Japanese Grade to GPA
Convert a Japanese 100-point mark to its grade name and a US 4.0 GPA.
84 is 優 (Yū), which credential evaluators read as A. A standard US 4.0 scale caps at A, so 秀 and 優 both land on 4.0.
What your Japanese transcript uses: S = 4, A = 3, B = 2, C = 1, F = 0. This is why a Japanese GPA looks lower than its US equivalent.
Japan has no single national grading standard — cut-offs and the number of grade tiers vary by university, and some use a four-tier scale without 秀. Check the legend printed on your own transcript.
Japanese marks map to named grades: 90–100 is 秀 (Shū), 80–89 優 (Yū), 70–79 良 (Ryō), 60–69 可 (Ka), and below 60 不可 (Fuka). Evaluators read 秀 and 優 as A, 良 as B, and 可 as C — so an 84 becomes 優, a US A, worth 4.0.
Two different GPAs on one transcript
Japanese transcripts carry a source of confusion: the GPA printed on them is not the GPA a US school will read. Japanese universities compute their own grade points as S = 4, A = 3, B = 2, C = 1, F = 0, so a student with all 優 (A) grades has a Japanese GPA of 3.0 — while the same transcript converts to a US 4.0, because 優 is an A in US terms.
This tool shows both figures so the gap is visible. If an application asks for “your GPA as printed on the transcript”, that is the Japanese number. If it asks for a US 4.0 equivalent, it is the converted one, and quoting the Japanese figure there understates the record substantially.
No national standard
Japan has no single grading system mandated across universities. Some use the five-tier scale with 秀 at the top; many older systems have only four tiers, starting at 優. Cut-offs move too — 優 begins at 80 in most places but at 75 or 78 in others. Every transcript carries a legend, and that legend governs.
Worked example
Converting a course mark of 84 to a Japanese grade and a US equivalent.
- 1 Start with the 100-point mark. The course mark is 84.
- 2 Find the Japanese grade. 84 falls in the 80–89 band, which is 優 (Yū), printed as grade A.
- 3 Read the Japanese grade point. On the Japanese 4-point system 優 is worth 3 — this is what feeds the GPA on your transcript.
- 4 Read the US equivalent. Credential evaluators map 優 to a US A, which is 4.0 on the US 4.0 scale.
Japanese grades, US equivalents, and grade points
The most common five-tier scale. A standard US 4.0 scale caps at A, which is why 秀 and 優 both convert to 4.0.
| Mark | Japanese grade | Japanese GPA point | US letter | US 4.0 GPA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 90–100 | 秀 (Shū) — S | 4 | A+ | 4.0 |
| 80–89 | 優 (Yū) — A | 3 | A | 4.0 |
| 70–79 | 良 (Ryō) — B | 2 | B | 3.0 |
| 60–69 | 可 (Ka) — C | 1 | C | 2.0 |
| Below 60 | 不可 (Fuka) — F | 0 | F | 0.0 |
Reading a Japanese transcript for an application
Convert grade by grade rather than converting the Japanese GPA number itself. A Japanese 3.0 does not become a US 4.0 by arithmetic — it does so because each 優 is independently an A. Rescaling the printed GPA proportionally, by multiplying by 4 ÷ 4, produces a figure that matches neither system.
Where a course is recorded only as 合格 (pass) with no numeric mark, evaluators normally exclude it from the average, exactly as US schools exclude pass or credit-only courses. And because Japanese universities vary so much, an official evaluation from a service such as WES is often what a graduate programme will ask for.