The , also known as , or , is a test of kanji

Kanji

Kanji are the adopted logographic Chinese characters hanzi that are used in the modern Japanese writing system along with hiragana , katakana , Indo Arabic numerals, and the occasional use of the Latin alphabet...

 ability.

There are 12 levels (levels 10 through 3, pre-2, 2, pre-1 and 1) with level 10 being the easiest and level 1 the most difficult. The test examines ability to read and write kanji, to understand their meanings and use them correctly in sentences, and to identify correct stroke order

Stroke order

Stroke order refers to the order in which the strokes of a Chinese character are written. A stroke is a movement of a writing instrument on a writing surface. Chinese characters are used in various forms in Chinese, Japanese, and in Korean...

. It was developed for native Japanese

Japanese language

is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...

 speakers.

Native speakers pass levels 10 through 7 at better than an 80% rate, whereas level 1 is so difficult that fewer than two thousand people take it each time it is offered, and fewer than 15% of those examinees pass. A college-educated native speaker of average ability could be expected to pass level pre-2 with a slight amount of studying.

For levels 10 through 8, the test is 40 minutes long. For levels 7 through 1, it is 60 minutes long. A 70% score is required to pass levels 7 through pre-2, and all other levels require an 80% score.

Levels 10 through 4, kids those who are kindergarten to elementary school ages (up to 12 year olds) are the main examinees. From level 3, they are the levels where high schoolers and also grownups start to take tests.

Level 2 is the maximum point where many Japanese even with higher education bother to take. Therefore having level 2 is a plus and an advantage in such as hiring, pre-1 and 1 are something special.

Level 10

• Pass rate for this level: 96.3% (in 2010)
• Tests the 80 kanji learned in the first grade of elementary school(age 7); see Level 10 kanji.

Level 9

• Pass rate for this level: 90.6% (in 2010)
• Tests the 240 kanji learned up to the second grade of elementary school (age 8); see Level 9 kanji.

Level 8

• Pass rate for this level: 83.6% (in 2010)
• Tests the 440 kanji learned up to the third grade of elementary school (age 9), including on readings and kun readings, stroke order, writing ability, ability to use in sentences, and the names of radical
  Radical (Chinese character)
  A Chinese radical is a component of a Chinese character. The term may variously refer to the original semantic element of a character, or to any semantic element, or, loosely, to any element whatever its origin or purpose...
  
  s.
• Tests knowledge of antonyms
• Tests ability to differentiate between homonyms

Level 7

• Pass rate for this level: 84.3% (in 2010)
• Tests the 640 kanji learned up to the fourth grade of elementary school (age 10), including on readings and kun readings, stroke order, writing ability, ability to use in sentences, and the names of radicals.
• Tests knowledge of antonyms
• Tests ability to differentiate between homonyms
• Tests idiomatic phrases and kanji compound words

Level 6

• Pass rate for this level: 76.0% (in 2010)
• Tests the 825 kanji learned up to the fifth grade of elementary school (age 11), including on readings and kun readings, stroke order, writing ability, ability to use in sentences, and the names of radicals.
• Tests knowledge of antonyms
• Tests ability to differentiate between homonyms
• Tests idiomatic phrases and three-kanji compound words

Level 5

• Pass rate for this level: 72.0% (in 2010)
• Tests the 1006 kanji learned up to the sixth grade of elementary school (age 12) (the kyōiku kanji
  Kyoiku kanji
  , also known as is a list of 1,006 kanji and associated readings developed and maintained by the Japanese Ministry of Education that prescribes which kanji, and which readings of kanji, Japanese schoolchildren should learn for each year of primary school...
  
  ), including on readings and kun readings, stroke order, writing ability, ability to use in sentences, and the names of radicals.
• Tests knowledge of antonyms
• Tests ability to differentiate between homonyms
• Tests idiomatic phrases and four-kanji compound words

Level 4

• Pass rate for this level: 52.0% (in 2010)
• Tests the kanji learned up to the sixth grade of elementary school, plus an additional 300 daily use kanji (常用漢字 jōyō kanji
  Joyo kanji
  The is the guide to kanji characters announced officially by the Japanese Ministry of Education. Current jōyō kanji are those on a list of 2,136 characters issued in 2010...
  
  )
• Tests on readings and kun readings, and the ability to use kanji in sentences
• Requires the ability to read about 1300 characters, and write about 900
• Tests knowledge of synonyms and antonyms
• Tests ability to differentiate between homonyms
• Tests idiomatic phrases and four-kanji compound words
• Tests knowledge of radicals required to use a kanji dictionary

Level 3

• Pass rate for this level: 47.5% (in 2010)
• Tests the kanji learned up to the sixth grade of elementary school, plus an additional 600 daily use kanji
• Tests on readings and kun readings, and the ability to use kanji in sentences
• Requires the ability to read about 1600 characters
• Tests special or unusual kanji readings
• Tests ateji
  Ateji
  In modern Japanese, primarily refers to kanji used phonetically to represent native or borrowed words, without regard to the meaning of the underlying characters. This is analogous to man'yōgana in pre-modern Japanese...
  
