Hiragana Y-Row stroke order: や ゆ よ
Only three characters, but や has a surprising order: the curved stroke first, then the small dot, and the long diagonal last. These are also the characters that small ゃ, ゅ and ょ are made from, so the stroke order you learn here carries straight into the contracted sounds.
Y-Row characters
や (ya) 3 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
The curved stroke first, then the small dot, then the long diagonal last.
ゆ (yu) 2 strokes
- 1
- 2
The left stroke loops round, then the vertical cuts down through the middle.
よ (yo) 2 strokes
- 1
- 2
The short crossbar first, then the vertical that loops at the bottom.
Common mistakes
や is the character people most often build in the wrong order. The long diagonal looks like the main stroke, so it tends to go first, but it is actually last: the curved stroke, then the small dot, then the diagonal. ゆ has a similar trap. The vertical through the middle comes after the loop, not before it. よ is easy to confuse with ま because both end in a loop at the bottom. よ has one short crossbar sitting to the right of its vertical, while ま has two longer crossbars that the vertical cuts through. When these characters appear small in contracted sounds like きゃ, しゅ and ちょ, the strokes stay exactly the same. Only the size changes.
Keep going
Learn what each character looks like and how to remember it in the hiragana Y-Row mnemonics article, then drill recognition with Y-Row flashcards. The same row in katakana is here.