Introduction: Using five years of data to find the true cause of the difficulty spike
Japan's National Sign Language Interpreter Certification Exam is increasingly described as having "gotten harder" and having "falling pass rates." For the most recent sitting, FY2025 (Reiwa 7 / 2025), we've also heard candidates say the written paper was tough.
So how has the content of the written exam actually changed? In this article, we tabulate the questions from FY2021 (Reiwa 3) through FY2025 (Reiwa 7) by field, and read the data to answer "what increased and what decreased" and "what made FY2025 distinctive." We've also put together, as concretely as possible, the key Social Work Theory terms that were central to the difficulty spike, plus a study list for the Japanese-language section (four-character idioms, honorifics, phonetics, and more) that you can turn into a reliable scoring area.
Note: This article is an independent tabulation and analysis of the trends in themes, fields, and structure of the questions only. The exam's actual question texts, answer choices, Japanese reading passages, and correct answers are copyrighted works and are not reproduced here at all. Citations are limited to bibliographic information for the sources. For actual practice, always use official past-paper materials (published by the National Sign Language Training Center).
What you'll learn from this article
- How the number of questions by field within the "20 core-knowledge questions" shifted from Reiwa 3 to Reiwa 7
- What happened in FY2025 (three defining features)
- The 18 key terms within "Social Work Theory," the crux of the difficulty spike
- High-frequency genres and terms in the Japanese-language section that you should turn into a scoring area (four-character idioms, set phrases, honorifics, phonetics, and more)
- A list of the sources of the Japanese reading passages over the past five years
- How the settings and cast of the practical exam (situational interpreting) changed over five years
- Scene domains worth preparing for at the next exam (trend analysis)
- Study priorities heading into FY2026 (Reiwa 8) and beyond
The basic structure of the written exam (largely unchanged over five years)
First, as background: the skeleton of the written exam has barely changed over these five years.
- Core knowledge required of a sign language interpreter: 20 questions, multiple choice (4 options)
- Japanese language: a long-passage reading comprehension (one modern-prose passage) plus a set of shorter questions on vocabulary, grammar, honorifics, phonetics, and so on (including written-answer items)
The pass criteria have also been stable year after year: roughly 70% on the written paper and roughly 75% on the practical. The structure is the same, yet the exam feels harder——and the reason lies not in the "structure" but in the "weighting of the content."
[Data] Five-year trend in questions by category (the 20 core-knowledge questions)
The table below classifies the 20 core-knowledge questions by field and tabulates them by year.
The classification is an approximate, consolidated scheme original to this article, and some questions straddle multiple fields. We have verified that each year totals 20 questions.
| Category | R3 (2021) | R4 (2022) | R5 (2023) | R6 (2024) | R7 (2025) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A. Laws and systems for disability welfare | 4 | 6 | 5 | 2 | 2 |
| B. Basic knowledge of hearing loss | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 |
| C. Philosophy, ethics, mindset & skills of interpreting | 6 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| D. Social Work Theory | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| E. Interpreter systems (registration, health management, support staff) | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 2 |
| F. History of the Deaf movement & welfare systems | 3 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| G. Language development of deaf children & deaf education | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| H. Volunteer activities | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| I. Language & sign language | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Total | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 |
The trend becomes even clearer when we look at whether questions are memorization-type or application-type.
| Type | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | R7 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Memorization-type (A. Laws & systems) | 4 | 6 | 5 | 2 | 2 |
| Conceptual/applied (C + D) | 7 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 10 |
In FY2025, conceptual/applied questions made up exactly half (10 questions) of the 20 core-knowledge questions. That's more than triple the 3 questions in FY2022 (Reiwa 4).
Three defining features of FY2025 (Reiwa 7)
Feature 1: Social Work Theory suddenly doubled (1→1→1→2→4)
The clearest change is the surge in Social Work Theory. What had been a single question each year from Reiwa 3 to 5 grew to 2 in Reiwa 6 and 4 in Reiwa 7. Specialized concepts of interpersonal support—Biestek's seven principles, assessment, casework, boundaries—can't be answered just by memorizing the terms; they demand an accurate grasp of the definitions. It's likely that quite a few candidates lost points here.
