THIS is how I learn a language in 3 months.

Show me!

! MENU

Japanese N5 Kanji List: All 100

Kanji You Need to Know to Pass
the JLPT N5

by CAITLIN SACASAS

読。書。聞。話。。。

Do you know those kanji yet? They’re some of the JLPT

N5 kanji. If you’re going to take the test, it’s time to
memorize them!

If you don’t know, “JLPT” stands for the Japanese

Language Proficiency Test. It’s one of the most well-
known and acknowledged tests for Japanese
proficiency around the world, with five levels of
proficiency. N1 is the hardest level, considered near-
fluent. N5 is the easiest level, covering the basic level
of Japanese.

If you’re looking to test your skills and see where

you’re at in Japanese, the JLPT is a great place to try it
out. So here’s your guide to learning the necessary
JLPT N5 kanji.

The article below goes in-depth on the topic, if you

want a quick overview here's a video I made:

All 100 Kanji You Need to …

What to Expect on the JLPT N5

Test
Even though the JLPT N5 test is the most basic formal
Japanese test, passing the test is still a big
achievement.

To pass the JLPT N5 test, you have to be able to read

Japanese at a basic level and understand simple
conversations from daily life and school. You should
know around 800 vocabulary words. I recommend
starting with the Core 101 Japanese words, and about
50 basic grammar patterns.

My two favorite resources for studying grammar at

this level are Genki I and JTest4U. Plus, you’ll need to
be totally comfortable reading all the hiragana and
katakana characters.

Why You Need to Know Kanji

for the JLPT N5 Test
One of the most daunting tasks when starting to learn
Japanese? Kanji.

At the N5 level, the JLPT expects you to know about

100 kanji to pass. These kanji can change slightly
between tests, but you can generally expect to see the
100 most common kanji for verbs, numbers, time,
places, people, basic adjectives, and directions.

The good news? These kanji are used so often you’ll

see them over and over again in the vocab you learn
and the texts you read. The bad news is that you’ll
need to independently memorize most of these kanji
because they’re radicals, or roots. Radicals in
Japanese are simple kanji — they’re the building
blocks that make up complex kanji.

So, the more radicals you learn in kanji, the easier it

becomes to understand more complex kanji. Learning
the radicals first, then advancing onto complex kanji,
is the most popular method for memorizing kanji
(more on that later). For the first 100, because they’re
radicals, you’ve just got to memorize them.

That being said, you can still come up with

mnemonics to help you remember the kanji and their
readings — and I highly recommend that you do,
because it will help you immensely down the road.

Japanese N5 Kanji List — the

100 Kanji You Need to Know for
the JLPT N5
Alright, so let’s start learning these kanji! I’ve broken
them up into categories, such as numbers, time,
people and places, because I’ve found that kanji are
easiest to learn when I associate them with related
words.

In the lists below, you’ll see the kanji and the English
meaning, followed by the onyomi and kunyomi
readings.

Why these different readings? Kanji originated with

Chinese hànzì characters which the Japanese adapted
and gave Japanese readings. Thus, onyomi (Chinese
readings) and kunyomi (Japanese readings) were born.
Almost all kanji have two readings (and most,
unfortunately, have many more than two). A rare few
gems will only have one reading.

For the most part, these different readings are less

important for the JLPT N5. If you learn these kanji with
a vocab word that might also be on the test, then you
should be able to remember the most common
reading. This won’t always be true, but it usually will
be. It’ll help you get the most out of your study time.

For that reason, I also include an N5 vocabulary word

that uses that kanji.

Japanese Kanji for Numbers

First, let’s look at numbers. The first three are very
straightforward to remember: a single line (one), two
lines (two), three lines (three). Easy.

The rest can be more difficult. The drawback is that

most of the time in Japan, they use 1 – 10 romanized
numbers instead of kanji. But you still have to learn
them. Be careful with 千: it looks almost identical to
チ (katakana chi) and one of the readings is the same.

Also, you may think 万年筆 (“fountain pen”) will never

show up in the JLPT N5 and yet it somehow it always
does. It translates as “ten thousand year writing
brush” aka a pen that outlasts all others.

JLPT
N5
English
Kanji Onyomi Kunyomi Vocab
Meaning with
Kanji

一人
hito(tsu), (one
一 One ichi, itsu
hito person,
alone)

二人
futa(tsu), (two
二 Two ni
futa people,
pair)

三日 (3rd
day of
三 Three san mit(tsu), mi
the
month)

四日 (4th
yo(tsu), yo, day of
四 Four shi
yon the
month)

五日 (5th
itsu(tsu), day of
五 Five go
itsu the
month)

六日 (6th
mut(tsu), day of
六 Six roku
mu the
month)

七日 (7th
nana(tsu), day of
七 Seven shichi
nana the
month)

八日 (8th
day of
八 Eight hachi yat(tsu), ya
the
month)

九日 (9th
kokono(tsu), day of
九 Nine kyuu, ku
kokono the
month)

十日
(10th day
十 Ten juu, ji tou, to
of the
month)

百万円 (1
百 Hundred hyaku — million
Yen)

千万円
(10
千 Thousand sen chi
million
Yen)

万年筆
Ten
万 man, ban — (fountain
thousand
pen)

Yen, circle, 円い
円 en maru(i)
and round (round)

Loading Ad...

