JLPT N4 Kanji List
All 166 kanji on the JLPT N4 list, ordered by frequency. Search by character, reading, or English meaning. Tap any character to expand its readings, stroke count and example words; characters with a full study guide link straight to it.
166 kanji
Studying JLPT N4 kanji
N4 adds the next layer of everyday kanji and, more importantly, the two-character compounds that carry most written Japanese — 電車 (train), 図書館 (library), 会社 (company), 映画 (film). This is where reading real sentences starts to feel possible.
How to approach them
- Focus on compounds: a single wrong character inside a two-kanji word is the classic N4 trap.
- Start noticing that the same kanji can take different readings depending on the word around it.
- Group kanji that share a component (校, 交, 効) so the phonetic hints start working for you.
N4 is mostly about breadth — steadily widening the set of characters you recognise on sight.
How N4 kanji show up on the test
In the N4 vocabulary section, the classic trap is a single wrong character buried inside an otherwise familiar two-kanji word, so it pays to learn compounds as whole units rather than character by character. Readings also start to shift with context, which is why anchoring each kanji to a couple of real words beats memorising readings in isolation.
Practice readings in the kanji drills, or take a free N4 mock test.