N5 Nouns List (Part 3) - Let’s Pass the JLPT!

Tako
2023/05/18

Welcome to Part 3 of the N5 Nouns article collection. In this part, we will introduce nouns useful for travelling, understanding directions to places, and other good to know nouns. They total 115 that you need to know for the N5 level. 


Table of Contents

  1. N5 Nouns List - Places
    1. General Places
    2. Names of Places
  2. N5 Nouns List - Directions and Describing Placement
    1. 4 Cardinal Directions
    2. To Understand Directions
    3. For Object Placement Also
  3. N5 Nouns List - Vehicles
  4. N5 Nouns List - Other Nouns 
  5. Example Simple Sentences at N5 Level

In this article, we have compiled 81 nouns for the places, directions, and vehicles category. How are they related? 

  • Places : Destinations or Landmarks

  • Directions : To understand or give directions to a place, to describe placement

  • Vehicles : Transportation to places

Not just to pass the N5 test, these are practical words that are useful in everyday life as well as for travels.

N5 Nouns List - Places

General Places

General places, or types of places, to know. Many of these can be used as a suffix, for example:

  •  ~駅 : 渋谷駅 (shibuya eki) - Shibuya Station

  • ~橋 : 祖谷かずら橋 (iya kazura-bashi) 

  • ~町 : 麹町 (koujimachi) 

  • ~店 : 〇〇書店 (〇〇 shouten) - 〇〇 book shop

In some cases, the reading may change. 

せかい
sekai

世界

the world

えき
eki

train station

ところ
tokoro

place

はし
hashi

bridge

まち
machi

town; neighbourhood

みせ
mise

shop; store

みち
michi

road; street

むら
mura

village

Names of Places

Specific names of places that you should know at the N5 level. 

Note that Kanji in BOLD need to be memorised. 

じむしょ
jimusho

事務所

office

かいぎしつ
kaigishitsu

会議室

meeting room

うけつけ
uketsuke

受付

reception

りょう
ryou

dormitory

くうこう
kuukou

空港

airport

しやくしょ
shiyakusho

市役所

city office

くやくしょ
kuyakusho

区役所

ward office

がっこう
gakkou

学校

school

きょうしつ
kyoushitsu

教室

classroom

こうこう
koukou

高校

high school

だいがく
daigaku

大学

university

かいしゃ
kaisha

会社

company; corporation

ぎんこう
ginkou

銀行

bank

こうばん
kouban

交番

police box

びょういん
byouin

病院

hospital

ゆうびんきょく
yuubinkyoku

郵便局

post office

おてあらい
otearai

お手洗い

toilet

えいがかん
eigakan

映画館

cinema; movie theatre

びじゅつかん
bijutsukan

美術館

art gallery

たいしかん
taishikan

大使館

embassy

としょかん
toshokan

図書館

library

はくぶつかん
hakubutsukan

博物館

museum

くすりや
kusuri-ya

薬屋

pharmacy

ケーキや
keeki-ya

ケーキ屋

cake shop

はなや
hana-ya

花屋

flower shop

ほんや
hon-ya

本屋

book shop

ラーメンや
raamen-ya

ラーメン屋

ramen shop

カフェ
kafe

-

cafe

きっさてん
kissaten

喫茶店

coffee shop

こうえん
kouenn

公園

park

こうさてん
kousaten

交差点

intersection

コンビニ
konbini

-

convenience store

しょくどう
shokudou

食堂

cafeteria; dining hall

スーパー
suupaa

-

supermarket

デパート
depaato

-

department store

プール
puuru

-

swimming pool

ホテル
hoteru

-

hotel

やおや
yaoya

八百屋

greengrocer

レストラン
resutoran

-

restaurant

N5 Nouns List - Directions 

4 Cardinal Directions

You will need to remember the kanji for the 4 cardinal directions. 

The most common place to encounter them are at train stations to mark exits - “北口 (kitaguchi) - north exit”, “南口 (minamiguchi) - south exit”, and so on. 

きた
kita

north

みなみ
minami

south

ひがし
higashi

east

にし
nishi

西

west

To Understand Directions

Knowing how to ask for directions is one thing, but more importantly, you need to be able to understand them. From hereon are N5 vocabulary that will help with that, including key landmarks and objects that you should know. 

いりぐち
iriguchi

入口

entrance

でぐち
deguchi

出口

exit

ろうか
rouka

廊下

corridor; passageway

もん
mon

gate

エスカレーター
esukareetaa

-

escalator

エレベーター
erebeetaa

-

elevator

ちか
chika

地下

basement

For Object Placement Also

Not just for directions, these are also used to describe object placement. 

For example, “つくえの上にねこがねています (tsukue no ue ni neko ga neteimasu) - a cat is sleeping on the table”. 

Note : At the N5 level, the kanji in BOLD need to be remembered. 

