Fu (hiragana: ふ, katakana: フ) in katakana, is one of the Japanese kana, each of which represents one mora. The hiragana is made in four strokes, while the katakana in one. It represents the phoneme /hɯ/, although for phonological reasons (general scheme for /h/ group, whose only phonologic survivor to /f/ ([ɸ]) remaining is ふ: b←p←f→h), the actual pronunciation is [ɸɯᵝ] ⓘ, which is why it is romanized fu in Hepburn romanization instead of hu as in Nihon-shiki and Kunrei-shiki rōmaji (Korean 후 /hu/ creates the same phonetic effect as lips are projected when pronouncing "u"). Written with a dakuten (ぶ, ブ), they both represent a "bu" sound, and written with handakuten (ぷ, プ) they both represent a "pu" sound.

The katakana フ is frequently combined with other vowels to represent sounds in foreign words. For example, the word "file" is written in Japanese as ファイル (fairu), with ファ representing a non-native sound, fa.

In certain Okinawan writing systems, ふ/フ can be written as ふぁ, ふぃ, ふぇ to make both fa, fi, and fe sounds as well as representing the sounds hwa, hwi, and hwe. In the Ryukyu University system, fa/hwa is written using the wa kana instead, ふゎ/フヮ. In the Ainu language the katakana with a handakuten プ can be written as a small ㇷ゚ to represent a final p sound. In the Sakhalin dialect, フ without a handakuten can be written as small ㇷ to represent a final h sound after an u sound (ウㇷ uh).

FormsRōmajiHiraganaKatakanaExample words (with kanji)
Normal f- (は行 ha-gyō)fuふゆ fuyu 冬 winter ふえる fueru 増える to grow/increase ふつう futsū 普通 normal ふみきり fumikiri 踏み切り level crossing ふとん futon 布団 quilt/blanket ふるえる furueru 震える to shake フランス furansu France
fuu, fwu ふう, ふぅ ふーフウ, フゥ フー
Addition dakuten b- (ば行 ba-gyō)buはんぶん hanbun 半分 half かぶ kabu 株 share/stump ぶし bushi 武士 samurai ハーブ hābu herb
buu, bwu ぶう, ぶぅ ぶーブウ, ブゥ ブー
Addition handakuten p- (ぱ行 pa-gyō)puきっぷ kippu 切符 stamp おんぷ ompu 音符 note
puu, pwu ぷう, ぷぅ ぷープウ, プゥ プー
Form A (f-/fw-/fy-)
Other additional forms
Rōmaji Hiragana KatakanaForm A (f-/fw-/fy-) fa, fwa ふぁ, ふゎ ファ, フヮ ファール fāru foul fi, fwi ふぃ フィ フィンランド finrando Finland (fwu) (ふぅ) (フゥ) フリー furī Free fe, fwe ふぇ フェ フェルト feruto felt fo, fwo ふぉ フォ フォード fōdo Ford fya ふゃ フャ fyu ふゅ フュ fye ふぃぇ フィェ fyo ふょ フョRōmaji Hiragana KatakanaForm B (bw-) bwa ぶぁ, ぶゎ ブァ, ブヮ bwi ぶぃ ブィ (bwu) (ぶぅ) (ブゥ) bwe ぶぇ ブェ bwo ぶぉ ブォRōmaji Hiragana KatakanaForm C (pw-) pwa ぷぁ, ぷゎ プァ, プヮ pwi ぷぃ プィ (pwu) (ぷぅ) (プゥ) pwe ぷぇ プェ pwo ぷぉ プォ
RōmajiHiraganaKatakana
fa, fwaふぁ, ふゎファ, フヮファール fāru foul
fi, fwiふぃフィフィンランド finrando Finland
(fwu)(ふぅ)(フゥ)フリー furī Free
fe, fweふぇフェフェルト feruto felt
fo, fwoふぉフォフォード fōdo Ford
fyaふゃフャ
fyuふゅフュ
fyeふぃぇフィェ
fyoふょフョ
RōmajiHiraganaKatakana
bwaぶぁ, ぶゎブァ, ブヮ
bwiぶぃブィ
(bwu)(ぶぅ)(ブゥ)
bweぶぇブェ
bwoぶぉブォ
RōmajiHiraganaKatakana
pwaぷぁ, ぷゎプァ, プヮ
pwiぷぃプィ
(pwu)(ぷぅ)(プゥ)
pweぷぇプェ
pwoぷぉプォ

