Irodori and JFT-Basic Vocabulary: A1 and A2 Word Counts

JFT-Basic has no official word list; the closest thing is its recommended coursebook, Irodori. Tomaru's Irodori lists come to 1,182 words for A1 and 2,451 more words for A2, so reaching A2 means about 3,600 words in total. At 20 new words a day, A1 takes about 60 study days and A1 plus A2 about 182.

• Going to Japan under Employment for Skill Development (from April 1, 2027): you need Japanese at A1 or higher before you start work. Start with the A1 list.
• Going as a Specified Skilled Worker (i): you need A2. On JFT-Basic, that is a score of 200 to 250. Learn both lists.
• Review every word the next day. Review a brand-new word the next day and about 6 in 10 stick. Wait a week and it's under half.

Written by the Tomaru team, the people who build the Tomaru vocabulary app. Source for Tomaru figures: Tomaru anonymized learning data (2026).

Irodori vocabulary in one table

What JFT-Basic is

JFT-Basic is the Japan Foundation Test for Basic Japanese. It measures the Japanese that foreign nationals need to communicate in everyday life when they move to Japan, mainly for work.

The key facts:

• Computer-based test at test centres. It is held every month as a rule, in Japan and overseas, mainly in Asia.
• Four sections, about 50 questions: Script and Vocabulary, Conversation and Expression, Listening Comprehension, Reading Comprehension.
• 60 minutes in total.
• Your score shows a level: A1 is 145–174 points, A2.1 is 175–199, and A2 (A2.2) is 200–250.
• Since August 2026, the test judges A1 and A2.1 as well as A2.
• You can retake it if your score is 199 or lower, with 45 days or more between test dates.
• Results do not expire.

Which level do you need?

The official outline of the Employment for Skill Development program also sets a Japanese level for each field as one of the conditions for changing employers by choice. Check the rules for your field.

Is there an official JFT-Basic vocabulary list?

No. The Japan Foundation does not publish a word list for JFT-Basic. It recommends the coursebook *Irodori: Japanese for Life in Japan* and the IRODORI online course.

Irodori is free. The Japan Foundation publishes it as PDF books with MP3 audio. It has four books:

• Starter: A1
• Elementary 1: A2
• Elementary 2: A2
• Pre-Intermediate: A2/B1

Irodori's own word lists come lesson by lesson. The Irodori website has word lists with audio for Starter, Elementary 1 and Elementary 2. That is great for following the book. If you want one list per level to study from, we put the A1 vocabulary into one list and the A2 vocabulary into another, with English meanings and example sentences.

How many words do you need for JFT-Basic?

For A1, aim for about 1,200 words. For A2, about 3,600 words in total.

• A1 list: 1,182 words. Greetings, yourself, your room, food, shopping, time.
• A2 list: 2,451 more words. Work, health, public services and getting used to life in Japan.
• The two lists do not repeat any word. If you need A2, you need both.

What the words look like

From the A1 list: おはよう（ございます）(good morning), こんにちは (hello), すみません (excuse me; I'm sorry), 名前 (name), 部屋 (room), 日本語 (Japanese), 英語 (English).

From the A2 list: 先輩 (senior colleague), 後輩 (junior colleague), 知り合い (acquaintance), 久しぶり (long time no see), おかげさまで (thanks to you), 先月 (last month), 去年 (last year), 生活 (daily life), 慣れる (to get used to).

Many entries are expressions, not single words: おかげさまで and 久しぶり are phrases you hear in conversations. Learn them as whole phrases, the way you will hear them.

How many new words a day?

Count back from your test date. This table assumes you study 6 days a week and keep the last 2 weeks for review only.

More than 30 new words a day is hard to keep up while working, because every word brings reviews in the following weeks. If your number is that high, move your test date or start with the A1 list and the most common A2 words.

How to remember Irodori words

Learn kana first. Read hiragana and katakana without thinking before you start the word lists. A kana deck helps.

Test yourself. Look at the Japanese and say the meaning out loud before you check. Or look at the English and say the Japanese. Reading a list again and again makes words look familiar, but you remember less a week later.

Review the next day. Review a brand-new word the next day and about 6 in 10 stick. Wait a week and it's under half.

Then spread reviews out. A review of 317 experiments found that studying in separate sessions gave 47.3% on later tests, compared with 36.7% for the same study done at once (Cepeda et al., 2006).

Listen to every word. JFT-Basic has a listening section, and the Irodori MP3s let you hear words in real conversations.

Review before new words. On a busy day, five minutes of review is worth more than ten new words.

For the research behind these steps, see how to stop forgetting vocabulary.

Studying Irodori words in Tomaru

We wrote this article and we build Tomaru, so here is what we made. The Irodori A1 (1,182 words) and Irodori A2 (2,451 words) lists are in Tomaru with English meanings, parts of speech and example sentences. Set your test date, and Tomaru works out how many new words a day you need and about how many minutes that takes, then brings each word back on a schedule. Words studied that way are still remembered 8 to 9 times in 10 a week to a month later. The core vocabulary features are free forever, with no ads. You can see every word on the list pages before you start.

FAQ

How many words do I need for JFT-Basic A2?

There is no official count. Using Irodori, the A1 vocabulary is 1,182 words and the A2 vocabulary 2,451 more, so A2 means about 3,600 words in total.

Is there an official JFT-Basic vocabulary list?

No. The Japan Foundation recommends the Irodori coursebook. Irodori has free lesson-by-lesson word lists with audio for its Starter, Elementary 1 and Elementary 2 books.

What score is A2 on JFT-Basic?

A2 (A2.2) is 200 to 250 points. A2.1 is 175 to 199, and A1 is 145 to 174.

What Japanese level do I need for Employment for Skill Development?

Before you start work, A1 or higher, for example on JFT-Basic or JLPT N5, or Japanese classes at that level. The program starts on April 1, 2027. Moving on to Specified Skilled Worker (i) needs A2.2 or higher, for example on JFT-Basic or JLPT N4.

Is JFT-Basic easier than JLPT N4?

They are different tests. JFT-Basic measures everyday communication for life in Japan and is held every month as a rule. For Specified Skilled Worker (i), JFT-Basic A2 and JLPT N4 are both accepted examples of the required level.

How often can I take JFT-Basic?

If your score is 199 or lower, you can retake it, with 45 days or more between test dates.

Do JFT-Basic results expire?

No. Results do not have an expiration date.

Should I learn Irodori A1 before A2?

Yes. The A2 list does not repeat A1 words, so it assumes you already know them.

References

• The Japan Foundation, "About JFT-Basic". https://www.jpf.go.jp/jft-basic/e/about/index.html
• The Japan Foundation, "JFT-Basic FAQ". https://www.jpf.go.jp/jft-basic/e/faq/index.html
• Immigration Services Agency of Japan, "Outline of Employment for Skill Development Program (Revised July 2026)". https://www.moj.go.jp/isa/content/001438365.pdf
• The Japan Foundation Japanese-Language Institute, Urawa, "What is Irodori?". https://www.irodori.jpf.go.jp/en/about.html
• Cepeda, N. J., Pashler, H., Vul, E., Wixted, J. T., & Rohrer, D. (2006). Distributed practice in verbal recall tasks: A review and quantitative synthesis. *Psychological Bulletin, 132*(3), 354–380. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.132.3.354
• Tomaru anonymized learning data (2026).