Hiragana Letter U Letter
う is the Japanese hiragana letter U (う / U+3046) used to write native words and grammatical parts.
U+3046
う is the hiragana character for the U sound in Japanese. You’ll see it in everyday vocabulary and in many word endings. Below are the Unicode details and practical ways to copy and use it.
Hiragana Letter U Letter Meaning
う (hiragana letter U) represents the vowel sound “u” in Japanese. As part of written Japanese, it appears in everyday words and grammatical forms, including verb and adjective endings where the “u” sound matters for pronunciation. It may also occur in hiragana-only spelling or in combination with other kana to form common syllables and words. For developers and designers, the key fact is that う is Unicode U+3046, so it can be reliably used and copied across modern systems and fonts that support Hiragana.
Common uses
- •Writing Japanese words that start with or contain the “u” sound using hiragana
- •Typing common grammatical endings that use the “u” syllable in hiragana
- •Creating Japanese text labels for apps, UI, or product names
- •Transliteration support when you need the exact hiragana character “う” (not the Latin “u”)
- •Design and typography work where you need a reliable Unicode character for the “u” kana
Examples
う — Hiragana Letter U (U+3046)
- ううみ (sea)
- うゆうき (courage)
- ういもうと (younger sister)
- うまつりうた (festival song)
- うどうぞおうす (use with context in Japanese text)
Variations
Technical codes
| Unicode | U+3046 | |
| HTML Entity | う | |
| HTML Code | う | |
| CSS | \3046 | |
| Alt Code | Alt + 12358 | |
| Decimal | 12358 |
How to type Hiragana Letter U Letter (う)
On Windows
Hold Alt and type 12358 on the numeric keypad. In Word, type 3046 then press Alt + X.
On Mac
Switch to the Unicode Hex Input keyboard, then hold Option and type 3046. Or press Control + Command + Space and search.
On Linux
Press Control + Shift + U, type 3046, then press Enter or Space.
Anywhere
Copy う with the button above and paste it wherever you need it — this works on every device and in every app, with no keyboard shortcut to remember.
FAQ
What does the Hiragana Letter U letter mean?
う (hiragana letter U) represents the vowel sound “u” in Japanese. As part of written Japanese, it appears in everyday words and grammatical forms, including verb and adjective endings where the “u” sound matters for pronunciation. It may also occur in hiragana-only spelling or in combination with other kana to form common syllables and words. For developers and designers, the key fact is that う is Unicode U+3046, so it can be reliably used and copied across modern systems and fonts that support Hiragana.
What is the Unicode code point for う?
う is Unicode U+3046 (HIRAGANA LETTER U).
How can I copy う reliably?
Copy the character directly: う. You can also use the HTML entity う or the escapes \\3046 and \\u{3046} depending on your environment.
Is う the same as the Latin letter “u”?
No. う is a Japanese hiragana character representing the “u” sound, while the Latin letter u is an English alphabet character.
What should I use in CSS or JavaScript to render う?
Use the CSS escape \\3046 in CSS strings, or JavaScript escape \\u{3046} in JS strings, assuming your font supports Hiragana.