History Proficiency Test (Rekiken) study guide
History Proficiency Test (Rekiken) · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
The History Proficiency Test, widely known as Rekiken (歴検), is a Japanese history certification administered by the Japan History Certification Association (Zenkoku Rekishi Kentei Kyōkai). It is not a school entrance requirement or a teaching licence; it is a voluntary credential that lets candidates demonstrate systematic knowledge of Japanese history, typically for personal enrichment, university application portfolios, lifelong-learning goals, or credentials valued in education-adjacent and tourism-facing roles. The History Proficiency Test (Rekiken) study guide has 8 sections and about 2,537 words.
01Ancient Japan: from Jōmon pottery to the Nara ritsuryō state
The Rekiken treats ancient Japan as a test of two skills: fixing material culture onto a chronology, and reading the earliest written sources against the archaeological record. Expect Jōmon/Yayoi/Kofun culture names, the ritsuryō institutional vocabulary, and the Nara-period chronicles.
368 words, about 2 min02Heian period: the ōchō state, regency government and court culture
The Heian domain tests how the ritsuryō state mutated into the ōchō state: the mechanics of regency and cloister government, the legal architecture of shōen, and the literature and art of the court. 794: Kanmu moves the capital to Heian-kyō; the Kōnin and Jōgan supplementary codes of the ninth century adapt the system in practice.
361 words, about 2 min03Kamakura and Muromachi: warrior government and its breakdown
This domain tests the institutional logic of warrior government - how the Kamakura bakufu was built, why it fell, and how the Ashikaga shogunate differed. 1185: Yoritomo obtains appointment of shugo and jitō; 1192 sei-i taishōgun.
299 words, about 1 min04Azuchi-Momoyama and Edo: unification and the baku-han order
The early modern domain tests the unification process, the institutional design of Tokugawa rule, and the reform cycles that measured its strain. 1568 Nobunaga enters Kyoto; 1573 he deposes Ashikaga Yoshiaki, ending the Muromachi bakufu; 1575 Nagashino; 1582 Honnōji.
260 words, about 1 min05Modern Japan: Meiji state-building, empire, and prewar Shōwa
The modern domain tests the sequence and causal links of state-building, imperial expansion, party politics and the slide into total war. 1868 Charter Oath; 1869 return of domain registers; 1871 haihan chiken; 1873 conscription; 1876 chitsuroku shobun (commutation of samurai stipends); 1877 Satsuma Rebellion.
291 words, about 1 min06Contemporary Japan: occupation, high growth, and after
The contemporary domain tests the occupation's reforms, the architecture of the postwar political economy, and the turning points that reshaped it. 1945 surrender; SCAP under MacArthur; demilitarisation and democratisation.
295 words, about 1 min07World history in relation to Japan
This domain tests Japan's place in wider systems - East Asian diplomacy, the European empires, the two world wars and the Cold War - and the causal arrows that run in both directions. Sui and Tang embassies: the 607 mission of Ono no Imoko, and the kentōshi until 894, imported the ritsuryō model and Buddhism.
344 words, about 2 min08Historical sources, historiography and method
This domain tests whether you can classify a source, date it, and judge its reliability - the skills that separate a Rekiken candidate from a memoriser of dates. Komonjo (documents): originals versus utsushi (copies) versus henshū-mono (compiled, edited collections).
319 words, about 2 min