Only in Edmonton and Vancouver. The other Canadian locations are once/year like the USA. It’s quite a trip if you live on the east coast.
Count me in. July exams, here I go!!
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Decided to go for N4 this July - hope I get a spot!
Will finish Genki 2 by the end of February and will be in Japan for a couple of weeks in March & April. After that I will wrap up some final N4 grammer & vocab before the end of July while starting on Quartet for N3.
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Aiming for N3 in July. First exam as well. Just started N4 grammar here and tried the N5 mock exams. Struggled with the listening part but passed overall. N3 might be a bit too early, but I don’t think N4 will be much of a challenge by July. Even if I fail, I’ll have some real life exam experience at least & some motivation until July!
For the ones who already took the exam. How is the listening part? The same way they are in the mock exams here? And are the audios only played once? Listening is my biggest worry right now.
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If you’re confident at N4 now and have a proper daily learning, passing N3 in July is possible, but dont expect high score though.
About the listening, you can be sure that it will be harder than the mock test. Only being played once. And it is the hardest part for almost if not all learner, because having a solid vocaband how they sounds is a must for listening.
I, for once, like you, taking N3 as my first JLPT ever, and failed that one. But I keep going and passed both N3 and N2 afterward, with consistency you can do it. Good luck.
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I probably wouldn’t be able to compare difficulty objectively anymore (July 2024 N3), but I’d advise to keep an eye on the time limit for your mocks. Real N3 doesn’t give all that much spare time to think, and of course the CD is only played once.
Listening section difficulty seems to be massively dependent on the specific test center. In some centers (particularly in Japan) it can be noisy and chaotic with poorly set up sound (bonus points for a broken AC), in some centers you get a perfect environment.
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So just asked the local institute that runs the tests, and they’re not doing the Summer one, just the December. Pretty upset about it, was kicking my own ass studying for the N3 for summer. Not sure if I should maybe try to go abroad and do it, or just skip N3 altogether and go straight for N2 next year in December
I’m aiming for N3!
@sokow For me, this has worked in the past, but if I’m really confused, I would prefer to say them aloud, which of course doesn’t work during the test. 
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It’s really a surprise 
From 2026年日本語能力試験の国内実施について（リンク） - JEES 日本語能力試験
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The 2026 JLPT is primarily intended for non-native Japanese speakers who are mid-to-long-term residents or special permanent residents under Japan’s residence management system. When applying, you must enter your Residence Card number and its expiration date.
Therefore, people without a Residence Card, such as those on short-term stays for tourism and a limited stay period of less than three months, are not eligible to take the test. Even if you plan to visit Japan, you cannot take the test without a mid-to-long-term resident or special permanent resident. If you have not been issued a Residence Card at the time of application, you can not apply for the test.
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That is a surprise. I wonder what the reasoning behind this rule is.
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wow, that’s a strange choice
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I wonder how many of those 351k domestic applicants are on tourist visas in the first place.
If I had to guess, the goals have not changed, but they realized making extra effort to support tourists became costly in some way. Either by requiring more test centers, or more complicated procedures, or through some societal/political factors.
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It seems most likely to me that its an extension of their anti cheating measures cause having it tied to your residence card will make cheating a bigger risk
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Application period: March 17 (Tue) – April 7 (Tue), 2026 (-17:00)
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Good to know – it’s the first year of this being the case, right?
I just sent in my application papers for the test in Germany, but I might take on a short internship in Japan in July – in which case I wouldn’t be able to take the JLPT at all, so no idea which way would be best
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Is this only for people wanting to take the test in Japan? Or for people taking the test overseas, too?
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As far as I know, it’s still possible, but please check/confirm with the place where you’d like to take the test! 
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That web page is only about taking the test domestically (in Japan): 「2026年日本語能力試験の国内実施について」.
As @bunnypro says, you need to check the details of the place you’d like to test to see their specific policies!
To my knowledge, the rule previously was that you needed an address within Japan (the certificate gets mailed to that address). I can only speculate as to why the rule has changed, but I would guess if there were a build up of even minor issues (no shows, difficulty issuing certificates, inundated with non-residents asking if they can take the test, etc) it is easier to just impose a blanket rule like this.
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I’m a bit surprised to see this happening in Japan where there are a lot more testing facilities available, but I know in Canada, there has been issues in recent years with spots filling up with non-residents, and some venues sent out priority registration to local students to prevent this. However, that really shouldn’t apply in the case of Japan.
I’m wondering if they’re anticipating a higher sign-up rate in coming years due to the proposed language requirements for visas/permanent residency and are preemptively planning for that?
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