Examine the following characters:

Compare the following pair of characters:

This is how to draw the character つ. It is composed of a single stroke.

• The stroke is across, curving down and eventually back, like a squashed clockwise semicircle.
• With two dots (called nigori) it becomes づ.

But this character is rarely used in modern Japanese.
つ is the hiragana equivalent to ツ in katakana, so it is pronounced tsu. (Like ツ, you may spell either tsu (Hepburn-style) or tu (Nihon-style) to get つ on the computer).

づ, with their two dots are, rarely used because its sound zu, is exactly the same thing as ず.

Occasionally you may see this spelling for some peculiar reasons; in that case read it as zu. To get this character on the computer, spell du.

This is how to draw the character め. It is composed of two strokes.

• The first stroke is downward on a left-to-right diagonal.
• The second stroke is an outward clockwise spiral.

め is the hiragana equivalent to メ in katakana, and is pronounced me. 

ぬ  nu

• The first stroke is a downward diagonal.
• The second stroke is basically clockwise, forming a large then a smaller loop.

ぬ is the hiragana equivalent to ヌ in katakana, so it is pronounced nu. Notice that ぬ looks like め but the ending of the last stroke is different. It starts from the top right, circles clockwise and makes a small circle at the end.

This is how to draw the character む. It is composed of three strokes.

• The first stroke is across.
• The second stroke is down, through a clockwise loop, curves across to the right, and then back up.
• The third stroke is a quick downward left-to-right diagonal.

む is the hiragana equivalent to ム in katakana, so it is pronounced mu.

This is how to draw the character ゆ. It is composed of two strokes, but one continuous motion.

• The first stroke is down, then around in a clockwise curve.
• The second down, bisecting the loop formed in the first stroke.

ゆ is the hiragana equivalent to ユ in katakana, so it is pronounced yu. Writing ゆ may be slightly difficult. Start out from top left, go down, and then go up circling clockwise all the way up to the center, from where you come down back again slightly to the left.

This is how to draw the character る. It is composed of a single stroke.

• The stroke is across, then down in a right-to-left diagonal, doubling back in a clockwise curve, terminating in a clockwise loop.

る is the hiragana equivalent to ル in katakana, and is pronounced ru. る looks quite similar to ろ. The only difference is that you make a small circle at the end of the stroke. Their pronunciations are similar as well. ろ stands for ro while る for ru.

This is how to draw the character れ. It is composed of two strokes.

• The first stroke is down.
• The second stroke is across, then down in a sharp right-to-left diagonal, then doubles back in an arc to the right, rising back up at the end.

れ is the hiragana equivalent to レ in katakana, so it is pronounced re. れ looks quite similar to わ, the difference being the final touch. While in writing わ you almost make a circle clockwise and finish to the right, in れ you do not make a circle but come down almost straight first, and then back up again slightly before you finish the stroke. 

This completes all the hiragana characters except one, which is explained at the end of this Chapter.