JLPT N5 kanji list
79 kanji - the full N5 character set as reconstructed from the pre-2010 official syllabus.
JLPT N5 is the entry level of the Japanese-Language Proficiency Test - the floor a learner crosses once they can read simple sentences in hiragana, katakana, and a foundational set of kanji.
The N5 kanji are the survival vocabulary every textbook leads with: numbers one through ten, days of the week, basic directions (up, down, left, right), common verbs (go, come, eat, see), and a handful of nouns you cannot get through a day in Japan without (water, fire, person, sun, money). Memorising these characters unlocks store signs, train station names, restaurant menus, and the bulk of beginner textbook prose. Because N5 is also where most learners first run into the radical-and-component structure of kanji, the official list weights heavily toward characters whose parts reappear in dozens of higher-level kanji. The list itself is community-maintained: the JLPT stopped publishing the official kanji syllabus after the 2010 redesign, but the reconstruction below has been stable across study tools for over a decade.
WaniKani coverage
On WaniKani, nearly the entire N5 set (around 99%) is taught in the first ten levels or so. By the time you have finished WK level 10 you have almost all of N5 at Guru I or higher.
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 79 N5 kanji
See your personal coverage
The grid above is identical for every visitor. To see how many of the 79 N5 kanji you have personally learned - grouped by your current SRS stage and pinned to your goal level - open the JLPT coverage tool and paste a WaniKani personal access token. Your token stays in your browser; nothing is stored on a server.