Kanji Kentei

The Kanji Kentei (漢字検定), abbreviated to Kanken (漢検), is a test of kanji ability for native speakers of Japanese. Depending on the level, the following things are tested:

Kun-yomi and on-yomi (see Why do kanji have several different pronunciations?).
Stroke order (see How does kanji stroke order work?) and stroke count.
Radical names, and identification of the radical within any kanji (see What are kanji radicals?).
Homonyms (同音・同訓異字), antonyms (対義語), and synonyms (類義語).
Itaiji (alternate kanji) and ateji (irregular kanji readings).
Yojijukugo (4-kanji compounds)
Kotowaza (common proverbs).
Jinmeiyo kanji (personal names) and chimei (place names).
Correct use of okurigana (see What is okurigana?).
Historical origin of the kana and kanji (see How did katakana and hiragana originate?).

The levels are

Level	Kanji covered	Education level	Details
1	Approximately 6000 characters, most of the JIS level one and two kanji (see What are JIS level one and two kanji?).	University or general adult	Reading, including plant and animal names (see How are animal and plant names written in Japanese?), foreign country names (see Why is America called bei?), and sentences. Writing, including kokuji (see Which kanji were created in Japan?) and sentences; proverbs (kotowaza), origins (koji); homophones and homonyms; four-character idioms (yoji jukugo), synonyms, antonyms; correcting mistaken characters.
Pre 1	Approximately 3000 characters, the JIS level one kanji (see What are JIS level one and two kanji?), which includes all the Jōyō Kanji (see What are the Jōyō Kanji?).	University or general adult	Reading, including kokuji and sentences; writing, including sentences; origins and proverbs; synonyms and antonyms; homophones; correcting mistaken characters; four-character idioms.
2	The Jōyō and Jinmeiyō Kanji	High school graduate or university graduate	Reading; writing; radicals and their names; okurigana; synonyms and antonyms; homophones; correcting mistaken characters; four-character idioms; formation of compounds.
Pre 2	1,945	High school student	Reading; writing; radicals and their names; okurigana; antonyms and synonyms; homophones; correcting mistaken characters; four-character idioms; formation of compounds.
3	1,608	Middle school graduate	Reading; writing; radicals and their names; okurigana; antonyms and synonyms; homophones; correcting mistaken characters; four-character compounds; formation of compounds.
4	1,322	Middle school student	Reading; writing; radicals and their names; okurigana; antonyms and synonyms; homophones; correcting mistaken characters; four-character compounds; formation of compounds.
5	The 1,006 Kyōiku Kanji (see How is Japanese writing taught to Japanese children?)	Elementary school graduate	Reading; writing; radicals and their names; stroke count and stroke order; okurigana; antonyms and synonyms; homophones; correcting mistaken characters; four-character compounds; formation of compounds.
6	825	Fifth year of elementary school	Reading; writing; radicals and their names; stroke count and stroke order; okurigana; antonyms; homophones; three-character compounds; formation of compounds.
7	640	Fourth year of elementary school	Reading; writing; radicals and their names; stroke count and stroke order; okurigana; antonyms; homophones; three-character compounds.
8	440	Third year of elementary school	Reading; writing; radicals and their names; stroke count and stroke order; okurigana; antonyms; the various readings of a kanji.
9	240	Second year of elementary school	Reading; writing; stroke order and stroke count
10	80	First year of elementary school	Reading; writing; stroke order and stroke count

Acknowledgements

This page was originally partly taken from a Usenet post by Charles Eicher.

External links

Kanji kentei home page

If you have questions, corrections, or comments, please contact Ben Bullock or use the discussion forum / Privacy policy


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