あHirakata
カ Stroke order

Katakana K-Row stroke order: カ キ ク ケ コ

カ, ク and ケ all have a stroke that falls down to the left, and the order of that stroke is what you need to get right. In ク and ケ the short falling stroke comes first. In カ the hooked stroke comes first and the falling one second.

K-Row characters

(ka) 2 strokes

  1. 1
  2. 2

The hooked stroke first, then the stroke that falls down to the left through it.

(ki) 3 strokes

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3

Both crossbars first, then the vertical through them.

(ku) 2 strokes

  1. 1
  2. 2

The short falling stroke first, then the long corner stroke.

(ke) 3 strokes

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3

Short falling stroke, then the crossbar, then the long stroke that falls from it.

(ko) 2 strokes

  1. 1
  2. 2

The corner stroke first (across then down), then the bottom line.

Dakuten and handakuten

ガ ギ グ ゲ ゴ are written exactly like the characters above, then finished with two short ticks (dakuten) at the top right. The left tick comes first, and both always come after the rest of the character.

(ga) 4 strokes

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4

(gi) 5 strokes

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5

(gu) 4 strokes

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4

(ge) 5 strokes

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5

(go) 4 strokes

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4

Contracted sounds

Contracted sounds are two characters: the full-size base followed by a small ャ, ュ, ョ. Write the base exactly as usual, then the small character in the lower half of the next square, at about half size. Its strokes are the same as the full-size version, just smaller.

(kya) 5 strokes

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5

(kyu) 5 strokes

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5

(kyo) 6 strokes

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6

(gya) 7 strokes

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7

(gyu) 7 strokes

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7

(gyo) 8 strokes

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8

Keep going

Learn what each character looks like and how to remember it in the katakana K-Row mnemonics article, then drill recognition with K-Row flashcards. The same row in hiragana is here.

Previous rowVowels: ア イ ウ エ オ
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