Hiroshima Entrance Japanese exam-day guide
Hiroshima Entrance Japanese · Prepare for the day ahead.
Your checklist
Admission ticket / 受験票
[needs_review] The slip issued by the institution or testing body that carries your examinee number and venue. If you have not received one, or if it must be printed from an online portal, confirm with the provider exactly what document is accepted (printed copy vs. screen display) and whether a photo is affixed.
Photo identification
[needs_review] Bring the passport or residence card that matches the name and spelling on your application. Foreign applicants are usually expected to show a passport; residents of Japan may be asked for a residence card. Confirm with the provider which document is required, since a mismatched name (maiden name, middle name omission, romanization difference) is a common cause of on-site problems.
Two or more HB pencils and a good eraser
Machine-scored answer sheets are usually read optically, so use a dark pencil rather than a mechanical pen or ballpoint. Bring at least two, plus a hand sharpener or spare lead, and a soft eraser that does not tear the sheet.
Analogue watch (no smart functions)
Rooms are often not equipped with a clock visible from every seat, and phones must be off. A simple wristwatch lets you allocate time across sections. Smartwatches and any device with communication or storage functions are almost always prohibited.
The institution's own instructions for the day
[needs_review] Rules on entry to the room, baggage placement, and what may be left on the desk vary by provider. Read the guidance that came with your admission ticket and confirm anything unclear with the provider before the day.
Transit plan and backup route
Work out the route to the venue in advance, including which exit of the station to use and how long the walk takes. Add a buffer for delays. Identify one alternative route in case of a signal failure or suspension on your usual line.
Money in small denominations and a charged IC card
You may need cash for a bus or a coin locker, and vending machines near the venue may not accept large notes. Keep your IC card balance topped up the day before.
Light, quiet food and drink
Bring something small that does not need preparation and will not disturb others if eaten during a break. Avoid anything strongly scented or noisy in its packaging.
Layers you can adjust
Exam halls are frequently over-heated in winter and under-cooled in summer, and you may not be able to change seats. A cardigan or scarf you can remove quietly keeps your concentration stable during a long listening or reading section.
Confirmed phone policy
[needs_review] Most providers require phones to be switched off (not merely silenced) and placed in your bag, and treat a phone that rings or vibrates as a conduct violation. Confirm the exact requirement, including whether phones must be surrendered at the door.
A one-page review sheet, left outside the room
Prepare a single sheet of high-value items (kanji you keep misreading, grammar patterns you keep confusing, set phrases for the writing task). Read it in the final minutes before entry and put it away before you go in - loose papers on the desk during the test are commonly treated as unauthorized material.
A written checklist of what you are carrying
Photograph or list your essentials the night before so nothing is left behind in the morning rush. Check the list again at the venue door.
Plan the day
Re-read the guidance that came with your admission ticket and confirm the venue, the reporting time, and the room-opening time. If anything in the instructions is ambiguous - start time versus entry time, whether a printed ticket is required - contact the provider now rather than on the morning of the test. Check the venue location on a map and, if you can, travel the route once at the same time of day.
Stop starting new material. Work through your error log: the vocabulary, kanji readings, and grammar patterns you have repeatedly got wrong. For the reading section, practise one timed passage per day so your pace stays calibrated. For listening, do one short timed set per day with the audio played aloud at normal speed, not through headphones at low volume, because the hall will use a loudspeaker.
If the test includes a composition or short essay, write two timed responses on likely themes and check them against a fixed structure: state your position in the first paragraph, give two reasons with an example each, and close with a restatement. Practise producing a clean, legible manuscript within the time limit, counting characters so you know how much space your handwriting occupies.
Shift bedtime gradually so that you are alert at the hour the test actually starts. A test that begins in the morning rewards a morning-alert brain; do not spend the last three nights studying past 1 a.m.
Put the admission ticket, ID, pencils, eraser, sharpener, watch, and the institution's instructions into one bag and leave it by the door. Check the ticket for your examinee number and the venue name letter by letter. Confirm the phone policy so you are not caught out at the door.
