AP Japanese Language and Culture

What the course covers

6 units

1. Unit 1

   Families and Communities

   Free
   What a family is in Japanese-speaking societies, how families pass on values, how people relate to one another inside groups, and how neighborhoods, cities and rural towns shape daily life. Interpretive focus: stated details and main idea (1.A.1, 1.B.1) through Audio and Chart, Audio Report, Instructional Guidance, Correspondence and Literary Text. Production focus: spoken presentation and Q&A (grammar and vocabulary range, circumlocution, self-correction, pronunciation, stating opinions).
   4 topics

   1. 1.1Community Activities (地域社会の活動)
   2. 1.2Family Relationships (家族関係)
   3. 1.3Social Interactions and Relationships (社会的交流と人間関係)
   4. 1.4Urban and Rural Communities (都市と田舎のコミュニティ)

2. Unit 2

   Language and Culture
   How the Japanese language and Japanese-speaking cultures shape each other: seasonal festivals and life events, how the three writing systems, honorifics, dialects and loanwords work, and Japanese as a language used around the world. Interpretive focus: intended audience and tone or point of view (1.B.2, 1.B.3) through Audio Report, Conversation, Article and Promotional Material. Production focus: Story Narration and Email Response (register, idiomatic expressions, written conventions, organization).
   3 topics

   1. 2.1Customs and Celebrations (習慣と祝祭)
   2. 2.2Linguistics (言語学)
   3. 2.3Japanese in the World (世界の中の日本語)

3. Unit 3

   Art and Creativity
   How architecture, traditional arts, ideas of beauty, fashion, literature and the performing arts record history and express values. The 2026-27 course project draws on this unit (music as a lens on culture). Interpretive focus: data and trends (1.A.2) and organization and rhetorical strategy (1.B.4) through Audio Report, Presentation, Article and Chart, Correspondence and Literary Text. Production focus: Project Presentation and Q&A (register, research, cohesion, the 3Ps).
   6 topics

   1. 3.1Architecture (建築)
   2. 3.2Artistic Heritage (芸術遺産)
   3. 3.3Beauty and Aesthetics (美と美学)
   4. 3.4Fashion and Design (ファッションとデザイン)
   5. 3.5Literature (文学)
   6. 3.6Visual and Performing Arts (ビジュアルアーツと舞台芸術)

4. Unit 4

   Science and Technology
   How innovation, personal devices, everyday science and technology's effects on society are changing life in Japanese-speaking communities. Interpretive focus: word and kanji meaning from context (1.B.5) and connecting information within or across sources (1.C.1) through Audio Report, Conversation, Article, Article and Chart and Promotional Material. Production focus: Story Narration and Email Response at full exam difficulty (idiomatic expressions, register, circumlocution, cohesion).
   4 topics

   1. 4.1Innovations and Emerging Technologies (革新と新技術)
   2. 4.2Personal Technology and Communication (個人用のテクノロジーとコミュニケーション)
   3. 4.3Science in Everyday Life (日常生活の中の科学)
   4. 4.4Societal Impacts of Science and Technology (科学技術の社会的影響)

5. Unit 5

   Contemporary Life
   School and careers, media, food and health, pop culture, sports and travel today, and how traditions and values carry into modern life. Interpretive focus: synthesis and inference (1.C.2, 1.C.3) through Audio and Chart, Instructional Guidance, Presentation, Correspondence and Literary Text, at full exam difficulty. Production focus: complete Project Presentation and Q&A practice (integrating and citing sources, cultural comparison, reflection on the 3Ps).
   6 topics

   1. 5.1Education and Career (教育とキャリア)
   2. 5.2Entertainment and Media (エンターテインメントとメディア)
   3. 5.3Food and Health (食と健康)
   4. 5.4Pop Culture (ポップカルチャー)
   5. 5.5Sports and Leisure (スポーツとレジャー)
   6. 5.6Travel and Tourism (旅行と観光)

6. Unit 6

   Global Contexts
   How global issues reach Japanese-speaking communities and how people respond: international exchange, the natural world and natural disasters, history, policy and planning, and transportation. Interpretive focus: every Category 1 objective, integrated at full exam difficulty, through Audio and Chart, Audio Report, Conversation, Article and Article and Chart. Production focus: complete, exam-length Story Narration and Email Response.
   5 topics

   1. 6.1Global Communication (国際コミュニケーション)
   2. 6.2Natural World (自然界)
   3. 6.3History (歴史)
   4. 6.4Policy and Planning (政策と計画)
   5. 6.5Transportation (交通)

The exam, part by part

4 parts, 1 h 50 min in all.

