The 202 most common Japanese nouns

These are the 202 nouns among the 500 most common Japanese words, in the order a corpus of everyday writing says you will meet them.

Meanings are given in English on this page. In the app they appear in your own language, translated on your device.

#	Word	Type	Meaning
21	こと	Nouns	a thing, occasion, circumstances, detail, particular
23	人	Nouns	a person, human
27	日	Nouns	day; sun
39	年	Nouns	a year
46	月	Nouns	the Moon
48	中	Nouns	the middle, medium
54	ため	Nouns	an advantage, benefit
56	時	Nouns	time
61	方	Nouns	direction, way, side
69	自分	Nouns	oneself
72	前	Nouns	the front
74	気	Nouns	spirit, mood
75	時間	Nouns	time
82	目	Nouns	目, 眼: eye
85	話	Nouns	talking, speaking, speech, conversation
90	分	Nouns	a tenth
91	家	Nouns	a house
92	円	Nouns	a round or circular object; a circle; roundness
103	上	Nouns	the above
104	回	Nouns	time, occasion
105	考え	Nouns	thought
106	感じ	Nouns	a feeling, sensation
107	数	Nouns	number; amount
110	子	Nouns	a child
118	世界	Nouns	world
119	他	Nouns	another, other, some other, the rest
125	仕事	Nouns	a job; an occupation; work
126	市	Nouns	a market, a marketplace
127	県	Nouns	a type of administrative district
130	おり	Nouns	folding
133	問題	Nouns	question, problem (on homework, as a puzzle, etc.)
134	度	Nouns	degree, extent
135	手	Nouns	a hand
136	みんな	Nouns	everyone, everybody
137	ゲーム	Nouns	game
140	情報	Nouns	information
141	緒	Nouns	string, cord, thong
143	関係	Nouns	relationship, relation
144	国	Nouns	a land, a large place
145	会	Nouns	meeting, gathering
146	たく	Nouns	卓: table, desk
149	力	Nouns	physical strength
154	今日	Nouns	today, this day
157	以上	Nouns	the aforementioned, the foregoing
159	場合	Nouns	case, occasion, circumstances, situation
160	車	Nouns	a car, a carriage, a cart, a vehicle
161	金	Nouns	gold (Au)
162	有	Nouns	existence
166	男	Nouns	a male person
167	間	Nouns	interval
171	所	Nouns	a place, a scene, a site; an address
172	人間	Nouns	human, person, human being
173	名	Nouns	name
174	女	Nouns	a female person
178	次	Nouns	next, order, sequence, below
183	わけ	Nouns	訳: conclusion
184	女性	Nouns	a woman (adult female person)
186	意味	Nouns	a meaning; a significance; a point
196	店	Nouns	a commercial building; a store; a shop
197	新	Nouns	a novelty
199	結果	Nouns	the result, effect, consequence
201	物	Nouns	thing (concrete, tangible)
207	先	Nouns	before, previous
209	写真	Nouns	photograph
211	感	Nouns	feeling; sense
212	顔	Nouns	a person's face
217	会社	Nouns	a company
218	声	Nouns	a voice
220	用	Nouns	use
222	頭	Nouns	head (body part)
223	ま	Nouns	the space between two (physical) things
226	時代	Nouns	age, era, period (of time)
230	代	Nouns	price
231	子供	Nouns	child
233	心	Nouns	mind, heart, spirit, soul; thoughts, ideas
234	高	Nouns	maximum, the limit
237	アニメ	Nouns	anime, Japanese animation
238	サイト	Nouns	site
239	名前	Nouns	a name
240	無料	Nouns	free; at no cost
241	神	Nouns	a spirit or an essence present in all things
244	別	Nouns	difference
245	漫画	Nouns	a drawing or painting made as one pleases without
246	つけ	Nouns	bill
247	下	Nouns	the lower portion, end
249	場所	Nouns	place, location
250	最後	Nouns	last, end, conclusion
251	部	Nouns	division, divide, a part
255	出し	Nouns	dashi, broth
257	町	Nouns	a town, a city
258	言葉	Nouns	a word, a term
260	映画	Nouns	movie, film
261	氏	Nouns	a family, a clan
262	点	Nouns	spot, dot
263	社会	Nouns	society (group of people sharing culture)
264	相手	Nouns	other person
266	方法	Nouns	way; method; manner
268	理由	Nouns	a reason
271	体	Nouns	the body (e.g., of a human or animal)
272	作品	Nouns	a work, especially a work of art such as a performance
273	動画	Nouns	a movie (motion picture)
274	型	Nouns	a style, a type
275	始め	Nouns	beginning, the start of an activity or time period
276	駅	Nouns	station (train, underground/subway)
277	番	Nouns	one's turn (as in a game, etc.)
278	はず	Nouns	nock
280	企業	Nouns	enterprise; undertaking; corporation; business
282	存在	Nouns	existence
283	曲	Nouns	a piece of music
286	す	Nouns	酢, 醋, 酸: vinegar (condiment)
289	水	Nouns	water (sometimes cold and/or fresh)
290	行き	Nouns	going
295	事件	Nouns	event, incident
297	通り	Nouns	street
303	女子	Nouns	a female child; girl
304	学校	Nouns	school (institution dedicated to teaching and learning)
306	状態	Nouns	the state or condition
307	画像	Nouns	a portrait, one's likeness
308	発売	Nouns	sale, the selling of something
318	中国	Nouns	the central part of a country, historically
319	側	Nouns	side
320	先生	Nouns	an elder
326	今回	Nouns	this time, this
328	夜	Nouns	the night, evening
329	音	Nouns	sound
331	勢	Nouns	force
332	法	Nouns	principle
333	テレビ	Nouns	clipping of テレビジョン (terebijon, “television”): a TV
334	個人	Nouns	individual
335	外	Nouns	outside
338	機	Nouns	a machine, a device; a contraption
341	一つ	Nouns	one thing
343	友達	Nouns	friend
344	場	Nouns	a place
346	色	Nouns	color
353	人気	Nouns	popularity
356	区	Nouns	ward, section, district
363	内容	Nouns	contents (something inside a container)
365	女の子	Nouns	a child that is female; a girl
366	対応	Nouns	correspondence to
368	活動	Nouns	activity, work, operation
369	状況	Nouns	situation (position vis-à-vis surroundings) of
375	ネット	Nouns	a net (mesh of string, cord or rope)
376	全	Nouns	entire, complete, overall
377	夢	Nouns	a dream
379	完全	Nouns	completeness
380	技術	Nouns	technology
389	式	Nouns	type, style
391	道	Nouns	a way, a street, a road, an alley, a path
392	風	Nouns	wind (movement of air)
398	お金	Nouns	money
399	イベント	Nouns	event (social event)
400	システム	Nouns	system
401	件	Nouns	case
403	無	Nouns	nothing, nothingness
404	自身	Nouns	self
405	部分	Nouns	part, section, segment, portion
406	電話	Nouns	telephone
412	ニュース	Nouns	news (reports of current events)
414	予定	Nouns	schedule
415	全員	Nouns	everybody; all members
417	愛	Nouns	love
418	戦争	Nouns	war (conflict involving organized use of arms)
419	明日	Nouns	tomorrow
422	花	Nouns	a flower
424	地	Nouns	earth, land, ground
427	号	Nouns	number
430	設定	Nouns	setup; establishment; creation
439	チーム	Nouns	team
440	人生	Nouns	life
442	員	Nouns	member
443	屋	Nouns	house
444	形	Nouns	the shape or form of something
446	朝	Nouns	the morning
447	目的	Nouns	a purpose; a goal; an objective
448	自由	Nouns	freedom, liberty
449	記事	Nouns	an article, a written news story
450	過ぎ	Nouns	past, after
453	際	Nouns	edge, verge, boundary
455	百	Nouns	hundred
458	家族	Nouns	a family, a household
460	政府	Nouns	government
461	男性	Nouns	man, boy, male person
462	部屋	Nouns	room (of a house or hotel), chamber, apartment, flat
468	地域	Nouns	area, district, particular geographic region
469	基本	Nouns	basis, foundation
470	夏	Nouns	summer (season)
471	姿	Nouns	figure, appearance, form, aspect, shape
472	期間	Nouns	duration, period
475	英語	Nouns	the English language
478	め	Nouns	芽: bud, sprout, shoot
479	カード	Nouns	card
480	大学	Nouns	a university; a college
481	室	Nouns	cellar, storage chamber
484	長	Nouns	chief, head, leader
486	アプリケーション	Nouns	an application
488	以前	Nouns	before, formerly, ago
491	戦	Nouns	a battle, conflict, fight, war
493	為	Nouns	the twelfth string on a 箏 (koto, “Japanese zither”)
494	王	Nouns	a king
496	足	Nouns	foot
497	軍	Nouns	an army, corps

