Official web site of JPT　（Japanese Proficiency Test）

What is JPT（Japanese Proficiency Test）?

JPT is developed and conducted primarily for Japanese language learners whose native language is not Japanese, and aims to objectively measure and evaluate their communication skills in everyday situations, including business. JPT was developed in 1985, and has been conducted more than 390 times in 39 years. JPT has more than 1Million applicants from South Korea, Japan, China, Thailand, Vietnam, and Indonesia (as of October 2024). JPT is used as a test (*) to certify that a student has Japanese language proficiency equivalent to or above A1 or A2 in the "Frame of Reference for Japanese Language Education".

*A test that certifies Japanese language proficiency equivalent to A1 or higher in the "Frame of Reference for Japanese Language Education" for admission to Japanese language educational institutions (315 points or higher)

*A test that certifies Japanese language proficiency equivalent to A2 or higher (370 points or higher) in the "Frame of Reference for Japanese Language Education" stipulated in the standards announced by Japanese language educational institutions.

Differences from JLPT

JLPT is held by an affiliated organization of Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs also known as Japan Foundation. It is held twice annually and consists of level N1-N5 a 5 grade evaluation, and candidates need to wait for 2 months until the result announcement.
On the other hand, JPT（Japanese Proficiency Test） is held 12 times a year, and scores will be shown with the units of 5 score, results will be announced after 2 weeks.
The test can be applied whenever, and how many times the candidates want to measure their ability. And since JPT has a maximum score of 990, it can be used to apply for certain occupation that needs a sophisticated Japanese skills. JPT evaluation’s does not determine the pass and failure of test, instead it will accurately measure the ability comparison of the candidates.

JPT and JLPT’s Table of Comparison

	JPT	JLPT
Evaluation method	Non grade evaluation with 990 maximum score	N1-N5 a 5 grade evaluation
Test frequency	12 times a year	Twice a year
Result announcement	In 2 weeks time	Around 2 months
Level comparison	Score above 660 points	N1
	Score above 525 points	N2
	Score above 430 points	N3
	Score above 375 points	N4
	Score above 315 points	N5

Features of JPT

Maximum score of 990 points type test

One test for all level

Test will be 12 times a year, and 2 weeks for result announcement

Resident status examination needed to enter Japanese educational institution

35 years track record in South Korea

Total of more than 1Million applicants from many countries in Asia
(as of October 2024)

Question structure and content measurement

JPT’s question structure is the same as TOEIC®, which will be 100 questions for listening, and 100 questions for reading, in total of 200 questions. Since questions will be changed for every time the test is held, JPT uses a high dimensional Item Response Theory to adjust the difficulty level so there will be no difference in the evaluation standard just like TOEIC® and TOEFL®.

	Part	Number of questions	Content measurement	Score
Listening (45 minutes)	Describing pictures	20 questions	To measure one’s listening ability and immediate decision-making ability by looking at pictures while listening to the recording, and choose a correct answer from 4 available picture options. Also a part to get used to the recording.	495 points
	Question and Answer period	30 questions	To measure the ability to quickly respond to a conversation by listening to short conversation recordings, and choose a correct answer.
	Dialogue sentence	30 questions	To measure the ability to catch the situation, contents’ outline and detail information correctly by listening to the conversation.
	Explanation sentence	20 questions	A part where candidates will listen to a long narration, and answer 3-4 questions about the content of the narration to measure the ability to understand narration contents.
Reading (50 minutes)	Finding the correct answer	20 questions	To measure one’s basic Japanese knowledge by evaluating Japanese kanji literacy including reading, writing, general grammar and vocabularies.	495 points
	Error correction	20 questions	Indirectly measure one’s ability to compose a basic sentence by choosing an answer from 4 underlined vocabulary or sentence which is wrongly used.
	Fill in the blanks	30 questions	To measure one’s ability to compose complete sentences by completing the blanks from certain passages correctly. This part’s goal is the same as the Error correction’s which is to measure one’s basic sentences composition ability.
	Reading	30 questions	To measure one’s ability to understand the flow of conversations and detail expressions by reading various long passages.
Total		200 questions		990 points

