Twenty-one kanji moved up a year
囲 紀 喜 救 型 航 告 殺 士 史 象 賞 貯 停 堂 得 毒 費 粉 脈 歴
Fourth-grade kanji until 2020. Fifth-grade kanji now.
When the 2017 national curriculum, in full use from 2020, put the prefecture kanji into grade 4 (field note 012), something had to give. Twenty-one grade 4 kanji moved up to grade 5, and two, 胃 and 腸, went to grade 6. The official commentary gives one reason for the moves: to balance how much each year has to learn.
Grade 5 traded too. Four of its kanji went down to grade 4 because they are in prefecture names: 賀 (佐賀, 滋賀), 群 (群馬), 徳 (徳島) and 富 (富山). Nine went up to grade 6: 恩 券 承 舌 銭 退 敵 俵 預. 185, minus 13, plus 21: grade 5 now has 193. In the clip, the 21 are marked 4年から, "from grade 4".
History, a year early
Three of the 21 are 歴, 史 and 士. With 武, already a grade 5 kanji, a fifth grader can write 歴史, history, and 武士, samurai. Sixth-grade social studies is the year of Japanese history, including 武士による政治, government by the samurai. The kanji arrive a year ahead. No official text says that was the plan; it is how the two lists line up.
Trade, but not yet the economy
Fifth-grade social studies covers Japan's land and natural environment, its farming and fishing, its industry, and information. The official text uses 貿易, trade, 輸入, imports, 統計, statistics, and 情報, information. 貿易 and 情報 are made only of grade 5 kanji. 経済, the economy, is not: 経 is grade 5, but 済 waits until grade 6.
Read now, write later
Grades 5 and 6 share one band of the curriculum. Children read every kanji taught so far, write the ones from earlier grades, and learn to write the new year's kanji gradually; the commentary allows two years for writing to settle. So by the end of grade 5 a child should read all 835 and write the 642 from grades 1 to 4 with confidence.
How to use the clip
Each character appears alone for two beats; say it before the voice does. The kanji come in order of how often they appear. The readings shown and spoken are the official ones from the 2010 常用漢字表, and every example word uses only characters from grades 1 to 5.
835 down, 1,301 to go.