Hiragana is one of the three main writing systems used in the Japanese language, alongside katakana and kanji. It consists of 46 basic characters, each representing a specific syllable. Hiragana is primarily used for native Japanese words, grammatical elements, and to indicate the pronunciation of kanji characters. Hiragana characters are simple and rounded, making them easy to learn for beginners. They are often taught first to children and those new to the language. In written Japanese, hiragana is frequently combined with kanji to create complete sentences, providing clarity and context to the text.