JLPT N3 kanji list

367 kanji - the full N3 character set as reconstructed from the pre-2010 official syllabus.

Most manga aimed at general audiences becomes readable around N3, and so do news headlines and casual novels. This is the bridge from beginner to intermediate Japanese, the level where everyday written material starts to open up.

The N3 list represents the single biggest jump in the JLPT progression: the kanji count more than doubles from N4, and the new characters span the working vocabulary of general adult Japanese - government and administration, light science, sport, transportation, emotional and abstract concepts. This is the level where readings get less guessable; many N3 characters have on-readings that look nothing like their kun-readings, and compound words start using kanji you have never seen as standalone characters. Most learners spend longer at N3 than any other level, both because of the sheer volume and because passive recognition gives way to active production at this point. Skipping straight from N4 to N2 is widely considered a poor study path.

WaniKani coverage

WaniKani teaches all 367 N3 characters, but spreads them further than the tier's reputation suggests: 89% by level 30, 98% by level 40, and the remainder trickling in up to level 51. The practical threshold arrives well before the last character does, since what is left by then is rare enough to look up.

Want to see exactly which of these you have already learned? The JLPT coverage tool ties your live WaniKani progress to the lists on this site, with per-level percentages and the missing characters highlighted.

All 367 N3 kanji

Other JLPT levels

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