Read five more.
Recognise な・に・ぬ・ね・の.
INDOMURA JAPANESE
LANGUAGE • LIFE • CULTURE
Foundation · Hiragana 05 · IJ-0007
Japanese connects
people and things.
Five more hiragana unlock one of Japanese’s most useful little connectors: の. You’ll use it to connect people, objects and ideas — then hear it inside your first self-introduction.
な・に・ぬ・ね・の
の
NAMES
INTRODUCTIONS
な
に
ぬ
ね
の
の
Today you’ll learn
Five kana. One connector. Your first introduction.
By the end, you can recognise 25 basic hiragana, understand how の connects nouns, and follow a simple first-meeting exchange.
Learn the movement.
Watch each character once, then trace and write.
Discover の.
See how Japanese links one noun to another.
Introduce a name.
Hear a natural first-meeting exchange.
Five new sounds
な に ぬ ね の
Listen first. Repeat naturally. Let the Japanese characters become the primary cue.
な
NA
に
NI
ぬ
NU
ね
NE
の
NO
Hear the row
Five sounds. One rhythm.
Follow the kana rather than the Roman letters.
なにぬねの
Kana Writing Studio · 書いてみよう
One character at a time.
Select → Play → Watch → Trace → Write. Nothing moves until you press play, and each demonstration runs only once.
Loading writing guide…
Ready.
な
NA
Build the left side first, then watch how the final movement completes な.
Words you can read
Your kana are becoming a reading system.
Try the Japanese first. Romaji is now support, not the main event.
なつ
NATSU
summer
いぬ
INU
dog
ねこ
NEKO
cat
なか
NAKA
inside / middle
にく
NIKU
meat
なに
NANI
what
One tiny connector
の links one thing to another.
English may use “of,” apostrophe-s, or another construction. Japanese often connects two nouns with の.
ねこのいえ
CAT + CONNECTION + HOUSE → THE CAT’S HOUSE
ねこの いえ
the cat’s house
いぬの いえ
the dog’s house
なつの あさ
a summer morning
Language and belonging
Relationships give ordinary things meaning.
A notebook can simply be a notebook. Human life soon asks whose notebook, which home, what kind of morning. の is one of the ways Japanese builds those relationships.
Two nouns. One small の. A relationship appears.
From grammar to people
Now hear の inside a real introduction.
You have not formally unlocked every character below yet. That is deliberate: use the expression now, while later lessons gradually make every character independently readable.
USE NOW · FULLY DECODE LATER
はじめまして。
A standard expression when meeting someone for the first time.
わたしの なまえは アレックスです。
My name is Alex.
First-meeting conversation
A name begins a relationship.
Listen to each person separately, then play the complete exchange.
FIRST MEETING
A
はじめまして。
First-meeting greeting.
B
はじめまして。
The greeting is returned.
A
わたしの なまえは アレックスです。
My name is Alex.
B
わたしの なまえは ゆきです。
My name is Yuki.
A
よろしくおねがいします。
A conventional expression used when beginning a relationship or interaction.
B
よろしくおねがいします。
The expression is naturally returned.
縁
Life in Japan
“Nice to meet you” is useful — but incomplete.
よろしくおねがいします is often introduced to beginners as “nice to meet you.” That helps in this situation, but the expression reaches much further.
It appears when relationships, cooperation or shared interactions begin. Its best English rendering changes with context.
Learn not only what a sentence means, but what it is doing between people.
Everyday introduction
A name is more than vocabulary.
Names enter Japanese conversation together with politeness, relationship and context. Later you will meet titles such as さん and learn how workplace and social roles affect forms of address.
For now, recognise the rhythm and become comfortable with the shape of a simple introduction.
Listening lab
Hear the same introduction at two speeds.
First follow the structure carefully. Then listen to the complete thought at natural speed.
STEP 01 · CAREFUL · FEMALE
Follow the structure.
Listen for わたし → の → なまえ → は → アレックス → です.
STEP 02 · NATURAL · MALE
Hear one complete thought.
Listen for meaning rather than chasing each syllable.
LISTEN & CHOOSE
Which relationship did you hear?
Listen once, then choose.
LISTENING CONTRAST
いぬの いえ
READING RETRIEVAL
なつの あさ
Cumulative kana review
Twenty-five basic hiragana are now unlocked.
Five rows now work together. Recognition should increasingly happen without translation.
あ
い
う
え
お
か
き
く
け
こ
さ
し
す
せ
そ
た
ち
つ
て
と
な
に
ぬ
ね
の
25/ 46 BASIC HIRAGANA
What I can do now
I can connect ideas — and begin introducing myself.
Recognise 25 basic hiragana.
Write な・に・ぬ・ね・の in stroke order.
Read words such as いぬ・ねこ・なつ.
Understand that の connects nouns.
Recognise a simple self-introduction.
Understand はじめまして and よろしくおねがいします in context.
Next · IJ-0008
You’ve already seen this character. Now you learn its secret.
Next we unlock the は-row and return to a character already hiding inside your Japanese sentences: は. As a kana it is normally HA; as the topic particle it is pronounced WA.
PREVIOUS · IJ-0006
た・ち・つ・て・と
Return to the previous Hiragana row
YOU ARE HERE · IJ-0007
な・に・ぬ・ね・の
Hiragana · relationships · の
NEXT · IJ-0008
は・ひ・ふ・へ・ほ
Continue the Foundation journey