# JFT-Basic Information Search (4-2): finding one fact in a notice

Category 4-2 gives a timetable, a notice or a set of instructions and asks for one fact inside it. How to read the conditions rather than the whole page, with three worked items.

## The short answer

Information Search is category 4-2, the last of the eleven. You get something you would actually be handed in Japan, such as pharmacy instructions, a garbage schedule or a notice on a board, and you answer a question about one fact inside it. The Japan Foundation's purpose for it is finding necessary information from an everyday billboard, notice or informational material. Reading all of it is not the task.

## Key facts

- **Section:** Reading Comprehension
- **Category number:** 4-2
- **What it tests:** Finding information in an everyday notice or document
- **Questions in the section:** Around 12
- **Stimulus:** A timetable, notice, label or set of instructions
- **Review:** Allowed anywhere inside the section

Sections, categories and rules come from the Japan Foundation's JFT-Basic pages and its "About the JFT-Basic" deck, checked 27 September 2026.

## How it's scored

The document holds more than you need, deliberately. A schedule lists every day, a label lists every medicine, and the question asks about one row. The skill is locating it, not understanding all of it.

Almost every item turns on a condition: a day, an age, a time of day, or a case such as if it rains. The footnote under a table is where those conditions live, and it is where these items are usually lost.

> Find the row first, then read the note attached to it. Reading the document from the top is the slowest possible route to one number.

## Information Search examples

Worked examples written for this page. Answer each one before you open the model response: memorizing a response is scored as an irrelevant answer in the real test.

**Example 1 -- the row, then the note under it**

> ごみの 出し方（みどり町）
> 
> ・もえるごみ：火曜日・金曜日
> ・もえないごみ：第1・第3 水曜日
> ・ペットボトル：木曜日
> ・粗大ごみ：申しこみが ひつよう
> 
> ※ ごみは 当日の 朝8時までに 出して ください。前の 日の 夜は 出さないで ください。

Prompt: 火曜日に もえるごみを 出す 人は、いつ 出しますか。 When should they put it out?

- A. 月曜日の 夜
- B. 火曜日の 夜
- C. 火曜日の 朝8時までに
- D. いつでも いい
Answer: C.

Model response: 火曜日の 朝8時までに. The list gives the day and the note under it gives the time, adding that the night before is not allowed.

Why it scores: The list alone answers a different question. 当日の 朝 and the explicit ban on the previous night are both in the footnote, which is the part people skip.

**Example 2 -- one medicine among three**

> おくすりの せつめい（クマルさん）
> 
> ・ネツナレ錠　　　1回 1錠　朝・夕　食後
> ・セキドミカプセル　1回 2つ　朝・昼・夕　食後
> ・タントレン錠　　 1回 1錠　夜だけ　ねる前
> 
> ※ タントレン錠を 飲んだ あと、ねむく なることが あります。くるまの うんてんは しないで ください。

Prompt: ねむく なることが ある くすりは どれですか。 Which medicine may cause drowsiness?

- A. ネツナレ錠
- B. セキドミカプセル
- C. ぜんぶ
- D. タントレン錠
Answer: D.

Model response: タントレン錠. The note names it and warns against driving afterward.

Why it scores: Three rows look alike and the eye lands on the first. The note names one of them, and the name in the note is the whole answer.

**Example 3 -- a condition that changes the place**

> 社内 スポーツ大会の お知らせ
> 
> 日時：10月5日(日) 午前9時〜午後3時
> 場所：みどり公園 グラウンド
> 参加費：むりょう（昼食は 出ます）
> 申しこみ：9月20日までに 田中まで
> 
> ※ 雨の ときは 体育館で 行います。中止には なりません。
> ※ 9月20日を すぎた 申しこみは 受けられません。

Prompt: 雨が ふったら、大会は どう なりますか。 What happens if it rains?

- A. 体育館で 行う
- B. 中止に なる
- C. つぎの 日曜日に なる
- D. 午後だけ 行う
Answer: A.

Model response: 体育館で 行う. The first note moves it indoors and says explicitly that it is not cancelled.

Why it scores: Cancellation is the expected answer for rain, which is why the notice states the opposite in the same sentence. The notes under a document are where conditions like this always sit.

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## Common mistakes

| What costs marks | Do this instead |
| --- | --- |
| Reading the document from the top. | Find the row the question names first. These documents are designed to hold more than you need. |
| Skipping the notes marked with ※. | That is where the conditions live: times, exceptions, what happens if it rains. Most items in this category turn on one of them. |
| Answering from what usually happens. | Rain usually cancels things, so a notice saying otherwise reads as a surprise. Answer from the document, not from experience. |
| Matching a number without checking its row. | Several numbers will fit the shape of the question. Check which row and which condition each one belongs to. |

**See how far 200 is** The JFT-Basic score checker turns a total on the 10-250 scale into its level band, says whether it clears A2, and works out what you still need. [Open the JFT-Basic score checker](/jft-basic/score-checker)

## How to practice

1. Practice on documents you would really be handed: clinic instructions, ward newsletters, train timetables, recycling schedules.
2. Give yourself 30 seconds per question. This category rewards locating, and a slow careful read is the wrong habit for it.
3. Always read the ※ notes in practice, even when you found the answer without them. On test day one of them is the answer.
4. Keep a list of the condition words: 当日, 前の 日, ときは, 以上, 以内, すぎた. They are what the questions hang on.

## Common questions

### What kind of documents appear in JFT-Basic 4-2?

Everyday ones: notices, billboards, labels, schedules and informational leaflets. The Japan Foundation describes the category as finding necessary information from an everyday billboard, notice or informational material.

### Do I have to read the whole document?

No, and it is the wrong approach. The document holds more information than the question needs. Find the relevant row, then read the note attached to it.

### Why do I keep missing the note at the bottom?

Because it looks like small print and reads like a formality. In this category the ※ note is usually where the condition lives, so it is the part worth reading first rather than last.

**Sources**
- [The Japan Foundation: About the JFT-Basic, test structure and categories (PDF)](https://www.jpf.go.jp/jft-basic/e/about/pdf/describing_en.pdf)
- [The Japan Foundation: about the JFT-Basic (checked 27 September 2026)](https://www.jpf.go.jp/jft-basic/e/about/index.html)

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