N5 Kanji Quiz: 42 Questions to Test Yourself

Short answer: this page is a free N5 kanji test in four rounds: 15 meanings, 15 readings of everyday words, 6 look-alike pairs and 6 numbers, 42 questions in all. Cover the answers, write down your guesses, then check the answer key under each round. Every kanji links to its page with a picture story and stroke order.

The kanji come from the N5 group in Kanji Guide (81 kanji, see the full JLPT N5 kanji list). There is no official JLPT kanji list: the organisers stopped publishing level lists in 2010, so any N5 set, including this one, is an approximation. On the real test, kanji are not tested on their own. They appear in the vocabulary and reading questions of the Language Knowledge section, as described on the official JLPT site.

How to use this quiz

1. Take a sheet of paper and number it 1 to 42.
2. Answer each round without looking at the answer key.
3. Mark what you missed, open those kanji pages and read their stories.
4. Take the quiz again in two or three days. Spacing the retest is what makes it stick.

Round 1: What does this kanji mean?

Write one English meaning for each kanji.

1. 山
2. 川
3. 木
4. 火
5. 水
6. 雨
7. 車
8. 休
9. 食
10. 見
11. 聞
12. 読
13. 書
14. 父
15. 母

Answer key: 1. 山 mountain; 2. 川 river; 3. 木 tree; 4. 火 fire; 5. 水 water; 6. 雨 rain; 7. 車 car; 8. 休 rest; 9. 食 eat; 10. 見 see; 11. 聞 hear, listen; 12. 読 read; 13. 書 write; 14. 父 father; 15. 母 mother

Round 2: How do you read this word?

Write the reading in hiragana. All of these are common N5 words. If readings are new to you, read on’yomi vs kun’yomi first.

16. 日本
17. 今日
18. 先生
19. 学生
20. 大学
21. 毎日
22. 午後
23. 天気
24. 時間
25. 名前
26. 来年
27. 友だち
28. 一人
29. 外国
30. 半分

Answer key: 16. 日本 = にほん (Japan); 17. 今日 = きょう (today); 18. 先生 = せんせい (teacher); 19. 学生 = がくせい (student); 20. 大学 = だいがく (university); 21. 毎日 = まいにち (every day); 22. 午後 = ごご (afternoon, p.m.); 23. 天気 = てんき (weather); 24. 時間 = じかん (time, hours); 25. 名前 = なまえ (name); 26. 来年 = らいねん (next year); 27. 友だち = ともだち (friend); 28. 一人 = ひとり (one person, alone); 29. 外国 = がいこく (foreign country); 30. 半分 = はんぶん (half)

Round 3: Look-alike kanji

Pick the kanji that matches the meaning.

31. 人 · 入 · 八: Which one means enter?
32. 左 · 右: Which one means right?
33. 木 · 本: Which one means book, origin?
34. 大 · 天: Which one means heaven, sky?
35. 日 · 白: Which one means white?
36. 千 · 十: Which one means thousand?

Answer key: 31. 入 (人 = person, 入 = enter, 八 = eight); 32. 右 (左 = left, 右 = right); 33. 本 (木 = tree, 本 = book, origin); 34. 天 (大 = big, 天 = heaven, sky); 35. 白 (日 = sun, day, 白 = white); 36. 千 (千 = thousand, 十 = ten)

Round 4: Numbers

Read the number in hiragana. Watch the sound changes such as ろっぴゃく and さんぜん. All the rules are in Japanese numbers in kanji.

37. 三千五百円
38. 六百
39. 八時
40. 四人
41. 九時
42. 二万円

Answer key: 37. 三千五百円 = さんぜんごひゃくえん (3,500 yen); 38. 六百 = ろっぴゃく (600); 39. 八時 = はちじ (8 o’clock); 40. 四人 = よにん (four people); 41. 九時 = くじ (9 o’clock); 42. 二万円 = にまんえん (20,000 yen)

What to do with your score

• Missed meanings (round 1, 3): these respond best to a story. Open each missed kanji and read its picture story, then test it again tomorrow.
• Missed readings (round 2, 4): learn readings through words, not in isolation. 今日 (きょう) and 一人 (ひとり) are special readings you simply memorise as words.
• Mostly right: look at the JLPT N5 hub for the kanji not in this quiz, then move on to N4.

Keep testing yourself

A one-off quiz shows where you are; regular review keeps it. Kanji Guide’s web study app reviews all N5 kanji with spaced repetition in your browser, and the same course is in the Kanji Guide iPhone app on the App Store.

Got stuck on the readings? See kanji to hiragana for how to find the reading of a word, and the hiragana chart if kana still slow you down. For the seven weekday kanji, see days of the week in kanji. All 81 N5 kanji with meanings are in the JLPT N5 kanji list.

Wondering how the real test is laid out? See the JLPT exam pattern for sections, timing and passing scores.