Japanese Word Search Maker for Hiragana, Katakana and Kanji
Easy: across and down. Medium adds diagonals. Hard adds backwards too.
Tricky filler reuses characters from the hidden words. Hard also plants false starts.
Shuffle makes a new grid from the same words.
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A hiragana, katakana or kanji word search
Each grid is written in one script, and the words are picked to fit it. A hiragana word search uses native and Sino-Japanese words written in hiragana, such as さくら and がっこう. A katakana word search uses loanwords such as コーヒー and テレビ. A kanji word search uses words written only in kanji, from two to four kanji long, such as 学生, 電車 and 図書館.
Small kana such as ゃ, ゅ, ょ and っ take their own square, as they do in writing. The long vowel mark ー takes one too, which means コーヒー fills four squares. You can hide from 6 to 30 words in one grid, and in a kana grid each word is two to seven characters long.
Students who are still learning the scripts can practice writing them first. The Hiragana Worksheets and Katakana Worksheets make stroke-order sheets for the kana, and the Kanji Worksheet Generator does the same for kanji. For reading, the Kanji to Hiragana Converter adds furigana to a Japanese text.
Where the words come from
The words come from the JLPT vocabulary lists for N5 to N1 (OpenJLPT, with levels from Jonathan Waller's lists, CC BY-SA 4.0). With the grammar words left out, that's 7,614 words: 657 at N5, 605 at N4, 1,602 at N3, 1,768 at N2 and 2,982 at N1. Pick one level or several. “New words” draws a fresh set, and the swap button next to each word replaces just that one.
When the tool picks the words, no two share an English meaning or a reading, so every clue has exactly one answer. A word that sits inside another word, forwards or backwards, is never used alongside it. You won't find はな in the same grid as はなび.
You can also type your own words in kana or kanji, and a line such as “ねこ = cat” gives a word its own English clue. Your words go into the grid exactly as you typed them. If a word is on the JLPT list, its reading and meaning come from the list. Outside the list, a kana word gets romaji worked out from its spelling and a kanji word gets no reading. Romaji on the sheets is written the way learners type it on a keyboard (koohii, arigatou), not in Hepburn with macrons.
Clues, bonus words and length boxes
The clue list depends on the script:
- Hiragana grid: English, romaji, romaji + English, kanji, hiragana or no list. With kanji clues, a student sees 会う and finds あう, and only words that have a kanji spelling are drawn. Hiragana clues are the hidden words themselves.
- Katakana grid: English, romaji, romaji + English, katakana or no list.
- Kanji grid: English, the hiragana reading, hiragana + English, kanji or no list.
The “Words on the list: N of M” setting leaves some words off the student's list. Those are bonus words, found without a clue. The instruction line on the sheet says how many extra words there are, and the answer key marks them with an asterisk (*). You can also add length boxes after each clue, one small box per character, so students can see how long each word is.
Making a Japanese word search easier or harder
Directions come in three settings. Easy hides words across and down, Medium adds diagonals and Hard adds backwards words. You can also switch any of the eight directions on or off yourself. Words can cross and share a character, or you can keep them apart. Leave the grid size on Auto or set it anywhere from 5x5 to 18x18.
Filler means the characters around the hidden words, and it has three settings too. Easy uses random characters from the levels you picked. Tricky reuses characters from the hidden words. Hard also plants false starts: the first characters of a hidden word, placed elsewhere in the grid.
Every hidden word appears exactly once in the grid, which is checked in all eight directions before you see it. Random filler can still spell a real word that isn't on the list, and that's likelier in a kana grid, because there are fewer than a hundred kana. The builder shows the real sheet as you change the settings, and Show answers highlights the hidden words on the preview. If a stray word gets in the way, Shuffle makes a new grid from the same words.
Printing a Japanese word search for class
On the print page, choose A4 or US Letter, one to four versions and whether to add an answer key. Versions A to D hide the same words in different grids, so students at neighboring desks can't copy each other. The key prints after all the puzzles, one page per version, so you can hold it back.
Each printable Japanese word search fits on one page, with the grid shrinking to make room for the clue list. Change the sheet's title if you like, then print it or save it as a PDF from your browser.
The sheets are free, with no signup and no watermark, and teachers may photocopy them for class. They print in black and white, with the NexaProva wordmark in the header and a short line in the footer. We count page opens and prints (the script, the clue type, the directions, whether the words are your own, the paper size, how many words and versions, and whether there's a key), never which words you chose or the title you gave the sheet.
The printable Japanese flashcards put the same JLPT words on cards, each with its kana reading, so your class can drill them before or after the puzzle.
Frequently asked questions
Is this Japanese word search generator free?
Yes. There's no signup and no watermark, and teachers may photocopy the sheets for class. Each sheet prints in black and white, with the NexaProva wordmark in the header and a short line in the footer.
Can I use it as a hiragana word search maker for beginners?
Yes. Choose hiragana as the script and start with N5, the first JLPT level. English or romaji clues suit students who can't read kanji yet, and length boxes after each clue show how many characters each word has. Easy directions keep the words across and down.
Can I make a katakana word search?
Yes. A katakana grid uses loanwords such as コーヒー and テレビ, and the long vowel mark ー takes its own square. The clues can be English, romaji, romaji + English or katakana, or you can leave the list off.
How does a kanji word search work?
The grid hides words written only in kanji, from two to four kanji long, such as 学生, 電車 and 図書館. The clues can be English, the hiragana reading, hiragana + English or the kanji themselves. With reading clues, a student sees がくせい and looks for 学生.
Can I use my own Japanese words?
Yes. Type them in kana or kanji, and use a line such as “ねこ = cat” to give a word its own English clue. Your words go into the grid exactly as typed. A word on the JLPT list takes its reading and meaning from the list. Outside the list, a kana word gets romaji worked out from its spelling and a kanji word gets no reading.
How do small kana like ゃ and っ fit in the grid?
Each small kana takes its own square, as it's written, so しゃしん fills four squares and きって fills three. The long vowel mark ー takes a square too.
Why is the romaji koohii and not kōhī?
The romaji is written the way learners type Japanese on a keyboard, as in koohii and arigatou, not in Hepburn with macrons. It uses only the letters on a standard keyboard.
How do I get a Japanese word search PDF?
On the print page, choose A4 or US Letter, one to four versions and whether to add an answer key, then print or save as PDF from your browser. Each puzzle fits on one page. Versions A to D hide the same words in different grids, and the key prints after all the puzzles, one page per version.
Can a hidden word appear twice in the grid?
No. Every hidden word appears exactly once, and the grid is checked in all eight directions before you see it. Random filler can still spell a real word that isn't on the list, more often in kana grids, because there are fewer than a hundred kana. Shuffle makes a new grid from the same words.
Licenses and credits
The words and their JLPT levels come from OpenJLPT (CC BY-SA 4.0), which takes its levels from Jonathan Waller's JLPT lists and its words from JMdict, the Electronic Dictionary Research and Development Group's dictionary (CC BY-SA 4.0). The English meanings are shown in US spelling.