Feature 2: "Conceptual/applied" questions made up half of core knowledge
Combining "Philosophy, ethics & mindset of interpreting (C)" and "Social Work Theory (D)," the conceptual/applied questions reached 10 in FY2025—half of core knowledge. Conversely, "Laws and systems for disability welfare (A)," which is easier to score on through memorization, has been shrinking recently: 4→6→5→2→2. Across the exam as a whole,
the center of gravity is shifting from "do you remember the systems and laws?" to "do you understand an interpreter's ethics and support philosophy, and can you apply them to a given situation?"
—and that trend shows up in the numbers. The fact that cramming works less well matches the felt increase in difficulty.
Feature 3: The Japanese-language reading passage was the most abstract in five years
The theme of the long-passage reading comprehension changes every year. In FY2025 it was an essay by Takeshi Yoro—a highly abstract, contemplative text on human cognition and civilization. Because the material isn't directly tied to the practical work of interpreting, it tests the reading ability to follow an argument accurately. The written-answer items also combined direct extraction from the passage with character-limited summarization in a multi-stage structure, so the reading load was relatively heavy (sources for each year are listed later).
[Most important] What is Social Work Theory? The 18 terms to master
Social Work Theory accounted for 4 questions in FY2025. Here we summarize the key terms of the field to answer the question, "what terms actually come up?" (Priority: S = most important, A = important, B = standard.)
The following are explanations of common specialized terms in interpersonal support. They are not the exam questions themselves.
Core concepts
- Social workS
- Social welfare support to help people live humane lives. A professional practice oriented toward social change, empowerment, and liberation.
- Global Definition of Social WorkA
- Adopted by the IFSW and IASSW in 2014. It advances social change, social development, and social cohesion, and the empowerment and liberation of people.
- Social resourcesS
- An umbrella term for the systems, facilities, agencies, funds, information, and individuals' knowledge and skills used to meet needs and solve problems (e.g., disability pensions, dispatch of sign language interpreters, group homes).
- EmpowermentB
- Helping socially disadvantaged people become aware of the oppressive structures they are placed in, and recover and strengthen the confidence and self-determination to change their situation.
Biestek's seven principles (the basic principles of interpersonal support)
The seven principles are: individualization / purposeful expression of feelings / controlled emotional involvement / acceptance / a non-judgmental attitude / self-determination / confidentiality. The following principles are especially likely to be tested in this exam.
- IndividualizationA
- Rather than treating a disability or problem in a uniform way, seeing the person as an individual human being.
- AcceptanceA
- Receiving the other person's thoughts, feelings, and behavior without first denying them.
- Non-judgmental attitudeA
- The supporter does not one-sidedly condemn the other person based on their own values.
- Self-determinationA
- The person themselves is the agent of problem-solving; the supporter's role is to draw out their capacity.
- ConfidentialityB
- Not disclosing personal information or privacy to third parties without permission.
Casework (individual support technique) and the support process
- Casework (individual support technique)A
- A technique that works on both a client facing life challenges and their environment to support their independent problem-solving.
- The casework support processB
- Six stages: (1) intake → (2) assessment → (3) planning → (4) implementation/intervention → (5) monitoring → (6) termination.
- IntakeA
- The first stage. At the initial meeting, grasping needs and building a relationship of trust.
- AssessmentA
- The second stage. Organizing the client's life history, background, situation, and needs (in principle done together with the client).
- MonitoringA
- The fifth stage. Reflecting on the support midway through, and checking and evaluating its effectiveness and any new challenges.
The three types of support technique and others
- Group work (group support technique)B
- A support method that enhances social functioning through intentional group experiences.
- Community work (community support technique)B
- A method that collaborates with local residents and organizations, supporting people through solving community issues.
- BoundaryA
- The line dividing the supporter and the person being supported. For sign language interpreters—whose roles readily shift between circle member, association member, friend, and so on—awareness of boundaries is especially important.
