragana or katakana to watch its strokes being drawn in order, with Replay, Step and Slow controls. The videos on this page were recorded from that screen.