This series of posts documents my journey preparing for the Japanese Hunting Exam. It is hoped that this very difficult process can be captured and my approach used and modified to help others striving to earn their place in the ranks of licensed, ethical, Japanese hunters, trappers, and game managers.
If you’re planning to hunt in Japan, preparing for the hunting exam, or simply interested in learning specialized Japanese through authentic materials, I hope these articles save you time and make the process a little less intimidating.
Language
Full disclosure – I am NOT fully fluent in Japanese! At the time of writing, my Japanese is around the JLPT N3 level and I’ve reached Level 30 in WaniKani. That combination has finally given me enough kanji to begin tackling real hunting material.
And if you read ‘between the lines’ above, you would be correct to assume that I am literally learning to read Japanese while studying and preparing for this exam. Said another way, the hunting texts and exam preparation ARE my Japanese language learning textbooks!
Nobody said I was smart…..
Hopefully this ridiculously inefficient path will leave behind an archive of lessons and resources that future readers can use to skip many of the mistakes I’ve made.
And….If I personally ‘become literate’ in Japanese by the end – HUZZAH!
But to begin:
To start this series, may I introduce you to: 図解 狩猟免許試験例題集
Oh good! English! … Not quite – I did you the favor of translation. Here is the original:
Naturally, your next question is probably, “Where can I buy it?”
You can’t. 😄
To receive a copy, you must register for a hunting exam, attend your prefecture’s mandatory pre-exam workshop, and the book is provided as part of the application process.
But you can look and dream if you like! Here is the link to the Japan Hunting Association website. You can browse and ‘try to buy’ all you like!
So you can’t buy it and study on your own, but have no fear, you have me! I will be going through this book and the related textbook, 狩猟読本 (Hunting Handbook), as well as other resources, so you can study along if you have the book, or get a pretty good dive into it before you commit – or even before stepping foot here in Japan!
One disclaimer: I am a Japan Hunting Association member ‘in good standing’ and active here in Northern Japan. This material is published by the 大日本猟友会 (Dai Nippon Hunting Association) and is under Japanese copyright. I’ll be discussing the material extensively, but I won’t be reproducing or scanning copyrighted pages. My goal is to explain the concepts—not replace the original publication.
New to these study guides? Before diving into the hunting exam material, I recommend reading Stop Translating. Start Thinking in Japanese.
It explains the study method I’ve developed over years of learning not just conversational Japanese, but also the technical Japanese needed to read government regulations and pass licensing exams.
Now let’s get into it!