- Nobuaki KurachiB
- A researcher who has discussed the particular nature of the boundary between sign language interpreters and deaf people.
Study tip: In social work, "understanding the definitions" makes more difference than "memorizing the terms." The way to score on Biestek's principles is to internalize them until, in a concrete scene, you can judge "which principle does this exemplify?"
Also important: High-frequency terms in the philosophy and ethics of sign language interpreting
The other pillar of the conceptual/applied questions is the philosophy and ethics of sign language interpreting. Here are the high-frequency terms.
- Duty of confidentialityS
- The duty not to provide information learned in the course of work to third parties against the person's wishes. Stipulated in Article 4 of the Code of Ethics for Certified Sign Language Interpreters.
- Professional (occupational) ethicsS
- The code of conduct required of a profession. For sign language interpreting, this is the Code of Ethics for Certified Sign Language Interpreters.
- Code of Ethics for Certified Sign Language InterpretersS
- Established in 1997 by the Japanese Association of Certified Sign Language Interpreters. Composed of a preamble and seven articles.
- Values and ethics of sign language interpretingS
- Respect for human rights, respect for autonomy, confidentiality, realizing equal social participation, professional development, and so on.
- Neutrality of sign language interpretingB
- The principle that, as an intermediary, the interpreter does not lean toward either party and does not add their own opinions or judgments.
- The scope of sign language interpreting (three categories)S
- A classification of the interpreter's scope based on their professional expertise (from a 1988 report).
- Sign language interpreting technique (translation technique)S
- The technique carrying out the translation process of reception, comprehension, retention, reconstruction, and expression.
- Japanese National Research Association of Sign Language Interpretation (Zentsuken) / Japanese Association of Certified Sign Language InterpretersS
- Key organizations involved in research, training, and the drafting of the code of ethics.
- Telephone Relay ServiceS
- Interprets between sign language/text and voice to mediate telephone communication. Given a legal basis in 2020.
- Sign language interpreting for election broadcastsA
- Introduced for election broadcasts in the House of Councillors (since 1995) and the House of Representatives (since 2009), among others.
- Case reviewA
- A learning and training method that examines the appropriateness of responses using real-world scenes as material.
Turn it into a scoring area: mastering the Japanese-language section
The Japanese-language section is a field where "effort pays off." Now that core knowledge is getting harder with its focus on concepts, this is exactly where you want to score reliably. Here we've compiled the high-frequency genres and terms in some depth.
The following are explanations of common Japanese vocabulary and grammar, not the exam questions themselves.
Four-character idioms (watch the meanings and misuses)
- Gori-muchu
- A state of being lost, not knowing which way to turn; being unable to see the way forward.
- Senzai-ichigu
- A rare, once-in-a-thousand-years opportunity.
- Iki-shochin
- Losing one's spirit and becoming dejected.
- Muga-muchu
- Being so absorbed that one forgets oneself.
- Tanto-chokunyu
- Getting straight to the point with no preamble. (Note: written with the character for "single sword"; writing it with "short sword" is incorrect.)
- Jigo-jitoku
- Reaping for oneself the consequences of one's own actions.
- Nisha-takuitsu
- Choosing one of two options.
- Goetsu-doshu
- Enemies sharing the same boat / cooperating in the face of a common difficulty.
- Iccho-isseki
- A short span of time. As in "it can't be done overnight (iccho-isseki ni wa ikanai)."
Idiomatic expressions
- Atama o kakaeru
- To be troubled and worried, unable to find a solution.
- Hara o sueru
- To steel oneself; to make up one's mind.
- Hara o waru
- To open up and reveal one's true feelings.
- Ha ni kinu kisenu
- To speak frankly and without reserve.
- Hana o akasu
- To outdo someone and take them by surprise.
- Me o maruku suru
- To be surprised by something unexpected.
Homophones and words prone to misuse
Words often misused through a shift in meaning are a frequent testing point.
