Well, I will try to simplify and resume... =] Japanese have 3 writing systems. Hiragana, Katakana e Kanji. Hiragana (ひらがな） - Is a syllabary, every letter is equal to a syllable (hi = ひ, ra = ら, ga = が, na = な). I think that you should learn this first. Hiragana is generally used combined with Kanji, to write some words, conjugate verbs, etc. Katakana (カタカナ) - It's a syllabary too. Generally used to write foreign words, foreign names, Japanese words that came from other languages (Ex: television = テレビ), contrast something, etc. Most Japanese language students have more difficulties to remember Katakana, because it's not used all the time, but they are very important too. Kanji (漢字) - The most difficult alphabet to learn, because it have 1945 official characters (I think there are around 6000 kanjis) and the characters aren't so simple like Hiragana or Katakana. Each characters refers to an idea, not a syllable, and they are combined to create Japanese words. I've learned first Hiragana, then Katakana and I'm learning Kanji now. I think it's a good order to learn. If you really want to learn Japanese, Hiragana and Katakana will not be a problem at the start, and Kanji you will learn with time. After some time studying Kanji, you will start to "fell" the Kanji and learn by the meaning, so it becomes more simple. Well, good luck! =] Bye.. /o/