Learning Japanese Hiragana and Katakana - 2nd Edition by Kenneth G Henshall & Tetsuo Takagaki (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Master Hiragana & Katakana -- The Essential Japanese Writing Workbook!

Whether you're planning a trip to Japan, diving into anime and manga, or starting your language journey, this bestselling, beginner-friendly workbook makes learning the Japanese alphabet simple, fun, and effective. With clear stroke-by-stroke guides, real vocabulary, and tons of practice, you'll quickly build confidence reading and writing Hiragana and Katakana.

Perfect for travelers, students, and anime fans -- no prior experience needed!

• Step-by-step lessons for all 92 kana characters
• Stroke order charts & writing practice sheets
• Online audio for perfect pronunciation
• Quizzes, flash cards, and vocabulary examples
• Ideal for self-study, class use, or JLPT prep

Unlike dense textbooks or distracting apps, this workbook keeps it simple and hands-on. You'll build muscle memory through writing and start recognizing kana in the wild, from signs and menus to subtitles and conversations. By the end you'll be reading and writing basic Japanese with confidence -- and ready to take on the next level (Kanji and beyond)!

Review Quotes

"Learning Japanese Hiragana and Katakana gives you an in-depth, behind-the-scenes look at kana. It covers the 46 basic symbols for each system, and the 61 modifications and combinations." --Eurolinguiste blog

"The definitive aid to swiftly reaching native-speaker competence in reading and writing kana." --Dr. Masayoshi Ogino, University of Canterbury

About the Author

Kenneth G. Henshall has written many books on Japanese literature, history, culture, and language. A graduate of the universities of London (B.A. Hons), Sydney (Ph.D.), and Adelaide (Dip. Ed.), he is now Associate Professor of Japanese at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand. He has also taught at the universities of Auckland, Western Australia, California, and Waikato. He is the author of A Guide to Remembering Japanese Characters, and the lead author of the revised edition of A Guide to Reading and Writing Japanese.

Tetsuo Takagaki is a graduate of the universities of Wakayama (B.A.) and San Francisco State (M.A.) and was a senior lecturer in Japanese at the University of Auckland. He also taught at the universities of Hawaii and Maryland, and at Tsuda College in Tokyo. He is the author of a number of publications on Japanese language and linguistics.