1. Kanji (漢字): These are logographic characters borrowed from Chinese. Each kanji represents a word or concept, rather than a sound. There are thousands of kanji in use, and knowing a large number is essential for reading and writing Japanese.
2. Hiragana (ひらがな): This is a phonetic script that uses cursive, flowing characters to represent syllables. Each hiragana character corresponds to a specific sound. Hiragana is primarily used for grammatical particles, verb endings, and words that don't have a corresponding kanji.
3. Katakana (カタカナ): Like hiragana, katakana is a phonetic script, but it uses angular, stylized characters. Katakana is often used for foreign words, onomatopoeia, emphasis, and proper nouns.
Therefore, the Japanese writing system is a blend of logographic (kanji) and syllabic (hiragana and katakana) elements, making it a unique and complex system.