Handwritten hiragana classifier with minimal training data utilizing convolutional neural networks

A robust algorithm for Japanese handwritten hiragana character classifier is proposed using a machine learning approach for minimal training data to reduce computational power and time consumption. The proposed algorithm utilizes image recognition techniques to process samples from a data set. Six different models involving convolutional neural networks are implemented using image templates that were previously processed, in order to achieve great results with the least possible amount of training data. Prediction results were evaluated separating the dataset in training and validation data at a ratio of 5:95 respectively, achieving 96.95% as the highest accuracy across different models, competing against state-of-the-art classifiers with 80:20 training ratio.