- Yaku-busoku
- Correct = "the role is too minor for the person's ability." Using it to mean "lacking in ability" is a misuse.
- Nagare ni sao sasu
- Correct = "to ride the current and gain momentum." Using it to mean "to go against" is a misuse.
Loanwords (katakana terms)
- Needs (nizu)
- Requirements, demand. In welfare, it refers to a user's necessities.
- Advocacy (adobokashi)
- Rights protection and policy advocacy.
- Triage (toriaji)
- Determining the priority order of treatment in a disaster.
- Infrastructure (infura)
- An umbrella term for the facilities and equipment that form society's foundation.
- Subscription (sabusukuripushon)
- A flat-rate billing model.
- Gender (jenda)
- The socially and culturally constructed concept of sex/gender.
- Work-life balance
- Harmony between work and life.
- Cluster (kurasuta)
- A group. In infectious disease, a group infection.
- Pandemic (pandemikku)
- A worldwide outbreak of an infectious disease.
- Random (randamu)
- Arbitrary; without any set order.
Honorifics
- Respectful language (sonkeigo)
- Elevates the other person's actions (ossharu, irassharu, meshiagaru).
- Humble language (kenjogo)
- Lowers one's own side (mosu, mairu, itadaku).
- Polite language (teineigo)
- Expresses politeness with "desu / masu."
- Beautifying language (bikago)
- Words that add refinement, such as "o-ryori" (dish) and "go-han" (rice/meal).
- Double honorifics (nijukeigo)
- Overly redundant expressions that stack honorifics of the same type ("ossharareru" = respectful + respectful) are considered incorrect.
Phonetics
- Vowels
- Sounds produced without the vocal-cord vibration being obstructed in the oral cavity (a, i, u, e, o).
- Consonants
- Sounds produced when the airflow is partially or completely obstructed.
- Mora (haku)
- The basic unit of sound in Japanese. As a rule, one kana character is one mora. "n," the small "tsu," and the long-vowel mark are also each one mora.
- Syllable
- The natural unit of speech. In Japanese, one mora usually equals one syllable.
- Pitch accent
- Japanese distinguishes words by pitch (high/low), as in "hashi" for chopsticks vs. bridge.
- Intonation
- The change in pitch across a whole sentence. Conveys things like questions and exclamations.
- Voiced and voiceless sounds
- Sounds made with vocal-cord vibration vs. without it.
Grammar, parts of speech, and rhetoric
- Parts of speech
- The ten types in Japanese: noun, verb, i-adjective, na-adjective, adverb, adnominal, conjunction, interjection, particle, and auxiliary verb.
- Connectives
- Consequential (dakara), adversative (shikashi), coordinate (mata), supplementary (nazenara), and transitional (sate).
- "Ra-nuki" speech
- Forms such as "tabereru" and "mireru." Spreading in casual speech, but grammatically debated.
- Subject-predicate mismatch
- A sentence in which the subject and predicate do not agree (prone to occur in long sentences).
- Metaphor / simile
- A comparison made without using "like/as" / a comparison made using it.
Study tip: The Japanese-language section has many areas where "if you know it, you score immediately," such as four-character idioms, honorifics, and phonetics—so it offers a high return on your study effort. Since the conceptual questions in core knowledge eat up time, preparing not to drop points in the Japanese section is a shortcut to the passing line.
Sources of the Japanese reading passages over the past five years (bibliographic information)
The source of the long-passage reading comprehension changes every year (bibliographic information only; the passages themselves are not reproduced).
