Irohalen

Irohalen, in Japanese, refers to the beginning portion of a traditional ordering system of kana (Japanese syllabic characters) that was historically used, akin to the alphabetical order in English.

The term derives from the first four kana of this ordering system: い (i), ろ (ro), は (ha), and に (ni). This ordering is based on the first line of a famous poem attributed to Kōbō-Daishi (Kūkai), a prominent Japanese Buddhist monk.

While the gojūon (五十音), a system arranging kana in a grid based on phonetic similarities, is now the standard method for organizing and sorting kana in modern Japanese, Iroha ordering remains relevant. It can still be found in certain contexts, such as numbering lists, indexing traditional texts, and in specific applications where a sense of historical or aesthetic significance is desired.

The Iroha ordering reflects an older phonetic representation of the kana, which differs slightly from modern pronunciation in a few places. The complete Iroha poem is a pangram, meaning it uses each kana character once. This made it a useful tool for memorizing and understanding the kana system. However, due to its differences in pronunciation and the inclusion of obsolete kana, the gojūon is now considered more practical for everyday use.