JFT-Basic reading

Reading without a reading score

Reading is spread across two of the four sections: Script and Vocabulary handles character and word level — kanji reading, kanji meaning and usage, word meaning and usage — while Reading Comprehension handles the passage level. No per-section score is issued. You receive a single equated total plus a percentage correct per section, which means there is no reading number to set a target against.

That is why this exam is marked as a partial fit for what LingoRead does. We can genuinely improve your Japanese reading, and that will show up in your total — but we cannot point at a reading score and say we moved it, because the exam does not produce one. The Japan Foundation also does not publish the total or per-section timings on its About page, so this page states none.

The CEFR mapping is the useful part

JFT-Basic maps explicitly to the CEFR, which the JLPT does not, and since August 2026 it reports lower bands as well as the one it originally certified. For a learner that is genuinely useful: it means your result is comparable with the level system every other language in this catalogue uses, and it means a near miss is now visible as a level rather than as a failure.

Practically, preparation at this level is character-and-word work plus short practical passages: notices, instructions, workplace messages. Reading long literary Japanese is not what this exam asks for, and time spent there is time not spent on the register it does ask for.

Honest scope

LingoRead trains reading comprehension and vocabulary in context. For JFT-Basic that helps two of the four sections and shows up only in your total. It does not prepare the listening sections, it is not a visa service, and nothing here is immigration advice — the status of residence requirements are set by the Japanese authorities.