Report this ad

Japanese Kanji for Time

These kanji are often used together with numbers, so
I’ve included them next. You’ll pair numbers up with
kanji like 月 to create the months of the year, like 一月
(“January”).

Loading Ad...

Report this ad

Some of the kanji on this list have more uses than just
time, such as 来る which is an irregular verb. But, 来
also reads as らい, meaning “future”. Combined with
other time kanji you get: 来週 (“next week”), 来月
(“next month”), and 来年 (“next year”).

JLPT N5
English Vocab
Kanji Onyomi Kunyomi
Meaning with
Kanji

nichi, 明日
日 Day, sun hi, ka
jitsu (tomorrow)

毎週 (every
週 Week shuu —
week)

Month, getsu, 月曜日

月 tsuki
moon gatsu (Monday)

今年 (this
年 Year nen toshi year), 去年
(last year)

時計
時 Time, hour ji toki (clock,
watch)

Time frame, 時間 (time,

間 span of kan, ken aida hours)
time

三十分
Minute,
(thirty
part, to bun, bu,
分 wa(karu) minutes),
understand, fun
自分
to divide
(oneself)

午前
午 Noon go — (morning,
A.M.)

名前
前 Before zen mae
(name)

午後
After, later,
後 go, kou ato (afternoon,
behind
P.M.)

今晩 (this
evening),
今 Now kon, kin ima
今朝 (this
morning)

先週 (last
Before, week), 先
先 ahead, sen saki 生
future (teacher,
master)

来月 (next
month), 来
来 To come rai ku(ru)
る (to
come)

半 Half, middle han naka(ba) 半分 (half)

毎日(every
毎 Every, each mai —
day)

何曜日
What,
(what day
何 which, how ka nan, nani
of the
many
week)

Loading Ad...

Report this ad

Japanese Kanji for People &

Things
This category includes many of the basic natural
elements (very important in Japanese culture, so they
pop up a lot), people, and body parts. Because these
kanji are used in so many words, they’ve evolved the
most over time and have a lot of readings. I’ve
included most of the top ones to know, but you’ll
often find these have irregular readings, too.

Loading Ad...

Report this ad

Consider, for example, 母 and 父. When talking about

your own mom and dad to others, you would read/say
them as haha and chichi. But when talking to your
parents, they would be kaa as in okaasan (お母さん)
and tou as in otousan (お父さん). These kanji also
change when used for grandparents, aunts, and
uncles.

Just be on the lookout. You’ll have to memorize them

on a word-by-word basis.

JLPT N5
English
Kanji Onyomi Kunyomi Vocab
Meaning with Kanji

人々
人 Person jin, nin hito
(people)

Man, boy,
男 dan, nan otoko 男の子 (boy)
male

Woman,
女 girl, jo, nyo onna, me 女の子 (girl)
female

子 Child shi, su ko 子供 (child)

母 Mother bo haha 母 (mother)

父 Father fu chichi 父 (father)

友 Friend yuu tomo 友達 (friend)

火曜日
火 Fire ka hi
(Tuesday)

水曜日
水 Water sui mizu
(Wednesday)

Tree, moku, 木曜日

木 ki, ko
wood boku (Thursday)

Earth, 土曜日
土 do, to tsuchi
ground (Saturday)

Money, 金曜日
金 kin, kon kane
gold (Friday)

Book, 日本語
本 hon moto
source (Japanese)

川 River sen kawa 川 (river)

花火
花 Flower ka hana
(fireworks)

元気
気 Spirit ki, ke — (healthy,
spirit, fine)

Life, to i(kiru),
live, to be
生 sei, shou u(mareru), 生徒 (pupil)
born, to ha(yasu)
grow

魚 Fish gyo sakana 魚 (fish)

天気
天 Heaven ten ame, ama
(weather)

Sky, sora,
空 kuu 空 (sky)
empty a(keru)

山
山 Mountain san yama
(mountain)

雨 Rain u ame 雨 (rain)

電気
電 Electricity den —
(electricity)

電車
Car,
車 sha kuruma (electric
vehicle
train)

Language, 英語
語 word, to go kata(ru) (English)
chat

耳 Ear ji mimi 耳 (ear)

手 Hand shu te 手紙 (letter)

Foot, to ashi,
足 soku 足 (foot)
add ta(su)

目 Eye moku me 目 (eye)

口 Mouth kou, ku kuchi 出口 (exit)

mei,
名 Name na 名前 (name)
myou

Japanese Kanji for Places &

Directions
It’s a good idea to memorize each reading really well
for these common kanji. 店 is read as ten almost as
often as mise. 外 is just as often read as gai as it is
soto. But, they have patterns. 店 reads as ten when
combined with other kanji, like 喫茶店. On its own, it’s
mise. It’s the same with 外: gai describes something
foreign or outside the norm of one’s own country or
group. Soto is used to just say “outside.”