• Section I, Part A: Speaking (Project Presentation and Project Q&A)

  Questions

  2

  Time

  15 min

  Weight

  35%

  Format details

  Task types: Project Presentation, Project Q&A

  About 15 minutes, recorded in Bluebook through a wired headset with a microphone. Question 1 (20%): 3 minutes to prepare, 3 minutes to present, with a printed copy of your Personalized Project Reference. Question 2 (15%): a recorded interlocutor introduces themself and asks 4 questions about your project; each question plays twice and you have 40 seconds per answer. The questions are not released in advance.

• Section I, Part B: Writing (Story Narration and Email Response)

  Questions

  2

  Time

  30 min

  Weight

  15%

  Format details

  Task types: Story Narration, Email Response

  You type both responses in Bluebook within one shared 30-minute block, 7.5% each. Japanese is typed with the Google Japanese IME, which converts what you type into hiragana, katakana and kanji. Choosing the right kanji at conversion, and keeping one consistent style (です・ます or plain form), counts toward Language Control.

• Section II, Part A: Listening

  Questions

  25

  Time

  25 min

  Weight

  25%

  Format details

  5 sets of 5 questions, one set of each task type: Audio and Chart, Audio Report, Conversation, Instructional Guidance, Presentation. Question stems and the four answer choices are in English; the audio is in Japanese. Sets can appear in any order.

• Section II, Part B: Reading

  Questions

  30

  Time

  40 min

  Weight

  25%

  Format details

  6 sets of 5 questions drawn from five task types, with the mix varying by year: Article (0-2 sets), Article and Chart (1-2), Correspondence (1-2), Literary Text (0-2), Promotional Material (1-2). Stems and choices are in English; the texts are in Japanese. Some items ask what a kanji or word in a given paragraph means.

Skills the exam scores

• 1.ARecognize explicit meaning

  Skill Category 1, Interpretive Communication. Pick out stated details that support a point (1.A.1), and read data points, patterns and trends from charts, tables and graphs, including Japanese number words like 割, 倍, 以上 and 未満 (1.A.2).

• 1.BInterpret meaning

  Skill Category 1. Identify the main idea, theme or purpose (1.B.1), the intended audience (1.B.2), and the point of view, tone or attitude (1.B.3). Recognize how a text or talk is organized and which rhetorical moves it makes (1.B.4). Work out unfamiliar words, phrases and kanji from context (1.B.5).

• 1.CSynthesize and infer meaning

  Skill Category 1. Link information within one source or across two sources, such as an audio report and a chart (1.C.1). Draw logical conclusions by combining information (1.C.2), and infer what is implied but not stated, which Japanese often leaves unsaid on purpose (1.C.3).

• 2.AUse language that fits the purpose and context

  Skill Category 2, Interpersonal and Presentational Communication. Use varied grammatical structures (2.A.1), varied vocabulary (2.A.2), and idiomatic, culturally grounded expressions such as いただきます or よろしくお願いします (2.A.3). Choose and hold a register that suits the audience: plain form with a friend, です・ます with most adults, and basic 敬語 (honorific and humble forms) with a teacher, a host parent or an official (2.A.4).

• 2.BMake communication comprehensible

  Skill Category 2. Get around gaps with circumlocution and paraphrase (2.B.1), and notice and fix your own slips mid-speech (2.B.2). Keep pronunciation intelligible, including long vowels, double consonants and pitch (2.B.3), with a natural pace and intonation (2.B.4). Follow written conventions: correct kanji choice at IME conversion, correct kana (small っ, long vowels, the particles は, を and へ), Japanese punctuation, and one consistent style (2.B.5).

• 2.CShare ideas, information and opinions

  Skill Category 2. State ideas, preferences and opinions (2.C.1), and gather evidence through research (2.C.2). Use examples to give advice or information, or to explain feelings and views (2.C.3). Combine several sources to support a position (2.C.4), and name or cite your sources correctly, for example 資料2によると (2.C.5).

• 2.DApply organizational and rhetorical strategies

  Skill Category 2. Structure a response on purpose: a beginning, middle and end for a story, a greeting, body and closing for an email, or an introduction, factors and conclusion for a presentation (2.D.1). Connect ideas with varied cohesive devices beyond それから and でも, including noun-modifying clauses and connectors like そのため, ところが, 一方 and つまり (2.D.2).

• 3.AMake connections within and across cultures

  Skill Category 3, Cultural Understanding. Describe cultural products, practices and perspectives (3.A.1). Compare them across distinct communities, including your own (3.A.2). Reflect on why they matter, especially how a perspective explains a product or practice (3.A.3).