EASY AND FUN HIRAGANA: First Steps to Basic Japanese Writing – Illustrated Hiragana Workbook for Beginners

EASY AND FUN HIRAGANA: First Steps to Basic Japanese Writing is a friendly and engaging workbook created especially for people beginning their Japanese language journey. Written by Kiyomi Ogawa with English supervision by Orrin Cummins, this book teaches hiragana — the very first writing system every Japanese learner should master.

Rather than focusing only on memorization, the book helps you learn while enjoying the process. It includes numerous illustrations and real-life expressions commonly used in everyday adult conversation, so you don’t just study characters — you immediately begin understanding practical Japanese.

Japanese writing uses three systems: hiragana, katakana, and kanji. Hiragana is always learned first and is essential for reading menus, signs, beginner textbooks, and children’s books. The book also introduces furigana, the small phonetic readings printed above kanji. By learning how to read furigana, you can start reading manga, newspapers, and simple literature much earlier in your studies.

Even if you prefer reading over writing, the included reading exercises allow you to build recognition skills and confidence quickly. This makes the workbook ideal for travelers, students, and anyone planning to live in Japan.

Why You’ll Love This Book

• Perfect first step into learning Japanese writing

• Learn practical everyday phrases while studying hiragana

• Clear illustrations to help memorization

• Reading exercises for manga and real-world Japanese

• Learn to read furigana used in books and comics

• Suitable for self-study and classroom use

Product Details

Author: Kiyomi Ogawa

English Supervision: Orrin Cummins

Publisher: IBC Publishing

Language: English & Japanese

Pages: 89 pages

Dimensions: 18.2 × 0.8 × 25.7 cm

Category: Japanese language learning / hiragana workbook