Check the timetable for your route and set two alarms. Decide the exact train or bus you will take, working backwards from the reporting time and allowing at least 30 minutes of buffer at the venue. Check the weather forecast for rain or snow, which will slow the walk and the queues at the entrance.
Read your one-page review sheet once in the evening. Do not attempt a full past paper or a new topic; a late discovery that you 'don't know something' costs more in confidence than it gains in marks. Eat a normal meal and go to bed at your planned time.
Eat something you normally eat. Leave with enough margin to arrive well before the reporting time: entrances are congested, and room locations inside a large campus can take time to find. Go straight to the venue rather than planning to study somewhere on the way.
Find your room and confirm it against your examinee number. Use the washroom before the room opens, since breaks may be short and queues long. Turn your phone off and stow it deep in your bag according to the stated policy. Read your one-page sheet, then put it away in your bag before entering.
Put only permitted items on the desk: writing implements, eraser, watch, admission ticket, ID. Listen carefully to the invigilator's instructions, including how to fill in the examinee number on the answer sheet and what to do if you need to leave. Fill in the identifying fields before you open the paper.
Check the number of pages and questions and read the mark allocation before answering. For a Japanese-language paper, decide in advance how many minutes the long reading passage deserves and hold to it; a common failure is spending too long on one passage and losing the easier questions at the end.
Read the answer options during the pauses before the audio begins, not while it plays. Mark your choice as soon as you hear the decisive phrase and do not re-open a question you have answered - the audio will not wait. If you miss a point, abandon it and move your attention to the next question rather than reconstructing the last one.
Answer in passes: take the items you can resolve quickly first, mark the difficult ones in the margin, and return to them. For long passages, locate the sentence the question actually points to rather than re-reading the whole text. If time is short, guess on the remaining machine-scored items - a blank scores nothing, and there is no penalty for a wrong answer unless the instructions say otherwise.
Spend the first two or three minutes planning the structure and the vocabulary you will use, then write. Keep characters legible and correctly sized in the grid; an illegible character cannot be credited. Reserve the last few minutes to check for missing particles, inconsistent polite/plain style, and characters you wrote in a hurry.
Confirm that your examinee number is filled in correctly and that you have not left any machine-scored item blank. Check that answers were marked in the correct row and column, and that you have not written in a field reserved for the marker. Stop writing immediately when instructed.
Do not spend the journey home reconstructing answers with other candidates. Note down anything about the procedure you found confusing so you can act on it if there is a later stage, and confirm with the provider when and how results are released.
Rules to check
Bring the identification document the provider specifies and make sure the name on it matches your application exactly; if your name has changed or is romanized differently, contact the provider in advance rather than hoping it will pass at the door.
Electronic devices - phones, smartwatches, earbuds, and any device that stores or transmits data - must be handled exactly as the provider instructs, typically switched off and placed out of reach. A device that sounds or is found on your person during the test is commonly treated as a conduct violation regardless of whether you used it; confirm with the provider what the exact rule and penalty are.
Only permitted items may be on the desk. Bags, notes, textbooks, and loose papers go where the invigilator directs, and the provider's rules on what may be kept at your seat (tissues, medication, water) vary, so confirm them beforehand.
Follow the invigilator's instructions on timing without exception, including stopping writing the moment you are told. Continuing to write after the stop instruction is a standard ground for invalidation of your paper.
Do not communicate with other candidates once you are in the room, and do not borrow or lend anything during the test. If you need something, raise your hand and wait for the invigilator.
Leaving the room during the test is usually restricted and may be allowed only for genuine necessity with an escort; ask the invigilator before the paper begins if you anticipate needing to leave, and confirm the provider's policy in advance.
Results and scoring - including how sections are weighted, whether there is a minimum score per section, and whether wrong answers are penalized - are set by the provider. Do not assume a penalty for guessing; confirm with the provider or follow the instruction printed on the paper itself.
Any irregularity, from a late arrival to a misprinted page, should be raised with the invigilator immediately and, where relevant, with the provider afterwards. Problems raised after you leave the venue are much harder to resolve.