Why do some Japanese words use a dash such as ホットケーキ


I've noticed this is mainly for Japanese words that are similar to English
words such as ホットケーキ (Hot Cake/Pancake), but I don't really see it used for
Hiragana mostly it's for Katakana? I also know that Katakana is mainly used
for Western words, is there a specific reason why the dashes are used for
those words?




It's used in both Hiragana and Katakana and it indicates a long sound. It's
not used in Kanji because that character represents something else ("one").

In your example, it's the difference between hottokeki and hottokeeki. The
second is closer to the sound in English.

[edit] It's less often seen in regular Hiragana - it will more often include
the extra character. When you do see it in Hiragana, it will almost always be
in comic books.

