Most Error-Prone Characters in Typing: Ranking From About 30 Million Recorded Misses

We grouped kana by kind and compared the misses per 100 appearances. Foreign-sound kana were highest, about 2.8 times the plain kana (the か to わ rows). The lowest was ん.

Contracted sounds take three keystrokes, which makes more misses likely. But even after dividing the misses per 100 appearances by the number of keystrokes, they still exceeded the plain kana: ひょ (3 keystrokes) came to 17.2 and ちょ (3 keystrokes) to 13.6, against 8.4 for か (2 keystrokes).

Of the 95 kana with an estimated 100,000 or more appearances, these are the top 20 by misses per 100 appearances.

“Most common type” is the type that came out on top when that kana's misses were sorted into types.

• Skipped the y or h

  Leaving out the y or h of a contracted sound, such as typing ko instead of kyo for きょ.

• Neighboring key

  Pressing a key next to the one you aimed for.

• Later letter first

  Pressing a later key of the same kana first, such as u before r when typing る (ru).

• Dropped voicing

  Typing a voiced kana with the spelling of the unvoiced one, such as se instead of ze for ぜ.

The most common type is the largest single type for that kana, not necessarily most of its misses; other types are mixed in. Thirteen of the top 20 are contracted sounds (ひょ, びょ, りゅ, ぎょ, ちょ, ちゃ, じゃ, にゅ, きゃ, りょ, きょ, じょ, じゅ).

At the low end were ん 8.8, う 9.1, い 9.7, あ 14.1, お 15.6, く 15.9 and き 16.1.

• How it was counted

  Each miss was assigned to a kana from the key that should have been pressed and the situation. The number of appearances is an estimate from the game's word list and the number of words actually typed (estimated at about 40.16 million words); it is not a direct count. Misses per 100 appearances = number of misses ÷ estimated appearances × 100.

• Range

  Records from 13 May to 18 October 2026, from players who allow research use. Students who joined a school class, players who turned research use off, and players who left are excluded.

• Records not included

  Plays with 70% accuracy or lower and matches flagged for suspected cheating are not recorded. The players who struggle most are not in the data.

• How to read it

  These are records of people who played Typing Musou, not an average of the general public. It means “this kana had many misses in these records”, not “this kana is hard”. The records do not say why people miss.

A contracted sound is typed with three keystrokes: consonant + y (or h) + vowel, like h-y-o for ひょ. Thirteen of the top 20 are contracted sounds, and for ひょ, びょ, ちゃ, きゃ and きょ the most common type was “skipped the y or h”.

• Do not skip the y (or h)

  Kyo is the three keys k, y, o. Typing ko gives こ, not きょ. Practice the three keys as one unit, without stopping your fingers.

• Check the last vowel

  The small ゃ is ya, ゅ is yu and ょ is yo. For pairs that differ only in the last vowel, like りゅ (ryu) and りょ (ryo), check that last key.

• Settle on one spelling

  ちゃ can be typed tya or cha, and じゃ can be typed ja or zya. Both are accepted, but we recommend deciding on one while you practice.

Small kana can be typed on their own by putting x or l in front (ゃ = xya or lya, ょ = xyo or lyo, っ = xtu or ltu, ぁ = xa or la). Contracted and foreign sounds can also be typed as “き + ょ”, that is kixyo or kilyo. But for contracted sounds the developer recommends the one-piece spelling that includes the y, such as kyo.

There are three reasons. First, it takes fewer keystrokes (kyo is 3, kixyo is 5). Second, at the key level, 51% of the keystrokes where x was the key to press were misses (x is the key used for small kana). Third, where a small kana had to be typed with x or l (for example the small ょ after starting きょ with ki), 75% of the first misses went on to more misses (from a 10% sample of players, about 2,500 people).

Situations that need x or l are not common: they were 0.8% of all misses. But once you are in one, it is easy to keep missing.

Foreign-sound kana are the kind with the most misses. In the ranking by single kana (which covers only kana that appear often), てぃ (thi) ranked fifth. Rarer foreign sounds such as ふぁ, しぇ and うぃ are not in that ranking. Learning the spellings beforehand helps you avoid hesitating.

Every foreign sound can also be typed with a spelling that uses small kana (てぃ = texi or teli, for example), but that takes more keystrokes.

The p row came to 35.2 misses per 100 appearances, more than voiced kana (25.9) or plain kana (20.0). For ぺ (38.5), ぽ (38.0), ぴ (34.8) and ぷ (34.2), the most common type was “neighboring key”. P is a key assigned to the right little finger.

