DESCRIPTION

The Iroha (いろは) is a Japanese poem traditionally attributed to the founder of the Shingon Esoteric sect of Buddhism in Japan, Kūkai. The first record of its existence dates from 1079. It is famous because it is a perfect pangram, containing each character of the Japanese syllabary exactly once. Because of this, it is also used as an ordering for the syllabary, in the same way as the A, B, C, D... sequence of the Latin alphabet.

Ō ō

い ろ は に ほ へ と

i ro ha ni ho he to

(Iro wa nioedo)

ち り ぬ る を

Ti ri nu ru wo

(Chirinuru o)

わ か よ た れ そ

wa ka yo ta re so

Wa ga yo tare zo

つ ね な ら む

t

u ne na ra mu

Tsune naranu

う ゐ の お く や ま

u wi no o ku ya ma

Ui no okuyama

け ふ こ え て

ke fu ko e te

Kyō koete

あ さ き ゆ め み し

a sa ki yu me mi si

Asaki yume miji

ゑ ひ も せ す

we hi mo se su

Yoi (or ei) mo sezu