7.2 Kanji Set B — People, Body, Nature & Position

People Kanji: 人 男 女 子 父 母 友 先 生

This is the highest-frequency human-vocabulary cluster on N5, and its readings shift constantly with context. The single most tested character is 人 (person). Alone it is ひと (hito); in nationality words it is じん (jin) — 日本人 (にほんじん, nihonjin, Japanese person), 外国人 (がいこくじん, gaikokujin, foreigner); in counting people it is にん (nin) — 三人 (さんにん, sannin, three people), 何人 (なんにん, nannin, how many people). Two irregulars must be memorized outright: 一人 (ひとり, hitori, one person / alone) and 二人 (ふたり, futari, two people).

Note the family-word politeness split: 父 (ちち) and 母 (はは) refer to your own father and mother in humble speech, while お父さん (おとうさん) and お母さん (おかあさん) refer to someone else's parents (and are how children address their own). 男 and 女 are usually softened to 男の人 / 女の人 (man / woman) or 男の子 / 女の子 (boy / girl) in everyday N5 sentences.

The 生 compounds you must own

生 is a chameleon, but for N5 you mainly need its on'yomi せい: 先生 (せんせい, sensei, teacher — literally 'born before'), 学生 (がくせい, gakusei, student), 大学生 (だいがくせい, daigakusei, university student), and 高校生 (こうこうせい, koukousei, high-school student). The 先 in 先生 is the same 先 as in 先週 (せんしゅう, last week) — 'ahead/previous'. Chain-building is common: 外国人 (がいこくじん) = 外 (outside) + 国 (country) + 人 (person), so reading the parts lets you decode the whole.

Body Kanji: 目 耳 口 手 足

The five basic body-part kanji are almost always read with their kun'yomi when they stand alone: 目 (め, me, eye), 耳 (みみ, mimi, ear), 口 (くち, kuchi, mouth), 手 (て, te, hand), 足 (あし, ashi, foot / leg). What N5 tests is the reading change inside compounds, where on'yomi surfaces or the sound voices.

The star of this group is 口 (mouth), because it builds the station-exit words the reading and listening sections adore: 入口 (いりぐち, iriguchi, entrance — 入 'enter' + 口 with rendaku ぐち) and 出口 (でぐち, deguchi, exit). Compass exits combine directly: 東口 (ひがしぐち, east exit), 西口 (にしぐち, west exit). And do not miss 上手 (じょうず, jouzu, skilled) versus 下手 (へた, heta, unskilled) — two body-plus-position compounds whose readings are completely irregular and can never be sounded out.

Nature Kanji: 山 川 天 気 雨

山 (やま, yama, mountain) is a three-peak pictograph; its on'yomi さん appears in 富士山 (ふじさん, Mt. Fuji). 川 (かわ, kawa, river) pictures water flowing between banks. 雨 (あめ, ame, rain) is a pictograph of raindrops. The compound 天気 (てんき, tenki, weather) fuses 天 (heaven/sky) + 気 (spirit / air / energy); 気 recurs everywhere at N5 — 元気 (げんき, genki, healthy/energetic), 電気 (でんき, denki, electricity), 病気 (びょうき, byouki, illness).

Position & Compass Kanji: 上 下 中 外 右 左 東 西 南 北

Direction words are tested both as vocabulary readings and inside route-giving listening dialogues. Learn the kun'yomi first: 上 (うえ, ue, up/on), 下 (した, shita, under/below), 中 (なか, naka, inside/middle), 外 (そと, soto, outside), 右 (みぎ, migi, right), 左 (ひだり, hidari, left). The four compass points: 東 (ひがし, higashi, east), 西 (にし, nishi, west), 南 (みなみ, minami, south), 北 (きた, kita, north). On'yomi surfaces in place names and compounds: 東京 (とうきょう, Tokyo, 'eastern capital'), 中国 (ちゅうごく, China), 外国 (がいこく, foreign country), 地下鉄 (ちかてつ, chikatetsu, subway — 下 read げ/か here as 'below ground').

Position Words Inside Real Sentences

N5 rarely tests a position kanji in isolation; it embeds it in a location phrase with the particle の or に. Watch how the kanji you just learned behave in natural sentences (each shown with reading and gloss):

• 「つくえの 上 に ほんが あります。」 (つくえのうえにほんがあります — There is a book on the desk.) Here 上 = うえ marks 'on top of'.
• 「かばんの 中 に なにが ありますか。」 (What is inside the bag?) 中 = なか, 'inside'.
• 「ぎんこうは えきの 右 に あります。」 (The bank is to the right of the station.) 右 = みぎ.
• 「外 は さむいです。」 (It is cold outside.) 外 = そと.
• 「東口 で あいましょう。」 (Let's meet at the east exit.) 東口 = ひがしぐち, combining compass + 口.

