JLPT N5 Kanji List: All 81 Kanji With Meanings

Short answer: JLPT N5 is the entry level, and the list below has 81 kanji with their meanings, readings and stroke counts. Each kanji links to its own page with a picture story and animated stroke order. If you are new, start with the numbers, then the sun, moon and elements.

There is no official kanji list for the JLPT. The organisers stopped publishing level lists in 2010, so any list is an approximation. This one is the N5 group in Kanji Guide. Commonly quoted estimates put N5 at around 100 kanji, so other sites may show a few more or fewer. For the reasoning, see how many kanji are in each JLPT level.

The full list

On readings are in katakana and kun readings in hiragana, with a dot or a middle point showing where the kanji ends and the okurigana begins. Only the first two of each are shown here. Open a kanji for all readings and example words.

Kanji	Meaning	On	Kun	Strokes
一	one	イチ、イツ	ひと、ひと・つ	1
二	two	ニ、ジ	ふた、ふた・つ	2
三	three	サン、ゾウ	み、み・つ	3
四	four	シ	よ、よ・つ	5
五	five	ゴ	いつ、いつ・つ	4
六	six	ロク、リク	む、む・つ	4
七	seven	シチ	なな、なの	2
八	eight	ハチ、ハツ	や、や・つ	2
九	nine	キュウ、ク	ここの、ここの・つ	2
十	ten	ジュウ、ジッ	とお、と	2
口	mouth	コウ、ク	くち	3
日	day	ニチ、ジツ	ひ、か	4
月	month	ゲツ、ガツ	つき	4
白	white	ハク、ビャク	しろ、しら	5
百	hundred	ヒャク、ビャク	もも	6
中	in	チュウ	なか、うち	4
千	thousand	セン	ち	3
上	above	ジョウ、ショウ	うえ、あ・がる	3
下	below	カ、ゲ	した、さ・がる	3
見	see	ケン	み・る、み・える	7
万	ten thousand	マン、バン	よろず	3
左	left	サ、シャ	ひだり	5
右	right	ウ、ユウ	みぎ	5
子	child	シ、ス	こ、ね	3
女	woman	ジョ、ニョ	おんな、め	3
母	mama	ボ	はは、も	5
小	little	ショウ	ちい・さい	3
大	large	ダイ、タイ	おお・きい	3
外	outside	ガイ、ゲ	そと、ほか	5
名	name	メイ、ミョウ	な	6
川	stream	セン	かわ	3
水	water	スイ	みず	4
土	soil	ド、ト	つち	3
時	time	ジ	とき	10
火	fire	カ	ひ	4
木	tree	ボク、モク	き	4
本	book	ホン	もと	5
先	before	セン	さき、ま・ず	6
金	gold	キン、コン	かね	8
車	car	シャ	くるま	7
前	in front	ゼン	まえ	9
高	tall	コウ	たか・い、たか	10
学	study	ガク	まな・ぶ	8
書	write	ショ	か・く	10
話	tale	ワ	はな・す、はなし	13
語	word	ゴ	かた・る、かた・らう	14
読	read	ドク、トク	よ・む	14
雨	rain	ウ	あめ	8
天	heavens	テン	あまつ、あめ	4
北	north	ホク	きた	5
毎	every	マイ	ごと	6
東	east	トウ	ひがし	8
電	electricity	デン		13
午	noon	ゴ	うま	4
国	country	コク	くに	8
友	friend	ユウ	とも	4
出	exit	シュツ、スイ	で・る、だ・す	5
山	mountain	サン、セン	やま	3
入	enter	ニュウ、ジュ	い・る、い・れる	2
分	part	ブン、フン	わ・ける、わ・け	4
男	man	ダン、ナン	おとこ、お	7
行	going	コウ、ギョウ	い・く、ゆ・く	6
人	person	ジン、ニン	ひと	2
休	rest	キュウ	やす・む、やす・まる	6
何	what	カ	なに、なん	7
年	year	ネン	とし	6
半	half	ハン	なか・ば	5
父	father	フ	ちち	4
校	exam	コウ、キョウ		10
後	behind	ゴ、コウ	のち、うし・ろ	9
食	eat	ショク、ジキ	く・う、く・らう	9
生	life	セイ、ショウ	い・きる、い・かす	5
今	now	コン、キン	いま	4
西	west	セイ、サイ	にし	6
南	south	ナン、ナ	みなみ	9
間	interval	カン、ケン	あいだ、ま	12
聞	hear	ブン、モン	き・く、き・こえる	14
円	circle	エン	まる・い、まる	4
来	come	ライ、タイ	く・る、きた・る	7
気	spirit	キ、ケ	いき、き	6
長	long	チョウ	なが・い、おさ	8

