JLPT Kanji Tips: How Many You Need and How to Study Them

The JLPT tests kanji through words, not single characters: you read a word in kanji and choose its reading, or see a word in hiragana and choose the right kanji. So the best way to study kanji for the JLPT is to learn them inside common vocabulary, focusing on readings and recognition rather than handwriting. You never have to write by hand in the exam. Learn the words for your level, review them every day with spaced repetition and practise with real sentences, and the kanji questions become some of the easiest points on the paper.

How kanji appear on the JLPT

Kanji are tested in the language knowledge section. The main question types are:

• Kanji reading. A word is written in kanji in a sentence. You choose the correct reading in hiragana.
• Orthography. A word is written in hiragana. You choose the correct kanji spelling. These appear at N5 to N2.
• Kanji inside other questions. Every reading passage and vocabulary question is written with kanji for your level, so weak kanji slows you down everywhere.

The test is multiple choice, so you need to recognise kanji quickly and know their readings in words. You don’t need to write them.

How many kanji for each level?

The JLPT no longer publishes official kanji lists. The figures below come from the lists used before the 2010 revision and are still the most common guide.

Treat these as rough targets. What matters more is knowing the common words at your level, whatever kanji they use.

Learn kanji through words

Studying a kanji with all its readings at once is slow and hard to remember. Instead, learn each kanji through one or two common words, then add more as you meet them. For example, 生 has many readings, but you can learn it through 学生 (gakusei, student), 生まれる (umareru, to be born) and 先生 (sensei, teacher). Each word gives the reading a context, and the context is what you remember.

Our guide to learning kanji without getting overwhelmed explains radicals and building a system.

A daily routine that works

1. Spaced repetition. A flashcard app with the word in kanji on the front and the reading and meaning on the back. Ten to twenty minutes a day.
2. Add words from reading. When you meet a new word in a passage, add it. Words you have seen in context stick better than list words.
3. Read aloud. Reading practice passages aloud forces you to know every reading.
4. Review mistakes. Keep a list of readings you get wrong in practice tests and review them weekly.

Common traps

• Voicing changes. Readings change in compounds: 会社 is kaisha, but 株式会社 is kabushikigaisha. Exam distractors often test this.
• Long and short vowels. しょうかい (紹介, introduction) and しょかい look close but only one is right. Say words aloud to hear the difference.
• Small っ. 学校 is gakkō, not gakukō. Small っ is a frequent trick in reading questions.
• Similar-looking kanji. Pairs like 待 and 持 or 未 and 末. Learn them as pairs and notice the part that differs.

How a tutor helps

Kanji study is mostly something you do alone, but a tutor helps in two ways. First, reading aloud in lessons shows quickly which readings you only half know. Second, a tutor can explain why a reading changes in a compound and give you more words that follow the same pattern, which makes the next ten words easier. See JLPT tutoring for what exam lessons cover.

Common questions

Do I need to learn to write kanji for the JLPT?

No. The exam doesn’t ask you to write. Writing a kanji a few times can help you remember it, but recognition and readings are what count.

Should I learn on’yomi and kun’yomi separately?

Not as lists. Learn readings through words, and the on’yomi and kun’yomi come with them.

How many new kanji a day?

Five to ten new words a day, each with its kanji, is sustainable for most learners alongside grammar and reading.

If kanji are holding back your JLPT score, our online Japanese tutors can build reading practice and review around the level you are taking.