N5 Kanji List: 80 Characters with Readings and Meanings

For the JLPT N5, you do not need a dictionary in your head — but you do need the first kanji secure enough that they stop tripping you up in class and everyday Japanese. The catch: examiners never publish a closed official kanji list. What follows is a practical reference of 80 characters commonly tied to N5 study.

Do N5 kanji have fixed meanings?

Often not in the dictionary sense of one isolated label. Meaning and reading depend on the word. 食 shows up in 食べる (taberu, to eat) and 食事 (shokuji, meal). Learn each character inside real words, not as loose stickers.

人 does make people think “person,” and that often works — still, most kanji carry a concept more than a single translation. Even numbers, colors, and directions that stand alone at N5 behave like building blocks in a sentence. Read first how on and kun readings work before you grind the table.

N5 kanji list with readings and meanings

The number 80 is a study orientation, not an official pass quota. Readings below are common references — not every possible reading. For looking up individual words, use Jisho.

Responsive table: swipe sideways on mobile to see all columns.

How to study N5 kanji without drowning

1. Link each kanji to two or three real words instead of a lonely English gloss.
2. Get hiragana and katakana solid before leaning on romaji.
3. Practice recognition, writing, and stroke order in short, repeating blocks.
4. Rotate themes: numbers, directions, family, school, everyday verbs.

Dictionaries like Jisho help you check a reading against an example sentence. N5 prep also needs vocabulary, grammar, reading, and listening — kanji alone is not the whole exam.

What the N5 actually tests

The official description aims at short texts and conversations about daily life and the classroom. There is no guaranteed kanji count for a pass. Use lists like this as a scaffold — and train characters in context, not only as a table.