Why signage is a separate language
You can study Japanese for two years, pass a level, read a short story — and still stand frozen in front of a ticket machine. That is not a gap in your ability. It is a gap in register. Textbooks teach the Japanese of sentences; signs speak in labels: compressed, verb-free, one word per action. 立入禁止 is not a sentence, it is four characters welded into an instruction: entering — forbidden.
The consolation is that this register is closed. The same 150-odd compounds run every station, shop, appliance and notice board in the country, so unlike conversation, the set never grows. Learn it once and it stays paid for.
Every sign in this test, by category
Station and travel
| Sign | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 出口 | でぐち | Exit — 出 go out + 口 opening |
| 改札口 | かいさつぐち | Ticket gate |
| 精算 | せいさん | Fare adjustment — pay the difference before the gate |
| 乗換 | のりかえ | Transfer to another line |
| 各駅停車 | かくえきていしゃ | Local train — literally every-station-stopping |
| 快速 | かいそく | Rapid service — skips stations |
| 特急 | とっきゅう | Limited express — often needs an extra fare |
| 終電 | しゅうでん | Last train of the night |
| 自由席 | じゆうせき | Non-reserved seating |
| 優先席 | ゆうせんせき | Priority seating |
Deeper dive: Kanji at train stations and your first 24 hours in Japan.
Convenience store and food
| Sign | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 賞味期限 | しょうみきげん | Best-before date — quality, not safety |
| 消費期限 | しょうひきげん | Use-by date — the safety deadline on fresh food |
| 税込 | ぜいこみ | Tax included (税抜 = tax excluded) |
| 半額 | はんがく | Half price |
| 温め | あたため | Heating it up — what the clerk is offering |
| 持ち帰り | もちかえり | Takeaway (店内 = eat in) |
| 大盛り | おおもり | Large portion |
| 食べ放題 | たべほうだい | All you can eat (飲み放題 = all you can drink) |
| 要冷蔵 | ようれいぞう | Must be kept refrigerated |
| 会計 | かいけい | Payment / the checkout |
Deeper dive: konbini kanji, supermarket kanji and menu kanji.
Appliances and home
| Sign | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 冷房 | れいぼう | Cooling — 冫 is the ice radical |
| 暖房 | だんぼう | Heating — 日 is the sun |
| 除湿 | じょしつ | Dehumidify (often labelled ドライ) |
| 送風 | そうふう | Fan only — no heating, no cooling |
| 脱水 | だっすい | Spin dry — literally remove-water |
| 乾燥 | かんそう | Drying |
| 炊飯 | すいはん | Cook rice — the real start button |
| 保温 | ほおん | Keep warm — the one that is already lit |
| 解凍 | かいとう | Defrost |
| 追い焚き | おいだき | Reheat the water already in the bath |
Deeper dive: the kanji on your air conditioner.
Warnings, shops and streets
| Sign | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 立入禁止 | たちいりきんし | No entry |
| 非常口 | ひじょうぐち | Emergency exit |
| 使用中 | しようちゅう | In use / occupied |
| 準備中 | じゅんびちゅう | Not open yet — the shop is preparing |
| 故障中 | こしょうちゅう | Out of order |
| 定休日 | ていきゅうび | Regular closing day |
| 土足厳禁 | どそくげんきん | No outdoor shoes beyond this point |
| 頭上注意 | ずじょうちゅうい | Mind your head |
| 足元注意 | あしもとちゅうい | Watch your step |
| 満員 | まんいん | Full — no room, no seats |
Deeper dive: 50 kanji signs you see every day.
Medicine and the drugstore
| Sign | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 毎食後 | まいしょくご | After every meal |
| 食間 | しょっかん | Between meals — not during them |
| 頓服 | とんぷく | Only when symptoms appear |
| 内服 | ないふく | Taken internally (外用 = applied externally) |
| 解熱 | げねつ | Fever reducing |
| 目薬 | めぐすり | Eye drops |
| 風邪薬 | かぜぐすり | Cold medicine |
| 副作用 | ふくさよう | Side effects |
Deeper dive: reading a Japanese medicine box.
Rubbish, post and building notices
| Sign | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 燃えるゴミ | もえるゴミ | Burnable rubbish |
| 資源ごみ | しげんごみ | Recyclables |
| 粗大ごみ | そだいごみ | Oversized waste — needs a booking and a sticker |
| 再配達 | さいはいたつ | Redelivery |
| 不在 | ふざい | Absent — nobody was home |
| 保管期限 | ほかんきげん | Holding deadline before return to sender |
| 断水 | だんすい | Water supply shut off |
| 検針 | けんしん | Meter reading |
Deeper dive: trash day, delivery slips and building notices.
Frequently asked questions
Far fewer than a JLPT level suggests. Public signage in Japan runs on a closed set of roughly 150 to 200 fixed compounds that repeat nationwide - 出口, 改札口, 精算, 立入禁止, 非常口, 準備中, 税込, 賞味期限, 冷房, 燃えるゴミ and their neighbours. They are not read like sentences: each is a whole-shape label attached to one action, which is why they can be learned as images in a few evenings even by someone who cannot yet read a paragraph.
Four groups cause most errors. Pairs that look alike and mean opposite things: 冷房 cooling versus 暖房 heating, 賞味期限 best-before versus 消費期限 use-by, 炊飯 cook rice versus 保温 keep warm. Words with no English equivalent on the sign: 精算 fare adjustment, 追い焚き reheating bath water, 検針 meter reading. Instructions that read backwards to an English speaker: 食間 means between meals, not during them. And status words that all end in 中: 使用中 in use, 準備中 not open yet, 故障中 out of order.
No. A JLPT placement test measures grammar, reading comprehension and vocabulary against exam levels. This test measures something the JLPT does not examine at all: whether you can read the fixed labels that run daily life in Japan. It is common to pass N3 and still be unable to start a washing machine, and equally common for a resident with no JLPT level to read half of these instantly. If you want your exam level instead, use the free JLPT level test.
Learn them as images tied to actions rather than as vocabulary, and meet them where you actually see them. Scanning a real sign with an OCR scanner gives you the reading and meaning on the spot, and sending those characters into a spaced-repetition queue means the second encounter is recognition instead of decoding. Because signage is a closed set that repeats every single day, it responds unusually well to short ambient review - a lock screen widget showing a handful of due characters will clear the whole set in a couple of weeks.
Read the whole country, not just this test
Kanjijo turns Japanese you cannot read into Japanese you can: an OCR scanner that reads any sign, box or panel through your camera, exclusive mnemonics for every kanji and vocabulary word, an SRS engine that reviews each card at the moment before you forget, and home, lock screen and interactive test widgets that keep the characters in front of you all day. Then the full path: N5–N1 kanji, vocabulary and grammar, JLPT reading and listening practice, mock tests, conversation, shadowing and dictation. Free on iPhone.
Download Kanjijo Free