JLPT N5 essential words: 100 vocab to start with

JLPT N5 is the entry-level Japanese proficiency exam. You don't need thousands of words to pass — but you do need the right ones. Below is a curated list of 100 essential JLPT N5 vocabulary words grouped by topic, plus tips on how to study them efficiently with Mirai Voca.

1. Greetings & basics (10 words)

こんにちは (hello), おはよう (good morning), こんばんは (good evening), さようなら (goodbye), ありがとう (thank you), すみません (excuse me), はい (yes), いいえ (no), おねがいします (please), ごめんなさい (sorry)

2. People & family (10 words)

わたし (I), あなた (you), ともだち (friend), せんせい (teacher), がくせい (student), おとうさん (father), おかあさん (mother), あに (older brother), あね (older sister), かぞく (family)

3. Numbers & time (15 words)

いち (1), に (2), さん (3), よん (4), ご (5), ろく (6), なな (7), はち (8), きゅう (9), じゅう (10), きょう (today), あした (tomorrow), きのう (yesterday), じかん (time), ふん (minute)

4. Daily verbs (15 words)

いく (to go), くる (to come), たべる (to eat), のむ (to drink), みる (to see / watch), きく (to listen), はなす (to speak), よむ (to read), かく (to write), する (to do), ある (to exist [things]), いる (to exist [people]), かう (to buy), わかる (to understand), おぼえる (to remember)

5. Common adjectives (10 words)

おおきい (big), ちいさい (small), あたらしい (new), ふるい (old), たかい (high / expensive), やすい (cheap), おいしい (delicious), おもしろい (interesting), いい (good), わるい (bad)

6. Places & directions (10 words)

がっこう (school), いえ (home), えき (station), みせ (shop), びょういん (hospital), みち (road), ひだり (left), みぎ (right), まえ (front), うしろ (behind)

7. Food & objects (15 words)

みず (water), おちゃ (tea), ごはん (rice / meal), パン (bread), にく (meat), さかな (fish), やさい (vegetable), くだもの (fruit), ほん (book), えんぴつ (pencil), かばん (bag), でんわ (phone), くるま (car), でんしゃ (train), とけい (clock / watch)

8. Question & connector words (15 words)

なに (what), だれ (who), どこ (where), いつ (when), なぜ / どうして (why), いくら (how much), いくつ (how many), どう (how), これ (this), それ (that), あれ (that over there), ここ (here), そこ (there), あそこ (over there), そして (and then)

9. How to study these efficiently

• Don't try to memorize all 100 in one sitting. Take 10 a day across 10 days, then review the full list at the end.
• Use Mirai Voca's flashcards on shuffle mode. Memorizing order gives a false sense of mastery.
• After 10 days, take the JLPT N5 quiz on Mirai Voca to see which words you actually retained.
• Make tiny example sentences. "わたしは みずを のみます" (I drink water) is more memorable than the bare word.
• Re-review missed words the next day, not later in the week. Same-day review is by far the most effective.

10. What's next

Once these 100 words feel natural, double the count to 200 with the next set, then move to N5 grammar drills. Mirai Voca's JLPT module is organized into Days specifically for this kind of incremental study.