In romaji, a voicing mark is not a separate key; the consonant key changes. Dropped or added voicing marks were 3.3% of all misses. ぜ (ze) ranked 15th, and its most common type was “dropped voicing” (typing se). Z is the left little finger's key and s is the left ring finger's, so fix in your mind that the z row goes with z.

The small っ (a double consonant) is typed by repeating the first consonant of the next kana. The situation of っ plus the next kana came to 34.8 per 100 appearances. What you repeat is the first consonant of the spelling you chose: cc for cha, tt for tya. A mixed form like tcha is not accepted. To type the small っ by itself, use xtu or ltu.

ん had the fewest misses of all kana, at 8.8 per 100 appearances. Even so, the ん situation accounts for 3.0% of all misses. If you decide to always type nn, you will not hesitate. Before a consonant a single n is accepted, but before a vowel, a y-row kana or an n-row kana you need nn (or xn). For example, ほんや is honnya.

• Find where you stop in the Accuracy Drill

  The Accuracy Drill ends at the first miss. Note the “missed at word n / 10” on the result screen and the key you should have pressed, and you will see which kana you stop at. How to use it is explained in how to reduce typing mistakes.

• See your tendencies in the weak-keys display

  The result screens of Speed Trial, Mock Combat and battles show the top five keys you missed most in that run (the keys you should have pressed). If y or h shows up, think contracted sounds; x or l, small kana; z or p, voiced or semi-voiced kana. Link keys to kana kinds in that way.

• Type inside a real match flow in Mock Combat

  Mock Combat pits you against CPUs from stage 1 (5 WPM) to stage 100 (300 WPM). In the slower stages you can practice staying calm when a weak kana comes up.

• Home Position Dojo chapters 11–13

  Chapter 11 (stages 101–110) covers contracted sounds and small kana, chapter 12 (stages 111–120) the voicing and semi-voicing marks, and chapter 13 (stages 121–130) the small っ, ん and foreign sounds (ふぁ, てぃ, しぇ). The dojo opens each stage after you clear the previous one, so stage 101 comes after stage 100. You can start from the Home Position Dojo.

• Match the spelling shown under the word to your own

  In Settings, under “Romaji style”, you can choose the spelling shown under each word: Recommended, Hepburn or Kunrei. Twelve groups (し, ち, つ, ふ, じ, the しゃ, ちゃ and じゃ rows, ぢ/づ, ん, っ and small kana) can be set one by one. For typing, all spellings are accepted whatever you choose. The spelling differences are explained in Hepburn vs. Kunrei for typing.

• Q. Which character is the hardest in romaji typing?

  In these records the kana with the most misses was ひょ (51.6 per 100 appearances), and by kind it was the foreign-sound kana. But that means “many misses in these records”, not difficulty itself. It also depends on how used to a spelling you are, and plays at 70% accuracy or lower are not in the records.

• Q. Should I type ちゃ, しゃ and じゃ with tya or cha?

  Both are accepted (ちゃ as tya, cha or cya; しゃ as sya or sha; じゃ as ja, zya or jya). The records cannot say which has fewer misses. In keystrokes, ja is 2 and zya or jya is 3. We recommend choosing one while you practice and matching the display under the word to your spelling in Settings, under “Romaji style”.

• Q. Should I type ん with one n or two?

  If in doubt, using nn every time is the safe choice, since it is accepted in every case. Before a consonant a single n works, but before a vowel, a y-row kana or an n-row kana you need nn (or xn), and a single n there counts as a miss.

• Q. How do I type just a small kana (ぁ, ゃ, っ and so on)?

  Put x or l in front (ぁ = xa or la, ゃ = xya or lya, ょ = xyo or lyo, っ = xtu or ltu). Contracted sounds, double consonants and foreign sounds can also be typed with spellings that do not use small kana.

The kinds most easy to get wrong were foreign-sound kana, contracted sounds, the p row and the small っ, and number one among single kana was ひょ. Tips for typing them: use the one-piece spelling that includes the y or h for contracted sounds, do not type small kana on their own, learn the foreign-sound spellings, repeat the first consonant of your chosen spelling for the small っ, remember that voiced kana change the consonant key, and always use nn for ん.

Which kana are weak for you shows up not in this ranking but in where you stop. Start by finding the kana you stop at in the Accuracy Drill.