Mirai Voca Study Guide
Practical articles, tips, and walkthroughs to help you study Japanese vocabulary more effectively. Whether you are starting from Hiragana or pushing for JLPT N1, you'll find something useful here.
Thirty-four articles, grouped below by what you're trying to do. Everything here is free to read, and each article links straight into the word lists and study tools so you can practise what you've just read. New here? Start with the kana guides, then work down the page.
Getting started
The first weeks: reading kana, saying things out loud, and handling numbers and greetings without freezing.
How to memorize Hiragana fast (and actually keep it)
A 7-day plan for all 46 characters, plus the full gojūon chart, dakuten, yōon, and the look-alike pairs that cause most reading errors.
How to memorize Katakana in 5 days
The 5-day katakana plan, the シ/ツ and ソ/ン look-alikes, the ー long-vowel bar, and the extended combinations signage uses constantly.
Japanese greetings and self-introduction: what to say from day one
Time-of-day rules, the household and workplace phrases textbooks skip, a full はじめまして template, and why さようなら isn't the everyday goodbye.
Japanese numbers, dates and time: reading them without freezing
The two counting systems, the 4/7/9 reading changes, the 万 unit shift that trips up English speakers, irregular day-of-month readings, and telling time.
8 Japanese pronunciation rules every learner should know
Mora timing, long vowels, the sokuon っ, devoicing, the Japanese flap r, and an honest account of how much pitch accent is worth studying.
Grammar essentials
The structural pieces that vocabulary sits inside. Each one is a common sticking point rather than a full grammar course.
Japanese sentence structure: word order for English speakers
SOV order, particles as role markers, topic versus subject, relative clauses that come before the noun, and dropped pronouns.
Japanese particles guide: は, が, を, に, で and friends
The core particles with real example sentences, a practical は vs が explanation, and the error patterns learners hit most.
Japanese verb conjugation basics: godan, ichidan, and irregular verbs
How to identify the three verb groups (including the -eru/-iru trap), with full conjugation tables for 書く, 食べる, する and 来る.
The te-form (て形): how to build it and the ten ways it's used
Formation by verb group, the いて/いで voicing rule, and the patterns it unlocks — ている, てください, てしまう, ておく and the giving-receiving set.
Japanese adjectives: i-adjectives vs na-adjectives
Full conjugation tables for both classes, the きれい and 嫌い trap words, the いい irregularity, adverbs, comparison, なる and すぎる.
Transitive and intransitive verb pairs (自動詞・他動詞)
Why Japanese splits "open" into 開ける and 開く, the を/が consequence, a table of the common pairs, and how ている differs across the pair.
Japanese conditionals: と, ば, たら and なら explained
Four ways to say "if": how each is formed, which one blocks requests, why たら is the most useful early, and which to learn first.
Japanese counters (助数詞): the 15 counters you actually need
つ, 人, 本, 枚 and the rest worth memorizing, with the tricky reading-change tables and what to do when you're unsure.
Keigo basics: polite, humble, and honorific Japanese without fear
Teineigo, sonkeigo and kenjougo untangled — the essential irregular pairs table and when beginners actually need keigo.
Kanji and vocabulary
How Japanese words are built, and which ones are worth learning first.
Learning kanji through radicals: the 30 that unlock 1,000 kanji
Semantic and phonetic components, 30 high-frequency radicals with example kanji and vocabulary, and a mnemonic strategy.
On'yomi vs kun'yomi: how to know which reading to use
The compound rule, the okurigana rule, rendaku voicing, gemination, and the jukujikun irregulars like 今日 and 大人.
The most common Japanese verbs and how to use them
Around 80 high-frequency verbs by topic with readings and verb groups, plus the ones that surprise English speakers: ある vs いる, 分かる, and the wear verbs.
Katakana loanwords (外来語): patterns, pitfalls, and false friends
How English maps to katakana, abbreviation patterns like パソコン, and the wasei-eigo false friends that trip up beginners.
Japanese onomatopoeia: giongo, gitaigo, and why textbooks skip them
The reduplication and voicing patterns, the と / する frames, and high-frequency tables for feelings, food, motion and weather.
JLPT and JPT preparation
Level-by-level vocabulary targets, realistic timelines, and how the exams actually work.
JLPT N5 essential words: the 224 words to start with
224 N5 words grouped by topic with readings and meanings — greetings, family, time, places, food, verbs, adjectives, question words and counters.
JLPT N5 grammar: the core points, with examples
Every core N5 grammar point with Japanese examples, readings and translations — particles, ます-form, adjectives, ある/いる, てください and more.
JLPT N4 vocabulary preview — what's new beyond N5
What changes from N5 to N4, with 160+ words grouped by verbs, transitive pairs, adjectives, adverbs and abstract nouns, plus a 16-week plan.
How long does it take to pass JLPT N3?
Realistic timelines by starting point, a month-by-month 12-month plan, why N3 is the difficulty cliff, and self-check milestones.
JLPT N2 study plan: a realistic 6-month roadmap
Month-by-month N2 preparation with weekly hour budgets, vocabulary targets, and the balance between grammar, reading and listening.
JLPT N1 vocabulary: how to close the 10,000-word gap
Frequency-based prioritization, kango vs wago, and reading-driven acquisition for the biggest vocabulary jump in the JLPT.
JLPT test day: format, timing, scoring and exam-room strategy
Section structure by level, the sectional minimums that fail otherwise-passing candidates, pacing plans, and answer-sheet mechanics.
JLPT vs JPT — which Japanese exam should you take?
A side-by-side comparison of format, scoring and recognition, who each exam actually serves, and a decision guide with concrete scenarios.
JPT explained: format, score bands, and how to prepare
The JPT's 200-question format, what the 450/600/800/900 score bands mean, and a section-by-section preparation strategy.
How to study
Method rather than content: what actually makes words stick, and how to build a routine you keep.
How to study Japanese vocabulary: seven methods compared
Wordlists, SRS, sentence mining, reading, listening, output and mnemonics compared on time cost and retention — plus the honest arithmetic of reaching 10,000 words.
Spaced repetition for Japanese vocabulary
The forgetting curve, expanding review intervals, leech handling, and how to run a sustainable daily review routine.
A 30-minute daily Japanese routine for self-learners
Three schedules (15, 30 and 60 minutes) broken into blocks, how to recover from missed days, and how to adjust the mix by level.
Practical Japanese
Vocabulary for the situations you'll actually be standing in.
Japanese travel phrases: airport, station, hotel and shop
Phrases by situation with readings — plus the set phrases staff will say at you, which travellers almost never prepare for.
Reading Japanese restaurant menus
Cooking methods, proteins, staples and drinks, how dish names combine compositionally, ticket machines, and allergy vocabulary with an honest caveat.
Business Japanese email: structure, set phrases and a template
The fixed skeleton of a Japanese business email, the essential set phrases, 様 and 御中 title rules, and two complete worked examples.
Reading is only half of it. Take any word you meet in these guides straight into the study page for flashcards and a quiz, keep the ones that slip in your review deck, or pick up today's ten words to keep the habit going.