In listening, route directions stack these: 「みぎに まがって、つぎの かどを ひだりです。」 ('Turn right, then left at the next corner.') The examiners swap 右 (みぎ) and 左 (ひだり) between the audio and the answer choices, so lock those two readings so tightly that you never hesitate.

Worked 漢字読み Items

先生: Options がくせい, せんせい, せんぱい, せいと. All four are school-people words, so meaning alone will not save you. Read the kanji: 先 (せん, ahead) + 生 (せい, born) = せんせい (sensei, teacher). がくせい (学生, student) starts with 学, not 先; せいと (生徒, pupil) and せんぱい (先輩, senior) are different compounds. Read left-to-right and match both characters.

外国人: Options がいこくじん, そとこくじん, がいこくにん, げこくじん. The chain is 外 (がい) + 国 (こく) + 人 (じん) = がいこくじん (gaikokujin, foreigner). The decoy そとこくじん wrongly uses the kun'yomi そと for 外, and がいこくにん uses the counting reading にん instead of the nationality reading じん. In nationality words 人 is always じん.

大きい: Options おおきい, ちいさい, たかい, ひくい. The kanji 大 with the okurigana きい is the i-adjective おおきい (ookii, big). ちいさい (小さい, small) is its antonym, while たかい/ひくい (high/low) are unrelated size adjectives — classic meaning-based distractors. Notice that the trailing hiragana (okurigana) is your friend here: the same 大 without きい appears in 大学 (だいがく, university) and 大人 (おとな, adult, an irregular reading), so the kana tail tells you which reading is intended.

友達: Options かぞく, きょうだい, ともだち, りょうしん. The word means 'friend' and is written 友 (とも) + 達 (a pluralizing suffix read だち here). The answer is ともだち (tomodachi). The distractors are all family words — かぞく (家族, family), きょうだい (兄弟, siblings), りょうしん (両親, parents) — so you must anchor on the kanji 友, not the general 'people' theme, to avoid being pulled toward a plausible-but-wrong choice.

Family Introductions and Directions in Context

N5 sentences bundle these person and position kanji into short, testable frames. A self-introduction might read 「わたしの 父 は かいしゃいんです。」 (My father is a company employee — 父 = ちち, humble 'my father'). Asked about someone else, you switch words: 「たなかさんの お母さん は 先生です。」 (Mr. Tanaka's mother is a teacher — お母さん = おかあさん, 先生 = せんせい). This politeness pairing between 父/母 and お父さん/お母さん is itself a favorite reading-and-usage trap.

Worked 表記 Items

The 表記 stem 「つぎの ことばは かんじで かくと どれですか。」 gives a hiragana word and four look-alike kanji.

• て → 手: Distractors 毛 (け, hair), 牛 (うし, cow), 午 (ご, noon) all resemble 手 in stroke shape. Only 手 is 'hand'. Recognizing the top-stroke and hook of 手 versus the extra strokes of 毛/牛 is the deciding skill.
• やま → 山: Reject the look-alike 川 (かわ, river) and 出 (で, exit), which share vertical strokes. 山 is the three-peak mountain.
• ひと → 人: The dangerous decoy is 入 (はいる, to enter), which differs only in which stroke is longer and whether the top is capped. 人 (person) has the shorter left stroke and a clean apex.

Common Traps to Rehearse

1. 人 has three readings. ひと (alone), じん (nationality: 外国人), にん (counting: 三人). Decide by context.
2. 上手 / 下手 are irregular. じょうず (skilled) and へた (unskilled) cannot be sounded from 上/下 + 手.
3. 父/母 vs お父さん/お母さん. ちち/はは = my parent (humble); おとうさん/おかあさん = someone's parent or direct address.
4. 右 and 左 flip answers in listening. Rehearse みぎ = right, ひだり = left until instantaneous.
5. 口 rendaku's to ぐち in exits. 入口 いりぐち, 出口 でぐち, 東口 ひがしぐち — the mouth kanji voices after a preceding element.

Because these characters saturate directions, family introductions, weather chat, and station announcements, owning Set B pays out across the vocabulary, reading, and listening sections simultaneously — it is the highest-leverage kanji cluster after numbers and time.