You have been studying Japanese for months. The vocabulary is in there somewhere. The crossword is a way to find out exactly which parts are solid and which parts dissolve the moment you have to produce them from scratch.
My Senpai Crossword is a Japanese vocabulary puzzle game built specifically for JLPT learners. Every word in the puzzle bank is drawn from the official JLPT vocabulary lists, N5 through N1. You pick your level, a grid generates, and you work through it using English or Japanese clues to fill in hiragana answers. No Japanese keyboard required. You type in romaji, the grid fills in kana automatically.
The puzzle is not just a game. Each session is a low-pressure vocabulary test where the clues, character counts, and letter intersections between words all work together to push recall further than passive study does. Solved words stay in the grid and give you letters that constrain adjacent answers. Missed words stay blank and show you exactly what needs more work. Both outcomes are useful.
Five JLPT Levels, One Puzzle Bank
The crossword covers every JLPT level from N5 beginner through N1 advanced. Select your level before each session and the puzzle draws exclusively from that level's official vocabulary list. The word selection is dynamic, so you will not see the same grid twice at the same level.
| Level | Approx. vocab size | Typical focus | Who it suits |
|---|---|---|---|
| N5 | ~800 words | Numbers, time, greetings, basic verbs | First 3 months of study |
| N4 | ~1,500 words | Everyday conversation, directions, shopping | 3 to 12 months in |
| N3 | ~3,000 words | News headlines, workplace basics, opinions | 1 to 2 years of consistent study |
| N2 | ~6,000 words | Business language, formal writing, nuance | 2 to 4 years in |
| N1 | ~10,000 words | Academic writing, literary vocabulary, keigo | 4+ years, or near-native study |
Vocabulary counts are approximate and reflect commonly cited JLPT preparation benchmarks. Individual puzzle sessions draw dynamically from the relevant pool.
How the Crossword Builds Vocabulary Retention
The puzzle uses three overlapping mechanics to strengthen vocabulary: active recall, intersecting constraints, and spaced repetition across sessions.
Active recall under real constraints
Reading a word and recognising it is one thing. Producing it from a clue, spelling it correctly, and fitting it into a fixed character count is something harder and more useful. The crossword forces that second process on every answer. You see "birthday" as a clue, you know the answer is たんじょうび (tanjoubi), and you have to type all five characters correctly into the grid. The character count is shown; the letters themselves are not given to you.
Letter intersections compound what you know
Every crossword grid is a web of intersecting answers. Getting one word right fills in shared letters for crossing words, which narrows your options and makes adjacent clues easier to solve. This mirrors how vocabulary knowledge actually compounds in reading Japanese: knowing 誕生日 (tanjoubi, birthday) gives you the character と at the intersection, which constrains what the crossing word can be. The puzzle rewards breadth of vocabulary, not just depth in a single word list.
Spaced repetition built into the puzzle loop
Words that appear across multiple puzzle sessions are not random. The crossword surfaces vocabulary that tends to recur at a given JLPT level because those are the words that show up on the actual exam. Play the same level across several sessions and you will notice certain words appearing again: 授業 (jugyou, class or lesson) at N4, 複雑 (fukuzatsu, complicated) at N3. Repeated exposure across different puzzle contexts is a form of distributed practice. Words you get wrong once will come back in a different grid arrangement, which is a more demanding test than seeing them again in the same order.
Practical tip
When you finish a puzzle, scroll through every clue you left blank or got wrong. Do not move past them. Play another session at the same level the next day and see whether those same words trip you up again. Ones that fail twice in different grids are the vocabulary gaps worth targeting.
Every Component of the App
What the crossword contains and what each part does.
The puzzle grid
A standard crossword grid with numbered slots for across and down answers. Tap or click any numbered cell to select it. The active cell highlights in the grid and the matching clue appears in the clue bar at the top. Correct answers lock in green; incorrect attempts stay editable.
The clues panel
A scrollable list of all across and down clues for the current puzzle, each showing the clue number, direction, character count, and English definition. Tap any clue in the panel to jump directly to its grid slot. Use Hide Solved to collapse completed answers and focus only on what remains.
Romaji-to-kana input
Type answers using a standard QWERTY keyboard. The app converts romaji to hiragana automatically as you type. Type ta and get た, type chi and get ち, type tsu and get つ. No Japanese input method or special keyboard settings required. The built-in Romaji Chart in Settings shows every conversion if you need a reference mid-puzzle.
The hint system
Each clue has a Hint button. Tapping it reveals one letter in the correct position within the grid slot. Use hints sparingly: they give you a letter, not the answer, so you still have to produce the rest from memory. The hint count is tracked per session, which gives you a rough measure of which vocabulary is genuinely solid versus which needed a prompt.
Difficulty settings
The Settings panel has three tabs: Difficulty, How to Play, and Romaji Chart. Under Difficulty, select from five JLPT levels. Each level shows a short topic summary and approximate vocabulary count so you know what you are selecting before you commit. Your level choice persists across sessions until you change it.
