Most learners who struggle with JLPT kanji are not failing at kanji. They are failing at readings. A single character such as 生 or 日 can be read half a dozen ways, and a flashcard that shows only the character and one "meaning" teaches you almost none of them.
This guide shows a way to learn JLPT kanji readings that does not depend on brute force: learn readings inside words, use the on'yomi and kun'yomi split as a guide, group characters by shared sound, and spend your drill time on the small set of words where readings really do break the rules.
Why readings are the real kanji problem
A kanji has a shape, a meaning and one or more readings. Recognising the shape and meaning is the easy part, because you meet them in context. The readings are the part that fails under exam pressure, because the JLPT asks you to produce them.
In the Language Knowledge (vocabulary) part, a typical question shows a word with one underlined kanji word and asks you to pick the correct hiragana reading. Another common question type shows a word written in hiragana and asks which kanji spelling is correct. Both punish a learner who knows what 校 means but cannot say whether the word is こう, ごう or きょう.
So the goal is not "know every reading of every character". The goal is "read a word you have seen, and make a sensible guess at one you have not".
On'yomi and kun'yomi: a rule of thumb, not a law
Every reading falls into one of two families:
- On'yomi (音読み) is the reading borrowed from Chinese. It is usually short and often a single syllable or a syllable with a small っ, ん or long vowel.
- Kun'yomi (訓読み) is the native Japanese reading attached to the meaning. It is often longer and is frequently followed by hiragana called okurigana.
The rule of thumb is this: a kanji that stands alone with okurigana is usually kun'yomi, and kanji joined in a compound are usually on'yomi.
食べる (たべる): kun'yomi, with okurigana.
食事 (しょくじ): on'yomi in a two-kanji compound.
山 (やま) is the mountain you can point at, but 山脈 (さんみゃく) is a mountain range.
Treat this as a strong default and not a guarantee. Plenty of words mix the two (the pattern is called jūbako and yutō reading, for example 重箱 and 湯桶), and some common words have irregular readings of their own. Use the rule to narrow your guess, then confirm the reading from the word.
Learn the word, not the character
The single biggest improvement is to stop memorizing readings as a list attached to one character. Learn each reading once, inside a real word you could meet on an exam.
Instead of a card that says 生 = せい, しょう, い(きる), う(まれる), なま, き:
学生 (がくせい): student
生まれる (うまれる): to be born
生ビール (なまビール): draft beer
一生 (いっしょう): a whole life
Each word anchors one reading, and each word is something you will actually read. After a few weeks the readings of 生 are attached to words you recognise, which is how native readers hold them.
A practical order for a new character:
- Learn the most common word first, with its reading and meaning.
- Add a second word that uses a different reading of the same character.
- Leave rarer readings until you meet them in a reading passage or a vocabulary list at your level.
This also respects the exam reality that the JLPT does not publish an official kanji list. Words you meet in level-appropriate material are a better guide than a fixed list of characters.
Group characters by shared sound
Many kanji are built from a part that hints at the sound. When several characters share that part, they often share an on'yomi. A well-known example is the set that all carry the reading せい:
青 (せい), 清 (せい), 晴 (せい), 精 (せい), 静 (せい / じょう)
You will not be able to rely on this for every character, and the hint can be off by a consonant or a vowel length. Used as a study aid, though, it turns many separate memory tasks into one. When you meet a new kanji, glance at its right-hand part. If you already know another character with that part, test your guess against the dictionary.
Learn the sound changes once
A lot of apparent irregularity is actually regular. Two patterns explain many "wrong" readings:
- Gemination. A reading ending in く, ち, つ or き often turns into a small っ before a k, s, t or p sound. 学 (がく) plus 校 (こう) gives 学校 (がっこう). 一 (いち) plus 回 (かい) gives 一回 (いっかい).
- Rendaku. A voiceless consonant at the start of the second part of a compound often becomes voiced. 時 (とき) is the word for time, but 時々 becomes ときどき. Counters change in a similar way: 本 is ほん, but 三本 is さんぼん and 六本 is ろっぽん.
When you learn a word, notice which of these is happening. Once you see it a few times, you stop treating it as a new fact and start predicting it.
Drill the words that break the rules
Some words really are irregular, and the exam knows it. These are worth a short list of their own, reviewed separately from regular vocabulary:
今日 (きょう), 明日 (あした), 大人 (おとな), 上手 (じょうず), 果物 (くだもの)
Another high-value group is words whose reading depends on the meaning. The same two characters give different words with different readings:
市場 (いちば): a market where goods are sold
市場 (しじょう): the market, in the economic sense
人気 (にんき): popularity
人気 (ひとけ): signs of people being around
生物 (せいぶつ): living things
生物 (なまもの): raw or perishable food
Treat each pair as one card so you learn the contrast and not just one half. Context decides which reading is right, so keep a short example sentence on the back.
A weekly routine that fits readings in
You do not need a separate kanji session every day. A routine that works for most working learners is:
- Three short review rounds a week. Review words with spaced repetition, reading aloud before you check.
- One writing session a week. Write the kanji for ten words by hand, including the stroke order. Writing forces you to notice parts of a character, and parts are what lead you to sound patterns.
- One mixed-reading session a week. Pick one character and list every word you know that uses it, sorted by reading.
- Mock-test review. After each practice paper, collect every vocabulary question you missed and sort them: wrong on'yomi, wrong kun'yomi, a sound change, or an irregular word. That tells you what to drill next.
Where Toey fits
Toey JLPT has a kanji area under Study with stroke-order animation, tracing and guided writing cards, and the same kanji appear in your review queue so the readings come back after a gap. It is a web app for now, with no mobile app yet, so it suits study at a desk or in a browser. It will not replace reading real Japanese, and it does not do the sorting of your own mistakes for you, so the mock-test review step above is still yours to do.
If you prefer another tool, use the same principles: readings inside words, spaced review, and writing practice.
Checked on 26 October 2026. Ready to practise? Open Toey JLPT.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between on'yomi and kun'yomi?
On'yomi is the reading borrowed from Chinese, usually short and common in compound words such as 食事 (しょくじ). Kun'yomi is the native Japanese reading, often longer and followed by okurigana, such as 食べる (たべる). It is a strong rule of thumb, not a law, because some words mix both.
Should I memorize every reading of each JLPT kanji?
No. Learn each reading inside a real word you could meet on the exam, starting with the most common word. Add rarer readings only when you meet them in material at your level.
How do I handle irregular readings like 今日 and 大人?
Keep them in a short separate list and review them as whole words, because their readings cannot be predicted from the individual characters. Add pairs whose reading depends on meaning, such as 市場 (いちば / しじょう), as a single contrast card.
What kinds of kanji questions appear in the JLPT vocabulary section?
Typical questions ask you to choose the reading of an underlined kanji word, or to choose the correct kanji for a word written in hiragana. Both test readings inside words rather than isolated characters.
Does writing kanji by hand help with readings?
It helps indirectly. Writing makes you notice the parts of a character, and those parts often point to a shared sound, which helps you guess readings of characters you have not seen before.
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