Hiragana · ra-row · base character
れ — re
The Hiragana character れ is read as "re" in standard Hepburn romaji. It belongs to the ra-row as a base character. You'll see it in common words such as 歴史 (れきし, "history").
Memory tip
A person bowing to show REspect
A strong mnemonic is the fastest way to move a new kana from short-term to long-term memory. Say the mnemonic out loud when you first meet the character, then practise a few drills — by the end of the session you'll usually no longer need it.
Stroke order
れ is written in 2 strokes. Stroke order matters: writing the character in the conventional order produces a legible shape and builds muscle memory that transfers to other characters with shared components. The sequence below shows the movement of the brush for each stroke.
For animated stroke playback and interactive tracing, open the writing practice mode. Building the motor pathway is worth a few minutes of drawing even if your handwriting will never be beautiful.
Example words
Real vocabulary is the fastest path to durable recognition. Each of these words contains れ, and most are high-frequency terms you'll encounter in your first few weeks of Japanese reading.
- 歴史 (れきし) — history
- 冷蔵庫 (れいぞうこ) — refrigerator
Commonly confused with
Visual similarity is the biggest source of early reading mistakes. The characters below are often mistaken for れ. Run the confused-pair drill to target these specifically — it's the fastest way to stop the confusion from slowing your reading for weeks.
- ね — Similar left side structure.
The katakana counterpart
れ has a katakana counterpart, レ — the same sound (re), written in the other native script. Hiragana and katakana share the same phonological system; the choice between them is a stylistic and functional one.
Practise this character
You've read the details — now build the motor and recognition pathways. The quickest way is a short drill session focused on the row this character belongs to.
- Recognition drill — see the kana, pick the romaji.
- Recall drill — see the romaji, pick the kana.
- Writing practice — trace the stroke order on canvas.
- Typing drill — produce the kana from the keyboard.