Dynamic puzzle generation
Each session generates a new grid from the selected level's vocabulary pool. You will not see the same puzzle arrangement twice. The generation draws from over 5,000 JLPT-aligned words across all five levels, with across and down clues balanced so the puzzle remains solvable rather than frustrating at every level.
How to Get Started
Three steps. None of them require setting up an account to get going.
Select level
Choose N5 through N1. Start one level below where you think you are.
Read the clue
English and Japanese shown by default. Click the clue to highlight its grid slot.
Type in romaji
Type normally. The system converts to kana as you go.
Select level
Start one level below where you think you are.
Read the clue
Click any clue to highlight its grid slot. Bilingual by default.
Type in romaji
Standard keyboard. Converts to kana as you type.
If kana recognition is still shaky
The crossword works with romaji input, so you can play without kana fluency. That said, if hiragana and katakana are not yet automatic for you, Kana Challenge will close that gap in two to four weeks before you go deeper on vocabulary.
Getting More Out of Each Session
A few habits that make the crossword more effective as a vocabulary tool.
Work the clues panel, not just the grid
Most players focus on the grid and treat the clues panel as secondary. Reverse that. Open the clues panel first, scan all the definitions, and identify the ones you know immediately. Solve those first. The letters they place in the grid will then constrain and assist the harder answers, which is a more efficient path through the puzzle than guessing randomly at blank cells.
Use character counts before using hints
Every clue in the panel shows a character count in parentheses: birthday (5 chars), student (4 chars). That count is a significant clue in itself. たんじょうび is five characters. がくせい is four. Before tapping Hint, try to narrow your options using the count and any intersecting letters already in the grid. Figuring it out from those constraints is more productive than being handed a letter.
Stay at a level until the puzzle feels easy, then move up
The right signal for moving up a level is finishing a puzzle with no hints and fewer than three blank answers. If you are still using five or more hints per session, the vocabulary at that level is not solid enough to move on. Play two or three more sessions. The words you keep missing will repeat in different grid configurations, which is the closest the puzzle gets to spaced repetition.
Best for
Learners in the N5 to N2 range who want to test how much of their studied vocabulary they can actually produce and spell under mild pressure. Also well-suited to JLPT candidates doing vocabulary review in the two to three weeks before the exam, when confirming what you know matters as much as learning new words.
Watch the Walkthrough
A three-minute walkthrough of level selection, input, and the progress dashboard.
Frequently Asked Questions
What JLPT levels does My Senpai Crossword cover?
All five levels: N5 through N1. The vocabulary pool at each level reflects the official JLPT word lists. Roughly 800 words at N5, 1,500 at N4, 3,000 at N3, 6,000 at N2, and 10,000 at N1. Each session generates a new puzzle drawn exclusively from the selected level's pool.
Do I need to type in Japanese to play?
No. The input system converts romaji to hiragana automatically as you type. You type ta-be-ru and the grid fills in たべる. No Japanese keyboard or input method app is required on your device. If you are unsure of a reading, the Romaji Chart in Settings shows every hiragana character and its romaji equivalent.
How does the spaced repetition work in the crossword?
The crossword uses distributed practice across sessions rather than an algorithmic spaced repetition schedule. Words from the official JLPT vocabulary list recur across different puzzle sessions in new grid arrangements and with different intersecting letters. This means a word you missed on Tuesday will likely appear again in a different context on Thursday, which requires genuine recall rather than pattern recognition from a familiar card layout. The effect compounds over multiple sessions at the same level.
What level should I start with?
Start one level below where you are currently studying. The crossword requires both recall and correct spelling, which is more demanding than reading comprehension or multiple-choice recognition. A learner targeting N4 should start at N5 to build fluency with the puzzle format before stepping up. If N5 feels too easy after two sessions, move up immediately.
What does the Hint button actually do?
Tapping Hint reveals one letter in the correct position within the active grid slot. It does not reveal the full answer. You still have to produce the remaining characters from memory. The Hint button is available on both the clue bar at the top of the screen and on each individual clue in the clues panel. How often you use hints in a session is a useful self-assessment: frequent hints at a given level suggest the vocabulary is not yet secure enough to move up.
Does it work on mobile?
Yes. The grid, clues panel, and romaji input are all fully optimised for mobile. Tap any cell to select it; the active clue appears in the bar above the grid so you do not have to scroll while typing. The standard on-screen keyboard handles romaji input without any extra setup.
How many words are in the puzzle bank?
Over 5,000 JLPT-aligned vocabulary items across all five levels. Puzzles are generated dynamically each session, so you will not see the same grid twice. The word pool at each level is drawn from the official JLPT vocabulary lists, so every word you practice in the crossword is a word that could appear on the exam.
Can the crossword be used for JLPT exam preparation?
Yes, and it is particularly useful in the final two to three weeks before the exam. By that point you have studied most of the vocabulary for your target level. The crossword lets you stress-test that knowledge under mild time pressure and active recall conditions that are closer to the exam than passive review. Vocabulary you can consistently produce in the crossword is vocabulary you are unlikely to blank on in the reading and vocabulary sections of the test.