え (e) – Hiragana

Pronunciation

– Pronounced as the Japanese ‘e’. Sounds closest to an English ‘e’ as in ‘end’.

About

In Japanese writing, the kana え (hiragana) and エ (katakana) (romanised e) occupy the fourth place, between う and お, in the modern Gojūon (五十音) system of collating kana. In the Iroha, they occupy the 34th, between こ and て.

Mnemonics

Mnemonic 1: It’s a massive ‘ent’ running with a hat on his head. ‘e’ – ‘ent’.

Mnemonic 2: This shows the arrow on an exit sign, showing the way out of a building. However, it is drawn incorrectly; the stroke that should form the left side of the arrow-head is up at the top instead.