The Japanese alphabet consists of 46 letters, or sounds. However, there are ten groups that contain 5 letters. The alphabet is called "Gojiuon," meaning fifty sounds. However, because there are only 46 letters, some groups do not contain 5 letters. The 46 are the following:

a, i, u, e, o
ka, ki, ku, ke, ko
sa,si,su,se,so
ta,chi,tsu,te,to
na,ni,nu,ne,no
ha,hi,fu,he,ho
ma,mi,mu,me,me
ya,yu,yo
ra,ri,ru,re,ro
wa,wo,nThe easiest way to memorize the alphabet is just to keep in mine the first sound of each group. For example, a, ka, sa, ta, na...etc. Remember that each sound consists of two English letters with the exception of the leading letters (refer to Pronunciation and Syllables.) Notice that the second letter in the sound is all "a". By remembering the first sound of each group, you can automatically know how to purnounce the rest of the group by altering the second letter to "i,u,e,o". This is not as complicated as it sounds.
Example
For the group starting with ka, the next sound will be ki, then ku, and so on.

Although the alphabet contains only 46 sounds, there are more sounds that can be formed from the original 46. It is not a trick by combining these letters. Certain letters will be read differently (that is, have different pronuncation) when written with:
1)Two elongated dots in the top right
2)An open circle in the top right. This will not be explained with detail, however.
Example
In ka, ki ku, ke, ko, when written in Japanese, two elongated dots in the top right corner of each letter will produce ga, gi, gu, ge, go. Notice that the k has been altered to g instead. Other groups will not follow the same rule. Group sa,si,su,se,so will become za,ji,zu,ze,zo. This is pureply memorization.

Special Case
Notice two letters that sound much the same- o and wo. This will be discussed later.