| Year | Source | Tendency |
|---|---|---|
| R3 (2021) | Naoko Ota, "The Subtitler Cries from a Corner of the Silver Screen That the Japanese Is Off" | A practical essay on subtitle translation (concrete) |
| R4 (2022) | Michio Okada & Kotaro Matsumoto, "The Sadness of Robots: An Ecology of Humans and Robots Around Communication" | The relationship between robots and humans (somewhat abstract) |
| R5 (2023) | Kazuyuki Sato, "Plain Japanese" (in Mitsumura Tosho's "Kokugo 2," FY2012 edition) | Supporting foreign residents in disasters (concrete, practical) |
| R6 (2024) | Etsuko Haryu (in Toshiaki Mori, ed., "Laboratory of Fascinating Language," Kitaohji Shobo) | Language acquisition and fast mapping (academic) |
| R7 (2025) | Takeshi Yoro, "The Wrinkles of the Brain" (Shinchosha, 2006) | A contemplative essay on the artificial environment and the brain (abstract) |
The practical exam (situational interpreting) is getting more complex too: a five-year scene comparison
It isn't only the written paper that's getting harder. The setup of the practical exam (situational interpreting) has also shown changes over these five years.
The practical exam requires candidates to interpret a conversation in a given scene both ways: from listening (voice → sign) and from reading (sign → voice). Here we compare the "scene setting" and "cast of characters" across five years (the conversation content and sign expressions are not reproduced).
| Year | Scene (setting) | Cast of characters | Domain |
|---|---|---|---|
| R3 (2021) | A consultation about workplace communication | A deaf person + a section chief (2 parties) | Labor / workplace |
| R4 (2022) | A vision consultation at an eye clinic | A deaf person + a nurse (2 parties) | Medical |
| R5 (2023) | A meeting with the fire department about a disaster drill | A fire-department officer + 2 deaf-association officials (3 parties) | Disaster prevention / community activity |
| R6 (2024) | A discussion about a noise dispute at an apartment building | A building manager + a deaf resident + a hearing resident (3 parties) | Housing / neighbors |
| R7 (2025) | A consultation about nursing-care services | A care manager + a deaf daughter + a hearing mother (3 parties) | Nursing care / welfare |
From two-person interviews to multi-party, three-person scenes
In FY2021-2022 the scenes were two-person interviews of "one deaf person + one hearing person," but from FY2023 onward they became multi-party scenes with three characters. As the number of speakers grows, the interpreter must constantly track "who is speaking now" and interpret while managing gaze, positioning, and pauses—which raises the difficulty.
Scene domains spreading across everyday life
Over the five years the scene domains span widely: labor → medical → disaster prevention/community → housing → nursing care. Rather than leaning toward a particular field, the exam demands the all-round competence to handle whichever life situation comes up. Preparing for the vocabulary specific to each field—medical care, long-term care insurance, disaster prevention, and so on—is also important.
Note: The essence of "difficulty" in the practical exam lies in the parts evaluated in the live exchange—the speed, accuracy, and facial expression of sign, and reading comprehension. What we compare in this article is limited to the facts of the scene setting and the number of parties.
[Trend analysis] Scene domains worth preparing for at the next exam
Note: The following is analysis based on past question trends and is no guarantee of what will be asked. The exam creators deliberately vary the scenes. Please use this only as a way to orient your study—"which fields' vocabulary and knowledge to prioritize."
Over the past five years, the practical exam has rotated widely through everyday scenes—labor, medical, disaster prevention, housing, nursing care (past sittings have also included consumer-affairs consultations and health check-ups). There's a tendency to avoid the field from the immediately preceding year, so "fields that haven't come up recently" and "fields drawing growing social attention" emerge as the next candidates. The enforcement of the Sign Language Policy Promotion Act (2025), which spelled out the responsibilities of government, is also a trend not to be overlooked.
From here, we sort out the scene domains worth preparing for, by priority.
Domains to prepare first (top priority)
- Procedural consultations at government/welfare counters (city hall, welfare divisions, etc.): applications for disability welfare services, changes to support classifications, and various procedures. Though central to community interpreting, they haven't appeared as a standalone scene in recent years.
- Interviews in educational settings (school-entry consultations, career paths, parent-teacher meetings): an assumed domain of the guidelines, yet not seen recently. It readily becomes a three-party scene, such as homeroom teacher + guardian + special-education coordinator.
Domains to prepare next
- Other medical scenes (visits other than ophthalmology, medication guidance, discharge support, mental-health consultations, etc.): medical care is a staple field that appears in roughly alternate years.