JLPT N5
English Vocab
Kanji Onyomi Kunyomi
Meaning with
Kanji

喫茶店
店 Shop ten mise (coffee
shop)

駅前 (in
front of
駅 Station eki —
the
station)

Street,
道 dou michi 道具 (tool)
path, way

社長
Shrine, (president
社 sha yashiro
society of a
company)

外国人
国 Country koku kuni
(foreigner)

soto, 外国
外 Outside gai, ge hazu(reru), (foreign
hoka country)

School, 大学
学 gaku mana(bu)
learning (university)

学校
校 School kou —
(school)

ue, u, 上着
上 Up, above shou, jou
a(geru) (jacket)

Down, ku(daru), 靴下
下 ka, ge
below shita (socks)

Middle, 日中
center, (during the
中 chuu naka
inner, day,
between midday)

北 North hoku kita 北 (north)

西 West sai, sei nishi 西 (west)

東京
東 East tou higashi
(Tokyo)

南 South nan minami 南 (south)

右 Right yuu migi 右 (right)

左 Left sa hidari 左 (left)

Japanese Kanji for Verbs

These are among the most common verbs, besides す
る (suru, “to do”) which doesn’t use kanji. When used
as verbs, you’ll almost always be using the kunyomi
readings. For this test, those are the readings you’ll
most likely be quizzed on, and the onyomi reading will
be less important.

The most important onyomi readings that may pop up

would be for 聞, 読, 書, 食, and 会. The first three —
hear, read, and write — appear in their onyomi
readings in the test descriptions themselves that
state the test section you’re on. Most likely you won’t
be quizzed on them, but you’ll want to know them to
understand what you’re looking at on the test. The
last two — eat and meet — have common onyomi
readings like 食品 (“food,” or “food goods”) and 会社
(company).

JLPT N5
English Vocab
Kanji Onyomi Kunyomi
Meaning with
Kanji

To see, to be
見せる (to
見 visible, to ken mi(ru) show)
show

聞く (to
To hear, to
聞 mon, bun ki(ku) listen, to
listen, to ask
hear)

辞書
書 To write sho ka(ku)
(dictionary)

読む (to
読 To read doku yo(mu)
read)

To talk, hanashi, 電話
話 wa
conversation hana(su) (telephone)

買い物
買 To buy bai ka(u)
(shopping)

To go, to i(ku),
行 kou 銀行 (bank)
carry out okona(u)

To go out, to de(ru), 出かける

出 shutsu
leave da(su) (to go out)

To enter, to hai(ru), 入口
入 nyuu
put in i(reru) (entrance)

To rest,
休む (to
break, yasu(mu),
休 kyuu take a day
holiday, yasu(mi) off)
vacation

食堂
食 To eat, food shoku ta(beru) (dining
room)

To drink, a 飲み物
飲 in no(mu)
drink (beverage)

言う (to
言 To talk, word gen, gon i(u)
say)

立つ (to
立 To stand ritsu ta(tsu)
stand)

To meet, 会社
会 kai, e a(u)
society (company)

Japanese Kanji for Adjectives

Lastly, we have the most basic and common
adjectives to describe things. You will most likely be
quizzed on the kunyomi readings, as those are more
commonly used as adjectives, while the onyomi
readings combine with other kanji to give a more
descriptive noun.

For example, 小 (little) + 学校 (school) means

“elementary school.” You’ll definitely need to know
them for later tests and vocab, but for N5 purposes
your time would be better focused reviewing the
kunyomi readings.

JLPT N5
English
Kanji Onyomi Kunyomi Vocab
Meaning with Kanji

多い
A lot, (many), 多
多 ta oo(i)
many 分
(probably)

A little, suko(shi),
少 shou 少ない (few)
few suku(nai)

古 Old ko furu(i) 古い (old)

新しい
新 New shin atara(shii) (new), 新聞
(newspaper)

大きい (big),
大変
大 Big, a lot dai, tai oo(kii)
(dreadful,
immense)

Little, chii(sai), 小さい

小 shou
small ko (little)

Cheap, 安い
安 safety, an yasu(i) (cheap)
peace

Expensive, 高い
高 kou taka(i)
high (expensive)

長い (long),
Long,
長 chou naga(i) 部長
leader
(manager)

白い
haku, shiro, (white), 面
白 White
byaku shiro(i) 白い
(interesting)

Japanese Kanji Practice: The

Best Ways to Memorize Kanji
Okay, so now you’ve seen the JLPT N5 kanji lists and
know what you should study. But what’s the best way
to memorize kanji?

The best way to practice kanji is to use a combination

of James Heisig’s Remembering the Kanji method, the
Anki app, and your own mnemonics. You can
definitely do it in as few as four days if you followed
this schedule to learn all the essential kanji in three
months.

Heisig’s method is one of theHomat

best Royal
methods to
memorize kanji. He introduces¥1,200,000
the kanji* based on
Disclaimer