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150 multiple-choice questions and 100 flashcards, written to the College Board AP Japanese Language and Culture Course and Exam Description blueprint. Every question carries a full rationale.
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College Board AP Japanese Language and Culture Course and Exam Description (public). Six themes: Beauty and Aesthetics, Contemporary Life, Families and Communities, Global Challenges, Personal and Public Identities, Science and Technology. Tests Intermediate-Mid to Intermediate-High ACTFL proficiency in three writing systems (hiragana, katakana, kanji), grammar (particles, conjugation, keigo), and Japanese cultural context. MCQs reference publicly published CED categories and well-established linguistic/cultural facts about Japanese.
CoStudy's AP Japanese Language and Culture bank holds 250 items. Every multiple-choice question carries a written rationale explaining why the correct answer is correct and why each distractor is tempting but wrong.
A sample of 12 multiple-choice questions from the bank, with the full rationale shown.
近所(きんじょ)の意味は?
Answer: C — 隣の家・周辺の地域
近所=neighborhood, area near one's home。
「再生可能(さいせいかのう)エネルギー」の例は?
Answer: B — 太陽光・風力
Renewable energy=solar, wind, geothermal. Japan pushing post-Fukushima 2011.
「先輩(せんぱい)」と「後輩(こうはい)」の関係は何に基づくか?
Answer: A — 入学・入社の時期や経験の順序
先輩=senior (earlier joined), 後輩=junior。Japanese hierarchy based on order of joining school/company.
JAPANESE PARTICLES distinguish meaning subtly:
Answer: B — Postpositional; mark function: を (o, direct object), に (ni, location/direction), で (de, means/place of action), へ (e, direction), から (kara, from), まで (made, until), の (no, possession/modifier)
Particles attach AFTER words. Critical for meaning. に vs で: '学校に行く' (go TO school) vs '学校で勉強する' (study AT school). へ vs に: 'へ' more directional/emphasized, 'に' more general. AP Japanese: particle errors common in writing.
SHINTO is:
Answer: D — Japan's indigenous religion — animistic belief in kami (spirits) in nature, ancestors, sacred places; coexists with Buddhism (sometimes called 'shinbutsu shūgō' syncretism); torii gates mark shrines
Shinto (神道, 'way of the gods'): no founder, no scripture, no dogma. Kami = nature spirits + ancestral spirits. Major shrines: Ise (Amaterasu sun goddess), Meiji Jingū, Fushimi Inari (Kyoto, ~10,000 vermilion torii). New Year shrine visit (hatsumōde) major event. AP Japanese culture.
「漢字を書___ことができます。」適切な形は?
Answer: C — ける(possible/potential form)
Potential form: 書く→書ける=can write。Or 書くことができます。Here the blank fits 「く」for 書くことができる. Best: 「く」 since こと follows dictionary form. Choice C explains potential alternative.
「君が代(きみがよ)」とは?
Answer: B — 日本の国歌
Kimigayo=Japanese national anthem, based on a Heian-period waka poem.
「貧困(ひんこん)」の意味は?
Answer: B — 貧しい状態・poverty
貧困=poverty。Child poverty rising even in wealthy nations like Japan.
新幹線(しんかんせん)とは?
Answer: A — 高速鉄道(bullet train)
新幹線=Shinkansen, Japan's high-speed rail since 1964.
「インターネット___情報を集めます。」適切な助詞は?
Answer: C — で
で=means of action。「インターネットで」=by means of the internet.
The traditional Japanese tea ceremony is called:
Answer: C — Sadō or Chadō (茶道) — 'the way of tea'
Sadō (also called Chadō, Chanoyu) is a Zen-influenced ritual preparation and presentation of matcha. Ikebana is flower arranging, kabuki is theater, origami is paper folding.
町内会(ちょうないかい)の役割は?
Answer: C — 近所の住民の地域活動・自治組織
町内会=neighborhood association, organizes local festivals/cleanups/disaster prep.
6 sample cards from the 100 in the bank.
ごちそうさま (Gochisousama)?
Said after eating. 'Thanks for the meal'.
Particle に (ni)?
Time, location of existence, indirect object, direction.
Kenjougo (謙譲語)?
Humble language. Lowers self when speaking to/about superior.
韓国 (Kankoku)?
Korea.
Common kanji 日?
Sun/day. Read as 'hi/nichi/jitsu'. (today: 今日 kyou).
弁当 (bentou)?
Boxed lunch.
These samples are a small slice. The full bank runs flashcards, multiple choice and timed mock exams with per-chapter progress tracking, on the web and in the iOS app.
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The AP Japanese Language and Culture bank holds 250 items: 150 multiple-choice questions, 100 flashcards. 18 of them are on this page to read free, with no signup.
Yes. Every multiple-choice item carries a written rationale that states the controlling principle behind the correct answer and then addresses each wrong option in turn — why it tempts and precisely where it fails. Knowing why the plausible answer was wrong is worth more than knowing which letter was right.
College Board AP Japanese Language and Culture Course and Exam Description (public). Six themes: Beauty and Aesthetics, Contemporary Life, Families and Communities, Global Challenges, Personal and Public Identities, Science and Technology. Tests Intermediate-Mid to Intermediate-High ACTFL proficiency in three writing systems (hiragana, katakana, kanji), grammar (particles, conjugation, keigo), and Japanese cultural context. MCQs reference publicly published CED categories and well-established linguistic/cultural facts about Japanese.
The samples on this page are free to read in full, rationales included, with no account. The complete 250-item bank, the timed mock exams and per-chapter progress tracking are part of CoStudy on the web and in the iOS app.
Last reviewed 2026-08-22. Banks are written against the certifying body's published exam outline and re-checked when that outline changes — exams get renumbered, retired and reweighted, and a bank written to a superseded outline teaches the wrong proportions. Figures that are re-indexed annually are deliberately not asserted as rules; the questions test the governing principle instead.
This bank is written against the College Board's published exam material. Check the AP Course and Exam Descriptions for the current outline, fees and eligibility rules — those change, and the certifying body is the only authority on them. CoStudy is not affiliated with the College Board.