A good order to learn them

The list above is in the order the kanji appear in Kanji Guide’s data, not a learning order. A better order is by how much each kanji helps you with the next.

1. Numbers: 一, 二, 三, 四, 五, 六, 七, 八, 九, 十. These are quick and they show up everywhere.
2. Sun, moon and elements: 日, 月, 火, 水, 木, 金, 土. These are the days of the week, and they are common parts.
3. People and body: 人, 口, 子, 女, 男, 父, 母.
4. Size and direction: 大, 小, 中, 上, 下, 左, 右, 北, 南, 東, 西.
5. Everyday actions: 見, 聞, 読, 書, 話, 食, 行, 来, 出, 入, 休.
6. The rest: school words, places and time words.

If you want a day-by-day plan, see how to learn kanji from zero.

Building blocks to know early

A few N5 kanji show up as parts of others, so learning them early pays back.

• 木 (tree) is inside 休 (rest), 校 (school), 東 (east) and 本 (book).
• 日 (sun, day) is inside 時 (time), 間 (interval) and 東 (east).
• 口 (mouth) is inside 名 (name) and 右 (right).
• 人 (person) shows up as a side part in 休 and 行.

Here is the story for 本:

Books begin with trees (木): one tree can make many books.

and for 東:

The orange sun (日) rises up behind a leafy tree (木) in the east.

The same tree part, in two different scenes. After a few of these, you stop learning shapes from scratch.

Kanji that grow out of other kanji

One reason to learn N5 in order is that some kanji are built from others. Look at how 日 becomes 白, and 白 becomes 百:

A white ray is a drop of sun (日).

A single stroke (一) lies on a white banner (白): a hundred.

Three kanji, and the second and third each reuse the one before. The same happens with 一, which sits inside 三, and with 木, which sits inside 本. If you learn them in a loose chain like this, each new kanji feels like a small step.

Look-alikes in N5

A few pairs are easy to confuse:

• 右 and 左 differ in one stroke and in where they start. Their stories use the mouth and the craft part to keep them apart.
• 大 (large), 小 (little) and 人 (person) are all simple and spread-armed shapes.
• 日 (day) and 月 (month) are both tall boxes with lines inside.

Put each pair side by side the first time you study them.

Readings you will meet first

N5 kanji are mostly the basic words you hear in the first weeks: numbers, days, simple verbs. A few readings are worth noting early:

• 日 has ニチ and ジツ, and also ひ and か. In 日本 it is read に, and in 今日 it is きょう. This one has many readings, so do not try to learn them all in advance.
• 山 is やま alone and ざん (from サン) in 火山 (かざん).
• 食 is た.べる in 食べる and ショク in 外食 (がいしょく).

Learn the first one or two, then add the rest when you see them in words. See onyomi vs kunyomi.

How to use this list

• Do not read the table top to bottom. Pick a group from the order above and work through it.
• Click through each kanji. The page has the story, the full set of readings, example words and the animated stroke order.
• Come back after a week. Look at the list and see how many you can name without clicking.
• Print it if you like. It is a plain web page, so your browser can print it.

How long does it take?

At five a day, the 81 kanji take about 17 days. At three a day, 27 days. Add review days. After that you can move to the N4 kanji list.

Study this list in the app

Each kanji above is in the free study app, with a picture story, animated stroke order, and spaced review. You can also open the JLPT N5 hub to browse as tiles. The app runs in a phone browser, and there is an iPhone app as well.