As anyone familiar with the Japanese style of writing can tell you, there are three sets of symbols generally used in writing: hiragana, katakana, and kanji. Katakana, the one of the most commonly seen sets of symbols, is used in a variety of situations where the other two are not quite enough.
Arguably the most common use of katakana is in the writing of 'loan' words, or foreign words (generally English) that are borrowed for use in the Japanese language. For instance, things like foreign sports(バスケットボール、テニス、etc.), as well as things like brand-name products (コカコーラ、ペプシ, etc), are generally denoted using katakana. Even some Japanese brand name products, such as ハイチュウ, are written in katakana with loan words, simply to add dramatic effect to the product's name to make it stand out more. Incidentally, this also makes the products more marketable in the United States (who wouldn't want to eat something called High Chew?), though this isn't necessarily the primary focus.
Another commonly observed purpose for katakana is the expression onomatopoeia, where it takes on the role of accurately reproducing non-verbal sounds. Perhaps the most well-known instance of this (at least in America) is the famous ニャン, a representation of a cat's meow, made infamous amongst internet-surfers by the 'nyan-cat' video. In any case, the use of katakana as onomatopoeia is not limited to animal sounds (though it is certainly used to represent most of these), but also extends to various sound effects, as seen in most manga. From the ドーン often seen in the background of dramatic panels to the キーン of a slashing sword, hardly an action slide goes by without some word drawn in a stylized font of katakana. Even a dramatic ウアアアアア of a character crying is made more entertaining with the stylized figures in the background.
While use of katakana is can generally be classified as one of these two categories, there are a number of other uses that are simply too many to name. For instance, the name of one of my favorite anime, 刀語 (カタナガタリ) is written in katakana underneath its name in kanji, supposedly to clarify the pronunciation of the kanji for those viewers less-versed in the Chinese characters. Because of this wide variation in uses, textbooks have trouble agreeing on a concrete common ground with which to completely define how katakana is used.
Although I find the shapes of the actual characters more difficult than hiragana, I prefer to see katakana when I'm reading something in Japanese, because even if I don't specifically know the word, it's generally much easier to guess than the average Japanese word!
Arguably the most common use of katakana is in the writing of 'loan' words, or foreign words (generally English) that are borrowed for use in the Japanese language. For instance, things like foreign sports(バスケットボール、テニス、etc.), as well as things like brand-name products (コカコーラ、ペプシ, etc), are generally denoted using katakana. Even some Japanese brand name products, such as ハイチュウ, are written in katakana with loan words, simply to add dramatic effect to the product's name to make it stand out more. Incidentally, this also makes the products more marketable in the United States (who wouldn't want to eat something called High Chew?), though this isn't necessarily the primary focus.
Another commonly observed purpose for katakana is the expression onomatopoeia, where it takes on the role of accurately reproducing non-verbal sounds. Perhaps the most well-known instance of this (at least in America) is the famous ニャン, a representation of a cat's meow, made infamous amongst internet-surfers by the 'nyan-cat' video. In any case, the use of katakana as onomatopoeia is not limited to animal sounds (though it is certainly used to represent most of these), but also extends to various sound effects, as seen in most manga. From the ドーン often seen in the background of dramatic panels to the キーン of a slashing sword, hardly an action slide goes by without some word drawn in a stylized font of katakana. Even a dramatic ウアアアアア of a character crying is made more entertaining with the stylized figures in the background.
While use of katakana is can generally be classified as one of these two categories, there are a number of other uses that are simply too many to name. For instance, the name of one of my favorite anime, 刀語 (カタナガタリ) is written in katakana underneath its name in kanji, supposedly to clarify the pronunciation of the kanji for those viewers less-versed in the Chinese characters. Because of this wide variation in uses, textbooks have trouble agreeing on a concrete common ground with which to completely define how katakana is used.
Although I find the shapes of the actual characters more difficult than hiragana, I prefer to see katakana when I'm reading something in Japanese, because even if I don't specifically know the word, it's generally much easier to guess than the average Japanese word!