Stroke order

Stroke order in writing ふ 3, 4Stroke order in writing フ 1
Stroke order in writing ふ
Stroke order in writing フ

Other communicative representations

Japanese radiotelephony alphabetWabun code
富士山のフ Fujisan no "Fu"
Japanese Navy Signal FlagJapanese semaphoreJapanese manual syllabary (fingerspelling)Braille dots-1346 Japanese Braille
  • Full Braille representation
ふ / フ in Japanese Braille
ふ / フ fuぶ / ブ buぷ / プ puふう / フー ぶう / ブー ぷう / プー Other kana based on Braille
ひゅ / ヒゅ hyuびゅ / ビュ byuぴゅ / ピュ pyuひゅう / ヒュー hyūびゅう / ビュー byūぴゅう / ピュー pyū
Character information
Preview
Unicode nameHIRAGANA LETTER HUKATAKANA LETTER HUHALFWIDTH KATAKANA LETTER HUKATAKANA LETTER SMALL HUHIRAGANA LETTER BU
Encodingsdecimalhexdechexdechexdechexdechex
Unicode12405U+307512501U+30D565420U+FF8C12791U+31F712406U+3076
UTF-8227 129 181E3 81 B5227 131 149E3 83 95239 190 140EF BE 8C227 135 183E3 87 B7227 129 182E3 81 B6
Numeric character referenceふふフフフフㇷㇷぶぶ
Shift JIS (plain)130 21182 D3131 11683 74204CC130 21282 D4
Shift JIS-2004130 21182 D3131 11683 74204CC131 24383 F3130 21282 D4
EUC-JP (plain)164 213A4 D5165 213A5 D5142 2048E CC164 214A4 D6
EUC-JIS-2004164 213A4 D5165 213A5 D5142 2048E CC166 245A6 F5164 214A4 D6
GB 18030164 213A4 D5165 213A5 D5132 49 154 4884 31 9A 30129 57 189 4981 39 BD 31164 214A4 D6
EUC-KR / UHC170 213AA D5171 213AB D5170 214AA D6
Big5 (non-ETEN kana)198 217C6 D9199 109C7 6D198 218C6 DA
Big5 (ETEN / HKSCS)199 92C7 5C199 209C7 D1199 93C7 5D
Character information
Previewㇷ゚
Unicode nameKATAKANA LETTER BUHIRAGANA LETTER PUKATAKANA LETTER PUKATAKANA LETTER AINU PCIRCLED KATAKANA HU
Encodingsdecimalhexdechexdechexdechexdechex
Unicode12502U+30D612407U+307712503U+30D712791 12442U+31F7+309A13035U+32EB
UTF-8227 131 150E3 83 96227 129 183E3 81 B7227 131 151E3 83 97227 135 183 227 130 154E3 87 B7 E3 82 9A227 139 171E3 8B AB
Numeric character referenceブブぷぷププㇷ゚ㇷ゚㋫㋫
Shift JIS (plain)131 11783 75130 21382 D5131 11883 76
Shift JIS-2004131 11783 75130 21382 D5131 11883 76131 24683 F6
EUC-JP (plain)165 214A5 D6164 215A4 D7165 215A5 D7
EUC-JIS-2004165 214A5 D6164 215A4 D7165 215A5 D7166 248A6 F8
GB 18030165 214A5 D6164 215A4 D7165 215A5 D7
EUC-KR / UHC171 214AB D6170 215AA D7171 215AB D7
Big5 (non-ETEN kana)199 110C7 6E198 219C6 DB199 111C7 6F
Big5 (ETEN / HKSCS)199 210C7 D2199 94C7 5E199 211C7 D3