Applications for certain levels of the Japanese-Language Proficiency Test, widely used as a requirement for foreign nationals’ employment or study in Japan, have closed ahead of schedule, the organizer disclosed Monday, highlighting a surge in demand that has outpaced available test capacity.
The Japan Educational Exchanges and Services, which administers the tests in the country twice a year, said it halted applications early after struggling to secure enough venues to accommodate a sharp rise in test takers, raising concerns that many prospective applicants have been shut out.
The original deadline to apply to take the test on July 5 was April 7, but the organizer stopped accepting applications for N4 and N3 levels of the five-tier exam on March 25 and 27, respectively.
Foreign nationals seeking to work under the specified skilled worker program in labor-strapped industries are, in principle, required to pass a Japanese-language proficiency test.
The organizer has been urging employers and educational institutions to consider alternative Japanese-language tests in place of N4 and N3 where possible.
But a government source said N3 in particular has no practical substitute, meaning affected applicants may have to wait until the next test in December.
With N1 the most advanced and N5 the most basic, N4 measures the ability to follow conversations spoken slowly and read simple Japanese, while N3 reflects practical everyday Japanese, including the ability to follow conversations at near-natural speed and understand common written materials.
Some jobs, like bus and taxi drivers, require applicants to demonstrate N3-level proficiency.
Applications reached a record 1.05 million worldwide for the December session last year, according to the organizer and the Japan Foundation, which administers the test abroad.
In the previous July session, about 900,000 people applied in Japan and overseas. About 770,000 of them actually sat the test, including roughly 220,000 at the N3 level and 180,000 at N4.
The Japanese-Language Proficiency Test was established in 1984 as a means of evaluating and certifying the Japanese ability of non-native speakers.
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