   (当て字), phonetic readings of characters
• Tests knowledge of synonyms and antonyms
• Tests ability to differentiate between homonyms
• Tests idiomatic phrases and four-kanji compound words
• Tests knowledge of radicals required to use a kanji dictionary

Level pre-2

• Pass rate for this level: 36.6% (in 2010)
• Tests the kanji learned in the first two years of high school (approximately 16-17 years of age)
• Tests on readings and kun readings, and the ability to use kanji in sentences
• Requires the ability to read all of the daily use kanji (1945 characters)
• Tests special or unusual kanji readings
• Tests ateji
• Tests knowledge of synonyms and antonyms
• Tests ability to differentiate between homonyms
• Tests special compound words
• Tests complex radicals

Level 2

• Pass rate for this level: 23.9% (in 2010)
• Tests the kanji learned through high school: requires the ability to read and write all of the 1945 daily use kanji (jōyō kanji
  Joyo kanji
  The is the guide to kanji characters announced officially by the Japanese Ministry of Education. Current jōyō kanji are those on a list of 2,136 characters issued in 2010...
  
  ), and knowledge of the 284 kanji used in names (jinmeiyō kanji
  Jinmeiyo kanji
  The are a set of 861 Chinese characters known as the "name kanji" in English. They are a supplementary set of characters that can be legally used in registered personal names in Japan, despite not being in that country's set of "commonly used characters" . As a rule, registered personal names may...
  
  , 人名用漢字)
• Tests on readings and kun readings, and the ability to use kanji in sentences
• Tests special or unusual kanji readings
• Tests ateji
• Tests knowledge of synonyms and antonyms
• Tests ability to differentiate between homonyms
• Tests special compound words
• Tests complex radicals and composition of kanji

Level pre-1

• Tests the ability to read and write approximately 3000 kanji, with their on readings and kun readings
• Requires the ability to use the kanji in sentences and to choose the most appropriate kanji for a given context
• Tests special or unusual kanji readings
• Tests ateji
• Tests knowledge of synonyms and antonyms
• Tests ability to differentiate between homonyms
• Tests special compound words
• Tests complex radicals
• Tests kanji unique to the Japanese language (kokuji)
• Tests abbreviated kanji forms (ryakuji
  Ryakuji
  Ryakuji are colloquial simplifications of Kanji.- Status :Ryakuji are not covered in the Kanji Kentei, nor are they officially recognized...
  
  ) such as 餠→餅, 摑→掴
• Tests classical Japanese proverbs and idiomatic expressions

Level 1

• Tests the ability to read and write approximately 6000 kanji, with their on readings and kun readings
• Requires the ability to use the kanji in sentences and to choose the most appropriate kanji for a given context
• Tests special or unusual kanji readings
• Tests ateji
  Ateji
  In modern Japanese, primarily refers to kanji used phonetically to represent native or borrowed words, without regard to the meaning of the underlying characters. This is analogous to man'yōgana in pre-modern Japanese...
  
  
• Tests knowledge of synonyms and antonyms
• Tests ability to differentiate between homonyms
• Tests special compound words
• Tests complex radicals
• Tests kanji unique to the Japanese language
• Tests classical Japanese proverbs and idiomatic expressions
• Tests place and country names
• Tests the ability to recognize the relationship between modern and ancient or old character forms

See also

• Chinese character
  Chinese character
  Chinese characters are logograms used in the writing of Chinese and Japanese , less frequently Korean , formerly Vietnamese , or other languages...
  
  
• Japanese Language Proficiency Test
  Japanese Language Proficiency Test
  The , or JLPT, is a standardized criterion-referenced test to evaluate and certify Japanese language proficiency for non-native speakers.The JLPT was expanded to five levels in 2010, with passing Level N5 denoting simple language abilities, and Level N1 denoting advanced language abilities...
  
  
• Japanese language
  Japanese language
  is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
  
  
• Learning kanji
• J-Test
  J-Test
  The J-Test was introduced in 1991 as a test for conducting objective measurement of the Japanese language proficiency of non-native speakers. Broadly based on the format of a listening test, the exam attempts to gauge practical proficiency in Japanese....
  
  

External links

• http://www.kanken.or.jp - Official page of the kanji kentei (Japanese)
• http://www.kentei.co.jp - Online kanji kentei test (Japanese)
• Free writing exercise sheets for kyōiku, jōyō and JIS-X-0208-1990 kanji. Additionally, JLPT writing exercise sheets and exercise sheets for the Kanji kentei test.