Hiragana Ka Ki Ku Ke Ko (かきくけこ): How to Read and Write the K Row

Imagine you are learning Japanese and see this word:

It means station, a useful word when travelling around Japan.

You already recognize え (e) from the five hiragana vowels. But what about き (ki)?

By the end of this lesson, you’ll be able to recognize all five characters, write them from memory, and read simple Japanese words like えき (eki), かさ (kasa) and ここ (koko) without relying on romaji.

The short answer

き is one of five characters in the hiragana K row:

If you have already learned the Japanese vowels, you know the order the row follows:

The K row follows the same vowel order, but each sound begins with k. On the kana chart, it is the row right after the vowels.

Unlike the S row, where し (shi) breaks the expected spelling pattern, all five K-row characters follow the regular ka, ki, ku, ke, ko sequence.

That makes this a useful row for practising how Japanese characters combine consonants and vowels.

か (ka)

The first character is か, read ka:

You will find it at the start of かお, “face.” Break the word into its two characters, then read it whole. You already know お (o), so only the first character is new.

Another useful word is かさ, “umbrella.” Here, か (ka) and さ (sa) together make かさ (kasa).

If you’ve learned the S row, you can already read both characters.

Try reading the kana on its own, then inside both words. Notice that か (ka) keeps the same reading wherever it appears.

Writing か

The standard handwritten form of か (ka) has three strokes. Notice the small, separate stroke on the right. When writing from memory, check that you have included it; leaving out part of the character can make your handwriting difficult to recognize.

き (ki)

The second character is き, read ki:

You have already seen it in the word for station. Break it down, then read it whole:

This is especially useful because えき (eki) is a common beginner vocabulary word, even though you’ll often encounter the kanji 駅 (eki) in actual station signs. If you’re not sure how kanji and hiragana share the work, see Japanese Alphabets Explained: Hiragana, Katakana and Kanji.

Another example is きく, “to listen” or “to ask,” where the first character is き (ki):

Writing き

The standard handwritten form of き (ki) has four strokes. Look at the two short horizontal lines near the top. They help distinguish き (ki) from さ (sa), which has only one horizontal line near the top:

In some printed fonts, the curved lower part of き (ki) appears connected to the stroke above it. In standard handwriting, it is usually separate. Both shapes represent the same hiragana.

For more practice recognizing さ (sa), see the Hiragana S Row lesson.

Later, き (ki) also combines with a small ゃ (ya), ゅ (yu) or ょ (yo) to make きゃ (kya), きゅ (kyu) and きょ (kyo), which you can learn in combination hiragana.

く (ku)

The third character is く, read ku. It is one of the simplest hiragana to write, because it consists of one angled stroke:

You can find it at the end of きく. Now you know both characters, so break it down and read it whole:

Try reading the characters separately, then together:

Another example is かく, “to write”:

You’ve now learned enough hiragana to read two useful Japanese verbs: きく (kiku), “to listen / to ask,” and かく (kaku), “to write.”

These are their basic dictionary forms. You don’t need to learn how to change them into polite sentences yet.

Writing く

The standard handwritten form of く (ku) has just one stroke. Start near the upper right, move diagonally down toward the left, then change direction and move toward the lower right. Keep the bend clear, and do not confuse く (ku) with け (ke), which comes next.

け (ke)

The fourth character is け, read ke:

You can find it in いけ, “pond,” a word that uses one character from the vowel row and one from the K row. Break it down, then read it whole:

Try reading the two kana separately, then together:

Writing け

The standard handwritten form of け (ke) has three strokes: a vertical stroke on the left, then a short horizontal stroke, then a long vertical stroke on the right that the horizontal crosses near the top.

Unlike く (ku), which is one angled stroke, け (ke) has separate strokes on the left and right. Compare them side by side:

Both contain angled or curved lines, but their overall shapes are different.

When writing け (ke), keep the left stroke apart from the right-hand part, and make the crossing horizontal and the long right-hand vertical clearly, so the character doesn’t collapse into one bent shape like く (ku).

こ (ko)

The fifth character is こ, read ko. It consists of two horizontal strokes:

You can find it twice in ここ, “here.” It is a particularly useful word because you only need one hiragana to write it, こ (ko), written twice:

Imagine you are messaging a friend to show your location. You might write:

It also works as a short answer when someone asks where something is with どこですか (doko desu ka). ここ (koko) belongs to a family of “this / that / which” words that you can learn in Kore, Sore, Are, Dore: Japanese Demonstratives.

Another word is こえ, “voice.” Break it down, then read it whole:

Writing こ

The standard handwritten form of こ (ko) has two strokes, and the upper stroke is shorter than the lower one in many standard handwritten forms. Do not join the two strokes into a single line. Compare it with く in an alternating drill: one has two separate strokes, the other one angled stroke.

Read the row in any order

You now know the whole row. Read it aloud once, then reverse it, without looking at the romaji:

If reversing the order feels difficult, that is useful information. It means you may remember the sequence better than the individual characters, and the goal is to recognize each hiragana independently.

