How many kanji do you need to read Japanese?

About 2,000 to read a newspaper unaided. With 500 to 1,000 well-known kanji you can already read a lot of everyday text.

Do I need to learn every reading of a kanji?

No: learn readings through words. Rare readings come with the words that use them.

How many kanji do you need for each JLPT level?

It's the question everyone asks when starting Japanese. There is no official figure, but there are solid benchmarks, and good news: the first levels need far fewer kanji than you'd think.

Updated 5 October 2026

The numbers, level by level

The lists below are KanaLearn's, built from the reference lists learners have used since the official lists were dropped in 2010.

Level	New kanji	Total
N5	109	109
N4	260	369
N3	561	930
N2	412	1,342
N1	851	2,193

For comparison

The jōyō kanji, Japan's official list of kanji in common use, has 2,136. N1 roughly matches that list: enough to read a newspaper.

The first 20 kanji to learn

KanaLearn's first N5 kanji, with their meaning and a reading (Japanese · Sino-Japanese):

Kanji	Meaning	Readings
日	day, sun	ひ · ニチ
一	one	ひと · イチ
国	country	くに · コク
人	person	ひと · ジン
年	year	とし · ネン
大	large, big	おお · ダイ
十	ten	とお · ジュウ
二	two	ふた · ニ
本	book, origin	もと · ホン
中	middle, inside	なか · チュウ
長	long, leader	ながい · チョウ
出	exit, leave	でる · シュツ
三	three	み · サン
時	time, hour	とき · ジ
行	go, conduct	いく · コウ
見	see, look	みる · ケン
月	moon, month	つき · ゲツ
分	minute, part	わける · ブン
後	behind, after	のち · ゴ
前	front, before	まえ · ゼン

How to learn them

Learn each kanji with 2 or 3 common words that use it, not on its own.
Spot the components (radicals): 休 = person 亻 + tree 木, “resting against a tree”.
Stick to 5 to 10 new kanji a day and review every day: at that pace, N3 is within reach in a little over a year.
Write them now and then, in the right stroke order: it helps tell similar ones apart.

Practise

FAQ

How many kanji do you need to read Japanese?: About 2,000 to read a newspaper unaided. With 500 to 1,000 well-known kanji you can already read a lot of everyday text.
Do I need to learn every reading of a kanji?: No: learn readings through words. Rare readings come with the words that use them.

Remember them for good

Quizzes, writing, listening and spaced reviews: KanaLearn has you review each word at the right time. Free, no ads.

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