What is the differnence between hiragana, katakana, and kanji 1,2,and 3, Japanese?

Question:

Answer:

Hiragana - phonetically based, about 70 characters or so. Used with kanji when writing Japanese

Katakana - also phonetically based with a similar number of characters, but used for 'borrowed' words or for things such as city names, peoples names.

Kanji - it takes a knowledge of about 2000 of these characters to read a newspaper or magazine. A college graduate knows a lot more than that. Generally these characters are much more complex than hiragana.

Furigana- hiragana written in smallish lettering above kanji so that the kanji can be read. By who? Well, kids for one. Adults who have forgotten, or never learned, the kanji in question.