Japanese Basics

あ is read as a (as in "father"). It is one of the five vowels in Japanese and the very first character in the hiragana syllabary.

い is read as i (as in "meet"). It is the second vowel in the Japanese hiragana syllabary.

う is read as u (as in "food", but with unrounded lips). It is the third vowel in Japanese hiragana.

え is read as e (as in "bed"). It is the fourth vowel in the Japanese hiragana syllabary.

お is read as o (as in "go"). It is the fifth and final vowel in the Japanese hiragana syllabary.

か is read as ka. It is the first character of the k-row in hiragana. Adding a dakuten (゛) changes it to が (ga).

き is read as ki. It belongs to the k-row of hiragana. With a dakuten it becomes ぎ (gi).

く is read as ku. It is part of the k-row in the hiragana syllabary. With a dakuten it becomes ぐ (gu).

け is read as ke. It belongs to the k-row of hiragana. With a dakuten it becomes げ (ge).

こ is read as ko. It is the last character of the k-row in hiragana. With a dakuten it becomes ご (go).

さ is read as sa. It is the first character of the s-row in hiragana. With a dakuten it becomes ざ (za).

し is read as shi (not "si"). This is an irregular reading in the s-row. With a dakuten it becomes じ (ji).