N4 matters for a reason N5 does not: it satisfies the language requirement for the Specified Skilled Worker visa.
The other way to satisfy it is JFT-Basic at 200 points or above. Which of the two you should take is the real question, and it is answered at the end of this article.
What N4 covers
Basic Japanese used in everyday situations — a step beyond the first textbook:
- Around 300 kanji and roughly 1,500 words, as commonly estimated
- Verb forms in earnest — て-form and what attaches to it, plain form, ない-form, た-form
- Everyday grammar — 〜てもいいですか, 〜なければなりません, 〜たことがあります, giving and receiving
- Short passages and everyday conversation, understood at a moderate speed
As with every level, those kanji and vocabulary numbers are estimates. The JLPT has published no official lists since 2010; the figures circulating online are reconstructions.
The format
| Scoring sections | Language Knowledge & Reading (120), Listening (60) |
| Total | 180 |
| Pass mark | 90 |
| Sectional minimums | 38/120 and 19/60 |
The sectional minimum is the thing to watch. Clearing 90 overall while scoring 18 in listening is a fail. See JLPT passing scores.
How long it takes
From zero, six to twelve months at eight to twelve hours a week. From N5, three to six months.
N4 or JFT-Basic for the SSW visa?
Both satisfy the requirement. They are not equivalent in practice.
| JFT-Basic | JLPT N4 | |
|---|---|---|
| How often | Roughly monthly | Twice a year (July, December; some places December only) |
| Format | Computer-based | Paper |
| Result | Provisional on screen; official in ~5 business days | Roughly two months later |
| Level | A2 | Comparable, slightly broader |
| Recognised by name by employers | Less so | Widely |
| Failure means | Rebook next month | Wait up to six months |
If speed matters, take JFT-Basic. The frequency difference is the whole argument, and it is decisive. A candidate who fails N4 in December waits until July. A candidate who fails JFT-Basic can sit it again within weeks.
If you want the certificate employers ask for by name, take JLPT. “N4” and “N3” are the currency of Japanese job advertisements in a way that JFT-Basic is not, fairly or otherwise.
The sensible order for most people heading to Japan for work: JFT-Basic first, for the visa and for speed. Then continue studying towards N4 and N3 while the rest of the SSW process runs — the skills test, the employer search, the Certificate of Eligibility, which together take six months to a year.
That is not wasted effort. Higher Japanese widens which employers will consider you, and you are going to be waiting anyway.
If you are taking N4
- Listening daily, from the start. It is where the sectional minimum fails people.
- Verb forms until they are automatic. N4 is largely a test of whether verb conjugation has become reflexive rather than calculated.
- Reading short practical texts, not only textbook dialogues.
- Full-length timed papers in the final month, and check your result by section, not by total.
For where N4 sits on the way up, see N4 versus N3. For the fuller comparison of the two routes to a visa, JFT-Basic or JLPT.