So do not memorize the row only in order. Try reading these shuffled sequences, and take a moment before checking each answer:

• く　か　こ　き　け: ku　ka　ko　ki　ke
• け　き　か　く　こ: ke　ki　ka　ku　ko
• こ　く　け　か　き: ko　ku　ke　ka　ki

If you can read these without reciting the whole row in your head, your recognition is improving.

Read real Japanese words

Now combine the K row with hiragana you have already learned. Each word is shown whole, then as the two kana it is made from:

Notice something important. You did not need to memorize seven completely new word shapes. You combined characters you already knew with five new ones. That is what makes learning hiragana useful: each new row increases the number of words you can read.

Common mistakes

Confusing か (ka) and け (ke)

These two characters can look similar when you are starting out:

Both have multiple strokes, including a prominent shape on the left. But look at their right sides. か (ka) has a small separate stroke on the right. け (ke) has a long vertical stroke on the right, extending downward, with a short horizontal stroke crossing it near the top. Practise alternating between them:

Now identify the first character in each word. The first begins with か (ka); the second begins with け (ke):

Recognizing the difference matters more than remembering a vague impression of how each character looks.

Recognizing words without knowing the kana

Suppose you’ve seen ここ (koko) many times.

You might recognize the entire word without thinking about its individual characters. But can you recognize こ (ko) by itself, inside ここ, and inside こえ?

If you can identify こ (ko) in all three situations, you’re learning the character rather than memorizing only the appearance of one word.

This is why practising shuffled characters and unfamiliar combinations is useful.

Practise the K row

Write the characters from memory

Looking at a hiragana and copying it is a good starting point, but you also need to produce it without seeing the answer. Study the shapes briefly, then cover them:

Write the hiragana for these sounds, and do not look back until you have attempted all five:

• ka
• ku
• ko
• ki
• ke

Check your writing answers

• ka: か
• ku: く
• ko: こ
• ki: き
• ke: け

If you made a mistake, look at the correct character, hide it, and try writing it again. You do not need to fill an entire page with repeated copies. The important skill is being able to retrieve the right character when you need it.

Recognition quiz

Choose the correct hiragana for each sound.

1. Which character represents ki? A. か　B. き　C. け
2. Which character represents ko? A. こ　B. く　C. か
3. Which character represents ke? A. き　B. く　C. け
4. Which character represents ku? A. く　B. こ　C. け
5. Which character represents ka? A. け　B. か　C. き

Recognition answers

Answer: B. き (ki). A is か (ka) and C is け (ke).

Answer: A. こ (ko). B is く (ku) and C is か (ka).

Answer: C. け (ke). A is き (ki) and B is く (ku).

Answer: A. く (ku). B is こ (ko) and C is け (ke).

Answer: B. か (ka). A is け (ke) and C is き (ki).

Read the word without romaji

Try reading each word before checking its answer: えき, ここ, かさ, きく and いけ.

Reading answers

Answer: えき (eki), “station.”

Answer: ここ (koko), “here.”

Answer: かさ (kasa), “umbrella.”

Answer: きく (kiku), “to listen / to ask.”

Answer: いけ (ike), “pond.”

If you can read all five without checking the romaji, you’re beginning to recognize the K-row characters inside real vocabulary.

Write your first words from memory

Now reverse the exercise. Instead of seeing Japanese and identifying the sound, start with the sound and write the Japanese.

1. kao: face
2. koko: here
3. eki: station
4. kasa: umbrella
5. kiku: to listen / to ask

Writing answers

1. 1. かお1. kao1. face
2. 2. ここ2. koko2. here
3. 3. えき3. eki3. station
4. 4. かさ4. kasa4. umbrella
5. 5. きく5. kiku5. to listen / to ask

Check each character separately. For example, かさ (kasa) contains か (ka) and さ (sa). If you wrote the wrong second character, review さ (sa) rather than relearning the entire word; this makes your practice more targeted.

Final challenge: read without romaji

Read this line aloud: かお　ここ　えき　かさ　いけ. Then read きく　かく　こえ. Finally, identify these characters in any order: け　こ　か　く　き. Do not look at the answers until you have attempted all three.

Final challenge answers

The gaps between these practice words are only there to separate them. Ordinary Japanese is written without spaces; see Why Are There No Spaces in Japanese?

If you can read them correctly, you’ve made progress beyond simply memorizing the K-row sequence. Reading aloud on your own counts as real practice, and How to Practise Speaking Japanese Without a Partner has more ways to build that habit.

Keep this in mind

Today’s five characters each combine a k sound with one of the five Japanese vowels:

You can now read useful words such as these:

Before moving on, check that you can do three things: recognize かきくけこ (ka ki ku ke ko) in any order, write each character from memory when given its sound, and read at least three complete words without relying on romaji.

You don’t need to master every hiragana at once.

Five characters that you can genuinely recognize and write are more useful than twenty characters you can only recite in order.

Continue learning

If you need to strengthen the vowel sounds used in today’s row, review How to Read and Write あいうえお: The Five Hiragana Vowels.

To combine your new K-row characters with another group, practise Hiragana S Row: How to Read and Write さしすせそ (Sa Shi Su Se So).

Once you recognize the K row confidently, learn how two small marks change かきくけこ (ka ki ku ke ko) into がぎぐげご (ga gi gu ge go) in What Are the Two Dots on Japanese Hiragana? Dakuten Explained.