JPEdLab Mora

What is a mora? Japanese rhythm in beats

Japanese counts beats (morae), not syllables. Most kana are one beat; ー, っ and ん each take a full beat of their own.

客customer / guest
  1. きゃ
  2. く
2 beats
規約terms / rules
  1. き
  2. や
  3. く
3 beats
Each box is one beat. Count boxes, not letters.

Count the beats

ExampleBeats
客きゃく
  1. きゃ
  2. く
2 beats
規約きやく
  1. き
  2. や
  3. く
3 beats
一個いっこ
  1. い
  2. っ
  3. こ
3 beats
新聞しんぶん
  1. し
  2. ん
  3. ぶ
  4. ん
4 beats
チョコレートちょこれーと
  1. ちょ
  2. こ
  3. れ
  4. ー
  5. と
5 beats

How to say it

  1. Clap once per box while saying the word slowly.

  2. Keep ー, っ and ん: stretch, hold, hum.

  3. Speed up without losing a beat.

Pitch accent: a separate layer

Each mora is also high or low. 箸 (chopsticks) and 橋 (bridge) have the same beats but different pitch.

箸HLLはしが
橋LHLはしが
端LHHはしが
H = high, L = low. The particle が shows how 橋 and 端 differ.

This site does not grade pitch accent.

Common mistakes for English speakers

  • Counting syllables, not beats

    とうきょう is four beats (と・う・きょ・う), not two syllables like “To-kyo”.

  • Stress-timed rhythm

    English squeezes unstressed syllables; keep Japanese beats even.

In the pronunciation test

The test checks one specific beat or sound per prompt, not rhythm as a whole.

Take the free pronunciation test

Teaching references