There are three major writing systems in the Japanese language. Click on the links after each description to learn more about them.

Hiragana- a 46 character syllabary used to write words of Japanese origin. http://www.richmond.edu/~lang/japanese/hiragana.html

Katakana- structurally identical to Hiragana, used to write words of foreign origin.http://www.richmond.edu/~lang/japanese/katakana.html

Kanji- imported from China. Containing thousands of characters, each with multiple meanings and pronunciations. below is Kanji written in Kanji.