Let's take a step back...

For some alphabet practice! This is easy, but I'm bored and don't have much time...so here we go. Simple organation: Romaji - Hiragana - Katakana. Some notes, any letter where you see something like (w)O means that it's typed differently on a US keyboard when you try to make the letter. So, を is actually typed "wo" when you make the letter, even though the letter itself is just "O". For (d)Ji and (d)Zu, you would type those just "Di" and "Du" to make the characters, but they are still pronounced the same as Ji and Zu. For your reading pleasure, I've enlarged them a bit so that you can see the characters a bit better.

A I U E O - あいうえお - アイウエオ
Ka Ki Ku Ke Ko - かきくけこ - カキクケコ
Sa Shi Su Se So - さしすせそ - サシスセソ
Ta Chi Tsu Te To - たちつてと - タチツテト
Na Ni Nu Ne No - なにぬねの - ナニヌネノ
Ha Hi Hu He Ho - はひふへほ - ハヒフヘホ
Ma Mi Mu Me Mo - まみむめも - マミムメモ
Ya Yu Yo - やゆよ - ヤユヨ
Ra Ri Ru Re Ro - らりるれろ - ラリルレロ
Wa (w)O N - わをん - ワヲン

Ga Gi Gu Ge Go - がぎぐげご - ガギグゲゴ
Za Ji Zu Ze Zo - ざじずぞぞ - ザジズゼゾ
Da (d)Ji (d)Zu De Do - だぢづでど - ダヂヅデド
Ba Bi Bu Be Bo - ばびぶべぼ - バビブベボ
Pa Pi Pu Pe Po - ぱぴぷぺぽ - パピプペポ

Kya Kyu Kyo - きゃきゅきょ - キャキュキョ
Sha Shu Sho - しゃしゅしょ - シャシュショ
Cha Chu Cho - ちゃちゅちょ - チャチュチョ
Nya Nyu Nyo - にゃにゅにょ - ニャニュニョ
Hya Hyu Hyo - ひゃひゅひょ - ヒャヒュヒョ
Mya Myu Myo - みゃみゅみょ - ミャミュミョ
Rya Ryu Ryo - りゃりゅりょ - リャリュリョ

Gya Gyu Gyo - ぎゃぎゅぎょ - ギャギュギョ
Ja Ju Jo - じゃじゅじょ - ジャジュジョ
Bya Byu Byo - びゃびゅびょ - ビャビュビョ
Pya Pyu Pyo - ぴゃぴゅぴょ - ピャピュピョ

So, there's your alphabet in a nutshell for Japanese. IMO, the Hiragana is actually incredibly easy to learn, and once you get used to it you can actually blaze through anything written purely in Hiragana script. However, Kanji and Katakana are generally what trip me up the fastest, as those can be remarkably confusing when you're not as proficient at them (at least for me).

That's all I have time for right now, keep your eyes open later for more.