Test Schedule

Test frequency	Test date	Test site	Registration period
The 382th	January 21st, 2024 (Sunday)	Tokyo, Osaka, Aichi	November 21st, 2023 (Tuesday) – December 21st, 2023 (Thursday)
The 383th	February 25th, 2024 (Sunday)	Tokyo, Osaka, Aichi	December 25th, 2023 (Monday) – January 25th, 2024 (Thursday)
The 384th	March 24th, 2024 (Sunday)	Tokyo, Osaka, Aichi, Fukuoka	January 24th, 2024 (Wednesday) – February 26th, 2024 (Monday)
The 385th	April 21st, 2024 (Sunday)	Tokyo, Osaka	February 21st, 2024 (Wednesday) – March 22nd, 2024 (Friday)
The 386th	May 19th, 2024 (Sunday)	Tokyo, Osaka, Aichi	March 19th, 2024 (Tuesday) – April 19th, 2024 (Friday)
The 387th	June 23rd, 2024 (Sunday)	Tokyo, Osaka	April 23rd, 2024 (Tuesday) – May 23rd, 2024 (Thursday)
The 388th	July 21st, 2024 (Sunday)	Tokyo, Osaka	May 21st, 2024 (Tuesday) – June 21st, 2024 (Friday)
The 389th	August 18th, 2024 (Sunday)	Tokyo, Osaka, Aichi, Fukuoka	June 18th, 2024 (Tuesday) – July 18th, 2024 (Thursday)
The 390th	September 22nd, 2024 (Sunday)	Tokyo, Osaka, Okayama	July 22nd, 2024 (Monday) – August 22nd, 2024 (Thursday)
The 391th	October 20th, 2024 (Sunday)	Tokyo, Osaka, Aichi, Fukuoka	August 20th, 2024 (Tuesday) – September 20th, 2024 (Friday)
The 392th	November 17th, 2024 (Sunday)	Tokyo, Osaka	September 17th, 2024 (Tuesday) – October 17th, 2024 (Thursday)
The 393th	December 22nd, 2024 (Sunday)	Tokyo, Osaka	October 22nd, 2024 (Tuesday) – November 22nd, 2024 (Friday)

Test frequency	Test date	Test site	Registration period
The 394th	January 19th, 2025 (Sunday)	Tokyo, Osaka, Aichi	November 19th, 2024 (Tuesday) – December 19th, 2024 (Thursday)
The 395th	February 16th, 2025 (Sunday)	Tokyo, Osaka, Aichi	December 16th, 2024 (Monday) – January 16th, 2025 (Thursday)
The 396th	March 16th, 2025 (Sunday)	Tokyo, Osaka, Aichi, Fukuoka	January 16th, 2025 (Thursday) – February 17th, 2025 (Monday)
The 397th	April 20th, 2025 (Sunday)	Tokyo, Osaka	February 20th, 2025 (Thursday) – March 21st, 2025 (Friday)
The 398th	May 25th, 2025 (Sunday)	Tokyo, Osaka	March 25th, 2025 (Tuesday) – April 25th, 2025 (Friday)
The 399th	June 22nd, 2025 (Sunday)	Tokyo, Osaka	April 22nd, 2025 (Tuesday) – May 22nd, 2025 (Thursday)
The 400th	July 20th, 2025 (Sunday)	Tokyo, Osaka	May 20th, 2025 (Tuesday) – June 20th, 2025 (Friday)
The 401st	August 17th, 2025 (Sunday)	Tokyo, Osaka, Aichi	June 17th, 2025 (Tuesday) – July 17th, 2025 (Thursday)
The 402nd	September 21st, 2025 (Sunday)	Tokyo, Osaka, Okayama	July 18th, 2025 (Friday) – August 21st, 2025 (Thursday)
The 403rd	October 19th, 2025 (Sunday)	Tokyo, Osaka, Aichi, Fukuoka	August 19th, 2025 (Tuesday) – September 19th, 2025 (Friday)
The 404th	November 23rd, 2025 (Sunday)	Tokyo, Osaka, Aichi	September 22nd, 2025 (Monday) – October 23rd, 2025 (Thursday)
The 405th	December 21st, 2025 (Sunday)	Tokyo, Osaka	October 21st, 2025 (Tuesday) – November 21st, 2025 (Friday)

Test procedure

step1

Download the Software

JPT app is necessary to register for JPT. The app can be used for registration, and to view test results for JPT（Japanese Proficiency Test）. Create an account after downloading the app.

step2

Test registration

Select desired date, and place, and upload your picture.
*Picture uploaded will be used in the report. Please select a picture of you wearing suits or clean clothing.

step3

Test fee payment

Credit card payment, and convenience store payment are available.
￥7,700 (tax included).
*Tablet can not be used.

