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Published by Tuttle Publishing, an imprint of Periplus Editions (HK) Ltd.
Copyright © 1990 by Charles E. Tuttle Publishing Company, Inc.
All rights reserved.
LCC Card No. 90-70374
ISBN: 978-1-4629-0181-4 (ebook)
Revised second edition. Previously published in 2005 as A Guide to Learning Hiragana & Katakana
ISBN 978-0-8048-3391-2
Distributed by:
North America, Latin America and Europe
Tattle Publishing
364 Innovation Drive, North Clarendon,
VT 05759-9436, U.S.A.
Tel:1(802) 773 8930
Fax:1(802) 773 6993
Japan
Tuttle Publishing
Yaekari Building, 3rd Floor, 5-4-12 Osaki,
Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo 141-0032
Tel: (81) 3 5437 0171
Fax: (81)3 5437 0755
Asia Pacific
Berkeley Books Pte. Ltd,
61 Tai Seng Avenue #02-12,
Singapore 534167
Tel: (65) 6280 1330
Fax: (65) 6280 6290
17 16 15 14 5 4 3 2 1 1404HP
First edition, 1990
Printed in Singapore
TUTTLE PUBLISHING® is a registered trademark of Tuttle Publishing, a division of Periplus Editions (HK) Ltd.
The Tuttle Story:
"Books to Span the East and West"
Many people are surprised to learn that the world’s largest publisher of books on Asia had its humble beginnings in the tiny American state of Vermont. The company’s founder, Charles E. Tuttle, belonged to a New England family steeped in publishing.
Tuttle’s father was a noted antiquarian dealer in Rutland, Vermont. Young Charles honed his knowledge of the trade working in the family bookstore, and later in the rare books section of Columbia University Library. His passion for beautiful books— old and new—never wavered throughout his long career as a bookseller and publisher.
After graduating from Harvard, Tuttle enlisted in the military and in 1945 was sent to Tokyo to work on General Douglas MacArthur’s staff. He was tasked with helping to revive the Japanese publishing industry, which had been utterly devastated by the war. When his tour of duty was completed, he left the military, married a talented and beautiful singer, Reiko Chiba, and in 1948 began several successful business ventures.
To his astonishment, Tuttle discovered that postwar Tokyo was actually a book-lover’s paradise. He befriended dealers in the Kanda district and began supplying rare Japanese editions to American libraries. He also imported American books to sell to the thousands of GIs stationed in Japan. By 1949, Tuttle’s business was thriving, and he opened Tokyo’s very first English-language bookstore in the Takashimaya Department Store in Ginza, to great success. Two years later, he began publishing books to fulfill the growing interest of foreigners in all things Asian.
Though a westerner, Tuttle was hugely instrumental in bringing a knowledge of Japan and Asia to a world hungry for information about the East. By the time of his death in 1993, he had published over 6,000 books on Asian culture, history and art—a legacy honored by Emperor Hirohito in 1983 with the “Order of the Sacred Treasure,” the highest honor Japan can bestow upon a non-Japanese.
The Tuttle company today maintains an active backlist of some 1,500 titles, many of which have been continuously in print since the 1950s and 1960s—a great testament to Charles Tuttle’s skill as a publisher. More than 60 years after its founding, Tuttle Publishing is more active today than at any time in its history, still inspired by Charles Tuttle’s core mission—to publish fine books to span the East and West and provide a greater understanding of each.
CONTENTS
PART I: HIRAGANA
Practice a — ko
Mini Review a — ko
Practice sa — to
Mini Review sa —to
Practice na — ho
Mini Review na —ho
Practice ma — yo
Mini Review ma — yo
Practice ra — n
Mini Review ra — n
Voiced and Half-Voiced Sounds
Review of Voiced and Half-Voiced Sounds
Review of Double Vowels and Consonants
Combined Sounds
Review of Combined Sounds
Review through Place Names and Period Names
General Review
PART II: KATAKANA
Practice a — to
Mini Review a — to
Practice na — n
Mini Review na — n
Voiced and Half-Voiced Sounds
Review of Voiced and Half-Voiced Sounds
Combined Sounds
Review of Combined Sounds and Double Consonants
Review through International Place Names
PART II: FINAL REVIEW
Do-It-Yourself Kana Charts