The Reiwa 8 Real Estate Transaction Specialist Examination was held on October 18, 2026. Four days later we can already count a lot: who sat it from RETIO's preliminary table, how the 50 questions are laid out from the three most recent published papers, and what the schools' provisional key and format counts show.
Each number says where it comes from. Anything from a school is provisional; RETIO publishes the official answers on November 25.
The exam in four numbers
- candidates sat the exam
- 246,422
- RETIO preliminary, October 19; 80.2% of 307,254 applicants.
- questions, 4 options each
- 50
- 45 for registration-training completers, who are excused from 5.
- of the field sat in Tokyo
- 21.7%
- 53,373 of 246,422 candidates.
- count questions, per U-CAN
- 10
- Provisional; 2025 had 11 by our count of RETIO's paper.
Who sat, Reiwa 8 against Reiwa 7
| Group | Applicants (R8) | Sat (R8) | Rate (R8) | Sat (R7) | Rate (R7) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| General candidates | 249,092 | 194,606 | 78.1% | 194,543 | 78.1% |
| Registration-training completers | 58,162 | 51,816 | 89.1% | 50,920 | 89.5% |
| All candidates | 307,254 | 246,422 | 80.2% | 245,463 | 80.2% |
Applicants in Reiwa 7 were 249,177 general and 56,922 training, 306,099 in all. RETIO's final Reiwa 7 figure for takers is 245,462.
Where candidates sat
Tokyo alone accounted for 53,373 candidates, 21.7% of everyone who sat. Tokyo, Kanagawa, Saitama and Chiba together were 107,551, or 43.6%. Osaka was the next largest single prefecture at 24,050.
Attendance rates were uniform: every prefecture's overall rate fell between 77.4% (Yamanashi) and 83.2% (Iwate). Tokyo's was 78.8%. Registration-training completers made up 21.0% of takers, up from 20.7% in the preliminary table a year earlier.
Candidates who sat, top eight prefectures (Reiwa 8)
| Category | Sat the exam |
|---|---|
| Tokyo | 53,373 candidates |
| Osaka | 24,050 candidates |
| Kanagawa | 23,558 candidates |
| Saitama | 16,770 candidates |
| Chiba | 13,850 candidates |
| Aichi | 13,126 candidates |
| Fukuoka | 11,759 candidates |
| Hyogo | 10,225 candidates |
How the 50 questions are laid out
| Area | Questions | Share of 50 | Question numbers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brokerage Act and related laws | 20 | 40% | Q26–45 |
| Rights and changes in rights | 14 | 28% | Q1–14 |
| Legal restrictions | 8 | 16% | Q15–22 |
| Supply-and-demand law and practice | 3 | 6% | Q46–48 |
| Tax | 2 | 4% | Q23–24 |
| Form of land and buildings | 2 | 4% | Q49–50 |
| Valuation | 1 | 2% | Q25 |
Registration-training completers are excused from five questions and sit 45. FudoPro's count from RETIO's published papers.
Count and combination questions, 2023–2026
| Sitting | Count questions | Combination questions | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 8 | 1 | RETIO paper, our count |
| 2024 | 4 | 2 | RETIO paper, our count |
| 2025 | 11 | 2 | RETIO paper, our count |
| 2026 (provisional) | 10 | 5 | U-CAN review |
A count question asks for the number of statements meeting the stated condition. Here, combination questions mean selecting a set of lettered statements (ア・イ・ウ・エ); the rights-list question 10 in 2024 is excluded. The historical combination counts are Q4 in 2023, Q28 and Q40 in 2024, and Q5 and Q26 in 2025. The 2026 counts are U-CAN’s provisional report.
What this year's formats show
Ten count questions is one fewer than 2025's 11 and above 2024's 4. The combination count is the real jump: U-CAN reports 5 against 1 or 2 in each of the last three papers, and calls it a record. If RETIO's booklet confirms it, that is a shift worth planning around.
The pattern from earlier years holds as far as we can tell. In the 2023–2025 papers, 20 of the 23 count questions were in the Brokerage Act block, and U-CAN puts 9 of this year's 10 there. See our answer-key roundup for how the schools describe this sitting.
Which option number is correct, in the provisional key (all 50)
| Category | Questions with this correct option |
|---|---|
| Option 1 | 11 questions |
| Option 2 | 16 questions |
| Option 3 | 12 questions |
| Option 4 | 11 questions |
Does the key have a pattern?
Option 2 is correct in 16 of the 50 questions, option 3 in 12, and options 1 and 4 in 11 each. The same option never comes up three times in a row; the longest run is two.
That is a description, not a method. A spread this uneven can occur by chance in 50 questions, and nobody should guess by position. The reliable way to gain points on count and combination questions is to settle each statement on its own.
Note
How these numbers were made
Attendance figures are RETIO's preliminary tables; shares and rate comparisons are our arithmetic, to one decimal place. Layout and format counts for 2023–2025 are FudoPro's reading of RETIO's papers. The 2026 figures for count questions, combination questions and the key come from schools and are provisional. We do not give a pass-rate or pass-mark forecast.
Frequently asked questions
Is 246,422 the number of people who will be counted for the pass rate?
RETIO's preliminary table gives attendance. The pass rate is passers divided by takers, and RETIO reports it with the results on November 25; the final taker figure can differ slightly from a preliminary one.
Were there really fewer general-candidate applicants than last year?
Marginally: 249,092 against 249,177, a difference of 85. The growth in applicants came from registration-training completers: 58,162 against 56,922.
Why do count questions matter so much?
The answer is a number, so one misjudged statement changes it. Our analysis of the last three RETIO papers found 15.3% of questions were count questions.
Sources
- RETIO — Reiwa 8 exam status, preliminary (2026-10-19) (opens in a new tab)retio.or.jpAccessed October 25, 2026
- RETIO — Reiwa 7 exam status, preliminary (2025-10-20) (opens in a new tab)retio.or.jpAccessed October 25, 2026
- RETIO — Reiwa 8 applications, preliminary (2026-08-25) (opens in a new tab)retio.or.jpAccessed October 25, 2026
- RETIO — Takken exam FAQ: 50 four-option questions, 45 for training completers (opens in a new tab)retio.or.jpAccessed October 25, 2026
- RETIO — Takken exam schedule (Reiwa 8) (opens in a new tab)retio.or.jpAccessed October 25, 2026
- RETIO — Reiwa 7 (2025) exam questions and answer numbers (opens in a new tab)retio.or.jpBasis of the 2025 layout and format countsAccessed October 25, 2026
- LEC — rapid answer key (opens in a new tab)lec-jp.comAs of 2026-10-18 18:00Accessed October 25, 2026
- TAC — rapid answer key (opens in a new tab)tac-school.co.jpUpdated 2026-10-18 18:00Accessed October 25, 2026
- U-CAN — review: count and combination questions (opens in a new tab)u-can.co.jpReview published October 18 at 17:11; pass-mark estimate at 20:05Accessed October 25, 2026
- RETIO — Reiwa 6 (2024) questions and answers: layout and format counts (opens in a new tab)retio.or.jpAccessed October 25, 2026
- RETIO — Reiwa 5 (2023) questions and answers: layout and format counts (opens in a new tab)retio.or.jpAccessed October 25, 2026