Test day

Please come to the registered test site

*Since test site might be changed due to the number of applicants, notice will be given at most 2 weeks before the test date.

Testimonial

NHU
(Vietnam,
Japanese language school student)

Since JPT covers all the question from JLPT’s N1-N5 questions, I can confirm my own Japanese ability, which is a great thing. And since I have the score of 695, I can apply to my university of choice which the minimum requirement is 600. I really think it will be great if more vocational school and university that use JPT certification as their application requirement. I feel that Japanese’s plain form is much harder than polite form after I took JPT, and I also feel that I need to improve my Kanji. In the future, I will use all my experiences, and Japanese ability earned to manage my own company after I return to Vietnam one day.

NHUT
(Vietnam,
Japanese language school student)

I started learning Japanese from my thoughts of wanting to study IT related things in Japan that I love so much, and my interest towards Japanese culture in the first place. I wanted to apply to a vocational school where I can learn Web Engineering, and I feel really glad after I received tuition fee reduction after I provided my vocational school my 775 JPT score. My vocational school once said that it will be advantageous to students to take JPT since it is held many times. I will put more effort in learning since I felt that my business Japanese skill is not enough and also I want to be a Web Engineer in Japan.

LIM LI SING SARAH LILIAN
(Singapore, University student)

My goal is to be able to land myself on a Japanese manufacture company and I want to be able to speak my mind freely using Japanese inside the company. I have compared several Japanese certification tests, and I feel that JPT is more approved in businesses aspect since JPT uses more business Japanese. I really want to be able to speak Japanese in various circumstances, not only in daily life, but including certain special situations too in the future.

KHAOKOM PHATSARAKORN
(Thailand, University student)

I started learning Japanese because there are a lot of Japanese company in Thailand, and I want to work for them. I really think JPT is a good certification test since we do not have to worry about passing or failing, and we can measure out ability, and we can still use the score to a certain degree even if it is not high enough. And I can understand which part of my Japanese skill is not enough by making this test a reference to myself. I really want to be able to use honorific form and learn business Japanese in the future.

FAQ

Inquiries about other Japanese certification test like JLPT, EJU: JPT is only managed by General Incorporated Association of Japanese Proficiency Test Implementation Committee. For further questions about JPT, can be viewed in the FAQ. Inquiries about other certification tests can be inquired to the respective organization (JLPT management organization, EJU management organization, etc).
Can JPT be taken by beginner, score below 400 for instance?: JPT can be taken by anyone from 0 knowledge of the language itself to the level close to native speaker since we will be scoring from 10-990 points. Which means people who just started to learn, until people who want to show their sophisticated communication ability can take the test. The thing is, JPT has various questions ranging from the easiest to the hardest with the same ratio amount. Because of that, even if the applicants can not answer all question, they can still measure their own ability.
Can JPT be used to apply for Specific Skilled Worker Visa?: JPT is used as a test (*) to certify that a student has Japanese language proficiency equivalent to or above A1 or A2 in the "Frame of Reference for Japanese Language Education". But unfortunately, it still can not be used to apply for Specific Skilled Worker visa. We are working towards it.
*A test that certifies Japanese language proficiency equivalent to A1 or higher in the "Frame of Reference for Japanese Language Education" for admission to Japanese language educational institutions (315 points or higher)
*A test that certifies Japanese language proficiency equivalent to A2 or higher (370 points or higher) in the "Frame of Reference for Japanese Language Education" stipulated in the standards announced by Japanese language educational institutions.
What kind of question will be there? Can I look at the sample questions?: You can view the sample questions here. For people who want to view more of the questions, past examination questions collected in JPT official guidebook can be purchased. This is the purchase form.
When can we know the test site?: In the case of JPT taken in Japan, We will send notices around 2 weeks before the test day through the app and E-mail.
How long is the validity period of JPT certification?: Validity period of JPT is 2 years.
In what way can JPT certificate be used in job hunt?: JPT is a test to measure and confirm one’s Japanese communication ability. JPT can be used to hunt job in various corporation depending on the minimum score requirement for each corporation. Please use JPT as a reference to your Japanese skill. Please refer to this page to view JPT score prospective employer.

Group test, or other inquiries