Japanese Program Expects Another Record for Students Taking Language Proficiency Test

The U of A will host the all-time high number of examinees for the sixth straight year in December to take the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT), an international certification examination that is authorized by the Japanese government. The U of A was designated in 2008 as the ninth U.S. host institution of the JLPT, and 21 U.S. institutions, including the U of A, will host the JLPT this year. Many JLPT host institutions in the U.S. are top universities such as Georgetown University, University of Washington, DePaul University and University of Michigan.

Co-organized by the Japan Foundation and Japan Educational Exchanges and Services, the JLPT provides a standard by which Japanese language learners demonstrate and benchmark their proficiency. Examinees take the test at five different levels, with N1 the highest (near native-like proficiency) and N5 the lowest (simple sentence-level delivery). Besides recognizing the examinees' proficiency levels by common sets of standards worldwide, JLPT certificates offer unique advantages ranging from gaining admission to graduate schools in Japan to earning bonus points in work visa application to Japan. This year, JLPT registration marks the sixth straight year of all-time high number at the U of A, with over 420 examinees.

The JLPT began in 1984, when it was administered in 15 countries, and approximately 7,000 examinees took the test. Since then, the JLPT has become the largest Japanese-language test in the world, with more than 1.8 million examinees in 85 countries and areas worldwide in 2025.

A new trend in the 2026 JLPT is an unexpected increase in registered examinees at lower levels (i.e., Levels N3-N5). For example, N5 registration at the U of A for the 2026 JLPT became full within 25 hours, while N5 registration in Los Angeles became full in less than 30 minutes. This trend is not limited to U.S. host institutions; those in Japan, especially in major cities, reported a similar situation (see a related news story for details).

For more information about the JLPT at the U of A, please email Tatsuya Fukushima, associate professor of Japanese, Department of World Languages, Literatures and Cultures, at tatsuya@uark.edu, or log into the Japanese Program website.