なか
naka

inside; within; center

そと
soto

outside

した
shita

down; below; under

うえ
ue

up; above; over; surface

みぎ
migi

right

ひだり
hidari

left

かど
kado

corner; angle

そば
soba

beside

となり
tonari

next door

へん
hen

area; vicinity

まえ
mae

in front; previous; ago

うしろ
ushiro

後ろ

behind; back; rear

むこう
mukou

向こう

opposite side; over there

N5 Nouns List - Vehicles

The kanji in BOLD need to be remembered at this level. 

くるま
kuruma

car

じてんしゃ
jitensha

自転車

bicycle

じどうしゃ
jidousha

自動車

car; automobile

タクシー
takushii

-

taxi

ちかてつ
chikatetsu

地下鉄

subway

でんしゃ
densha

電車

train

バイク
baiku

-

motorcycle; motorbike

バス
basu

-

bus

ひこうき
hikouki

飛行機

aeroplane

ふね
fune

ship

しんかんせん
shinkansen

新幹線

bullet train

N5 Nouns List - Other Nouns 

This part is unrelated to the above. They are, unfortunately, nouns that do not belong in any of the other categories. There are 34 of them. 

These 4 are useful for describing things in certain situations. 

ほか
hoka

other (place, thing, person)

おなじ
onaji

同じ

same

さき
saki

previous

つぎ
tsugi

next

As for these, they are nouns for a variety of things that you need to know at the JLPT N5 level. As usual, the Kanji in BOLD need to be memorised. 

おかね
okane

お金

money

かいもの
kaimono

買い物

shopping; purchased goods

かぜ
kaze

風邪

a cold

かた
kata

method

カメラ
kamera

-

camera

きっぷ
kippu

切符

ticket

コンピューター
konpyuutaa

-

computer

せいかつ
seikatsu

生活

a living

ぜんぶ
zenbu

全部

all

そうじ
souji

掃除

cleaning

たばこ
tabako

-

tabacco; cigaratte

チケット
chiketto

-

ticket

ちず
chizu

地図

map

テープレコーダー
teepu rekoodaa

-

tape recorder

にもつ
nimotsu

荷物

luggage; baggage

ニュース
nyuusu

-

news

はいざら
haizara

灰皿

ashtray

はこ
hako

box

パスポート
pasupooto

-

passport

パソコン
pasokon

-

PC

はなし
hanashi

talk; conversation

パンチ
panchi

-

punch

びょうき
byouki

病気

sickness; disease; illness

ファックス
fakkusu

-

fax

プレゼント
purezento

-

present

ポスト
posuto

-

mailbox; postbox

マッチ
macchi

-

match (for lighting fire)

もの
mono

thing

レコード
rekoodo

-

record

でんち
denchi

電池

battery

Example Simple Sentences at N5 Level

A quick lesson on how to put these nouns to good use. The words in BOLD are ones that you’ve learnt above. 

1. わたしの学校えきにあります。
(watashi no gakkou wa eki no mae ni arimasu)
- My school is in front of the train station.

2. すみません、おてあらいはどこですか?
(sumimasen, otearai wa doko desuka?)
- Excuse me, where is the toilet? 

3. おてあらいのかいにあります。エスカレーターを降りたらすぐそこです。
(otearai wa shita no kai ni arimasu. esukareetaa wo oritara sugu soko desu.)
- The toilet is on the floor below. Ride the escalator down and it’s right there. 

4. わたしはじてんしゃ大学へ通います。
(watashi wa jitensha de daigaku he kayoimasu.)
- I commute to university by bicycle. 

5. しんかんせんははやいですね。
(shinkansen wa hayai desune.)
- The bullet train is so fast. 

6. お金がほしいです。
(okane ga hoshii desu.)
- I want money. 

7. このスカートはほかの色はありますか?
(kono sukaato wa hoka no iro wa arimasuka?)
- Is this skirt available in another colour? 

8. つぎは何がしたい?
(tsugi wa nani ga shitai?)
- What do you want to do next? 

Writer

Tako
Originally from Malaysia, came to Japan to study in 2019 and stayed on for work. I love travelling and dream of one day visiting all 47 prefectures in Japan. What I love about Japan is the nature, culture, and food!

Our Social Media ソーシャルメディア

Where we share the latest news about Japan in 9 languages!

  • English
  • 한국어
  • Tiếng Việt
  • မြန်မာဘာသာစကား
  • Bahasa Indonesia
  • 中文 (繁體)
  • Español
  • Português
  • ภาษาไทย
TOP/ Learn Japanese/ JLPT/ N5 Nouns List (Part 3) - Let’s Pass the JLPT!

Our website uses Cookies with the goal of improving our accessibility and quality. Please click "Agree" if you agree to our usage of Cookies. To see more details about how our company uses Cookies, please take a look here.

Cookie Policy