I've just finshed Volume 1 (even though I haven't finished reviewing everything yet), and in my congratulatory naivete I believed I could at least recognize the meanings of all the kanji for the Japanese Proficiency Test Level 1. I started up the facebook kanji box application, and was shocked to discover that there were MANY kanji I had never seen before. I confirmed that these were in fact JLPT 1 kanji from http://www.jlpt-kanji.com.

So my question is: How many non-RTK1 kanji are there on the 1級?

I don't want to do RTK3; is there a database somewhere that contains all of the additional kanji that I need to know?

I appreciate any help that people much better than me at kanji can offer.

[Katsuo]

esgrove Wrote:So my question is: How many non-RTK1 kanji are there on the 1級?

95

esgrove Wrote:I don't want to do RTK3; is there a database somewhere that contains all of the additional kanji that I need to know?

I posted a list here.

Wow, that you so much, you've saved me a lot of work.

Sorry to open up a new thread that seems to have already been covered.

Actually, after copying and memorizing the list that Katsuo linked to in the previous message, I've found that it isn't comprehensive.

http://www.jlpt-kanji.com/list_all.php

This site (as well as a few JLPT kanji review materials I have), lists many kanji beyond the 95 delineated in your post.

I guess it's back to the drawing board to figure out how many more kanji I need to learn before I can be confident on JLPT kanji reviews.

[Katsuo]

The list I linked to is correct. It is taken directly from the content specification book written by the body that sets the Proficiency test. 日本語能力試験出題基準　国際交流基金, published by 凡人者 in March 2006 ISBN 9784893586117 price 2,205円.

The web site you linked to above unfortunately merely combines the Joyo kanji (1945) with an old version of the name kanji list (284) that was current twelve years ago for a total of 2,229 characters. Most name kanji are not specified for the test, and that web site needs to correct its information. (Incidentally the official name kanji list is often updated, and in 2004 was increased to 983 characters.)

Note that the specification book above is intended for Japanese native speakers who set questions for the test rather than for students who are taking it.

Note also that the book states that question compilers may include 20% of the kanji from outside the list at their own discretion (though they should choose kanji of a similar level).

In practice it's much smaller than 20%, but it does mean that almost anything might come up, and there is no list guaranteed to cover every kanji that could appear.

(Edit: more information added)