JLPT N1 Vocabulary List — 24 Japanese Words with Meanings

N1 vocabulary is where Japanese stops accommodating you. The commonly cited figure is around 10,000 words, drawn from academic writing, literature, editorials, and specialised professional language. Many entries at this level have a plainer everyday equivalent, and the point of learning them is knowing which register a text is written in and why the author chose the heavier word.

The collection here is smaller than the lower levels because N1 vocabulary rewards depth over breadth. Each entry explains not just the meaning but the kind of writing the word actually belongs to.

All JLPT N1 words on NihongoWords (24)

B

• buchigire (ぶちぎれ) — snapping with rage; blowing up; going ballistic

C

• chinpira (チンピラ) — small-time punk; low-level thug; hoodlum; young yakuza lackey

G

• geido (芸道) — the way of the performing arts / a traditional Japanese artistic discipline pursued as a lifelong path

H

• haji (恥) — shame / disgrace / embarrassment
• hyouge (ひょうげ) — hyouge; playful wit blended with aesthetic sensibility; artful humor and cultivated taste

J

• jo-ha-kyu (序破急) — jo-ha-kyu; a three-part structural principle of introduction-development-acceleration used in Japanese performing arts
• juunin toiro (十人十色) — to each their own; different strokes for different folks; ten people, ten colors
• juushoku (住職) — head priest of a Buddhist temple; chief monk

K

• kintsuba (金鍔) — kintsuba; a traditional Japanese wagashi made of adzuki bean paste wrapped in thin flour coating
• kizuna (絆) — a deep emotional bond between people
• komusubi (小結) — third-highest rank in sumo wrestling

M

• monaka (最中) — monaka; a Japanese wagashi made of crisp wafer shells filled with sweet bean paste

O

• oujou (往生) — going to paradise (Buddhist); dying; being at a complete loss; giving up

P

• pocky (ポッキー) — a popular Japanese snack consisting of thin biscuit sticks coated in chocolate or other flavored coatings, manufactured by Glico

R

• ramune (ラムネ) — a Japanese carbonated soft drink sold in a distinctive bottle sealed with a glass marble
• rinki ouhen (臨機応変) — adapting flexibly to circumstances; playing it by ear; handling situations as they arise

S

• sabi (寂び) — a Japanese aesthetic concept that finds beauty in imperfection, age, and the melancholy of things that have been worn by time
• sama (様) — highly formal honorific suffix, equivalent to ‘Mr./Mrs./Miss’ but considerably more respectful
• shitto (嫉妬) — jealousy; envy

T

• tegaru (手軽) — easy; simple; light; convenient; inexpensive

W

• wabi (侘び) — wabi; the beauty of imperfection, impermanence, and incompleteness; rustic simplicity

Y

• yakuza (やくざ) — Japanese organized crime syndicates, or a member of such a group
• yokan (羊羹) — a firm, jellied Japanese confection made from red bean paste, agar, and sugar

Z

• zanshin (残心) — zanshin; lingering mind; sustained alertness and presence after completing an action