The Japanese alphabet is divided up into consonant vowel pairs like a i u e o ka ki ku ke ko ta chi tsu te to etc. You can see a table on wiki

The Japanese alphabet is divided up into consonant vowel pairs like a i u e o ka ki ku ke ko ta chi tsu te to etc. You can see a table on wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiragana https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiragana The input system plays on this in that each set has a button, which you press and then release or swipe in one of four directions - thus giving the 5 possible inputs for each one. The modifier key changes a few characters - eg a Ha は can become Ba ば or Pa ぱ .. [ a ][ ka ][ sa ] [ ta ][ na ][ ha ] [ ma ][ ya ][ ra ] [mod ][ wa ][punc] Then for a single letter you have: u i a e o So, If I want to input the word for tokyo I'd go: down on ta - と (to) up on a - う (u) left on ka - き (ki) down on ya - よ (yo) modifier key - convert よ to combining ょ - thus making きょ (kyo) up again on a - う (u) By this point 東京 should appear in the selectable kanji above the keyboard - if not I can press a little chevron to expand the selections.