All 500 A1 words are on this page, free, with no sign-up.

The rest of the list

A2A2 Beginner: 500 more words大事 · はい · エロ · シリーズ · ライブ
B1B1 Intermediate: 750 more words読む · 賞 · 通信 · 都 · 頂く
B2B2 Upper intermediate: 750 more words書籍 · 株 · 次元 · 無視 · 章

A2 to B2 are part of Oqou Pro, in the app, where you can also send any word straight into spaced review and meet it again on the day you are about to forget it.

Where this comes from

The order is measured: it comes from how often each word appears in a large corpus, counted across all the forms of a word rather than each form separately, so a verb is ranked where you really meet it. The band edges are a convention rather than a measurement. Nothing says word 501 is harder than word 500; the levels are cut where established graded reader series cut theirs.

wordfreq 3.1 (frequency order) + en.wiktionary via kaikki.org (part of speech, gender, gloss). Corpus read on 2026-09-16.

Questions

Where does the order come from?

From how often each word appears in a large corpus of everyday writing. Frequency is counted across all the forms of a word and attributed to the dictionary form, so a verb is ranked where a reader really meets it rather than being spread thinly over a dozen endings.

Why are these lists shorter than the ones with 5,000 or 10,000 words?

Because past about 2,500 a frequency rank stops meaning much. Rank 6,000 in a web corpus is not a harder word, it is a word that happens to be common in journalism. Established graded reader series top out near 2,500 headwords for the same reason.

Is every word in the list a real dictionary word?

Yes. Every headword is checked against the language's own Wiktionary entry, which is where the part of speech, the gender and the meaning come from. That check is what removes the proper nouns, single letters and corpus noise that raw frequency lists are full of.

Do I need the app?

Not for this page. The A1 list is free here and free in the app. A2 to B2 are part of Oqou Pro, and the app is also where a word can go from a list into a review queue, which is the part a page cannot do.

Has a native speaker checked these?

Not yet. The frequency order and the part of speech are mechanical, and the meanings come from a dictionary rather than being written by hand, but nothing here has been through native review. If you spot a meaning that is technically right and practically useless, we would like to hear about it.