About Exam Sensei

Why this exists

Most free Japanese practice tests give you a score and nothing else. You finish, see 14 out of 20, and learn precisely one thing: that you got six questions wrong. Which six, and why, and what to do about it — that part is missing, and that part is the whole value.

Exam Sensei is built the other way round. The score is the least interesting output. Every question carries an explanation that says why the right answer is right and, more usefully, why the tempting wrong answer is tempting. Results break down by section, because both the JLPT and JFT-Basic can fail you on a single weak section regardless of your total.

What is here

6 mock tests covering JFT-Basic and JLPT N5 to N1, with a timer, question flagging and a navigator, 97 questions in total
An explanation for every question, written to teach the pattern rather than the item
Exam guides for both tests: format, scoring rules, registration and the visa requirements behind them
Study guides on method — study plans, grammar, listening, exam day

How the questions are written

Each practice question is written to mirror the structure of a real item at that level: the same instruction wording, the same question types, and distractors chosen to catch a specific, identifiable misunderstanding rather than to be randomly wrong.

That last point matters. In a good multiple-choice question the wrong answers are diagnostic — picking option 3 should mean something specific about what you do not yet know. Where a question tests 休 against 体, or びょういん against びよういん, or a ただし clause you skipped, that is deliberate, and the explanation names it.

These are original questions written for this site. They are not reproductions of past papers, which are copyright of the examining bodies.

What we get wrong, and the limits

Worth stating plainly rather than burying:

Listening has no audio yet. Listening items are presented as scripts to read once at speed. That is a genuine compromise — it exercises comprehension but not ear-training. Audio is on the roadmap.
The practice sets are shorter than the real exams. A 20-question set is a diagnostic, not a simulation. Stamina is a real factor in a 165-minute N1 paper and we do not test it.
We cannot predict your scaled score. The JLPT uses scaled scoring through an unpublished equating process. Our percentages tell you where your weaknesses are; they do not forecast a result.
Kanji, vocabulary and study-hour figures are estimates. The JLPT has not published a content specification since the 2010 revision. Anyone presenting those numbers as official — including us, if we ever slip — is overstating it.

Not affiliated with any examining body

Exam Sensei is independent. The JLPT is administered by the Japan Foundation and Japan Educational Exchanges and Services. JFT-Basic is administered by the Japan Foundation and delivered through Prometric. Visa requirements are set by Japan's Immigration Services Agency.

We have no relationship with any of them, and nothing here is official guidance. Confirm dates, fees, eligibility and visa requirements at the source before you act on them:

Found a mistake?

Please tell us. A wrong answer key or a misleading explanation on a study site is worse than no site at all, and we would rather hear about it than not.

Email hello@examsensei.online with the test name and question number. Corrections get made quickly.

How it is paid for

It is free and intended to stay free. There is no account, no premium tier and no email capture — there is nothing to sign up to, which is why you will not find a newsletter form anywhere on the site.