- Employment / job retention / Hello Work consultations: employment of people with disabilities draws high social interest and is frequent on the written paper too. Job-seeking, interviews, retention support, and so on.
Domains to cover if you have room
- Child-rearing, infant health check-ups, meetings with nurseries: deaf guardians with public-health nurses, nursery teachers, and the like.
- Consultations about finance, contracts, and consumer troubles: contract troubles, banking procedures, fraudulent sales tactics, and so on.
Conversely, since disaster prevention (FY2023), housing (FY2024), and nursing care (FY2025) have just appeared, their priority for the next sitting is likely lower.
Coming next: We plan to develop concrete three-party scenarios for each scene, and how to build Japanese into sign language (the tricky spots of expression and the points for visualization), in detail in a follow-up article.
Why FY2025 got harder (untangling the combined factors)
The voices saying "FY2025 was hard and the pass rate was low too" are consistent with the analysis so far. That said, the swing in the pass rate can't be explained by the written exam alone.
- A qualitative shift in the written paper: a shift from memorization-type to conceptual/applied-type, with the Japanese reading passage also becoming more abstract. It was a structure that hits term-memorization-heavy preparation the hardest.
- Greater complexity in the practical exam: passing also requires clearing the practical (situational interpreting) standard. As the previous section showed, the practical has recently grown more complex, moving to multi-party, three-person scenes, and factors on the practical side—such as stricter grading—also weigh heavily on the pass rate.
- Changes in the candidate pool: shifts in the population, such as an increase in less-experienced candidates just out of training courses, also affect the pass rate.
Therefore, we can say that the written exam is trending harder toward the conceptual/applied, but the fall in the pass rate is the combined result of the practical and candidate-pool factors as well, not that alone.
A study roadmap toward passing
- Nail down the specialized concepts of social work at the "definition level": Biestek's seven principles, the casework support process (six stages), assessment, and monitoring—until you can explain the meaning of each in your own words.
- Master the ethics and mindset of interpreting through "situational judgment": learn the code of ethics, duty of confidentiality, neutrality, and boundaries in a form where you can judge "how is it right to behave in this scene?"
- For laws and systems, be sure of the core only: focus on the main laws—the Basic Act for Persons with Disabilities, the Act on Comprehensive Support for Persons with Disabilities, the Act for Eliminating Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities—prioritizing certainty over chasing detail.
- Don't drop points in the Japanese-language section: solidify the high-frequency four-character idioms, honorifics, phonetics, and homophones by memorization, and practice reading abstract critical essays and writing character-limited summaries.
- Do past papers with official materials: for actual practice, obtain and use the official materials published by the National Sign Language Training Center.
Study in line with the question trends using our app
Instant Mastery: National Sign Language Interpreter Exam Edition (in development)
A study app specialized in the written exam (core knowledge and Japanese language) of the National Sign Language Interpreter Certification Exam. It features study functions that systematically organize the specialized terms, plus original mock questions aligned with the question trends. The developer, who spent 12 years teaching at a special-needs school for deaf students, has organized the knowledge needed to pass.
Planned release: within 2026 (Google Play)
Coming SoonSummary
Analyzing FY2021 through FY2025, we can see that while the written exam's structure has stayed stable, the weighting of its content has clearly shifted from "memorization" to "conceptual understanding and application." FY2025 in particular saw Social Work Theory double to 4 questions, conceptual/applied questions (including philosophy and ethics) make up half of core knowledge, and the Japanese reading passage be the most abstract in five years. These line up, in the numbers, with the increased difficulty candidates felt.
The fall in the pass rate is a composite matter that includes the practical exam and the candidate pool, but for written-exam preparation, raising the quality of your study from "rote memorization of terms" to "understanding concepts and situational judgment" looks set to be the key to passing from here on.
Note: This article is an independent tabulation and analysis of the trends in question themes and structure; it reproduces none of the exam's questions, answer choices, reading passages, or correct answers. For study, please use official past-paper materials.