Bret Mayer (from the US) is believed to be the first in history non-native Japanese language speaker, as well as the first non-native kanji learner, who was able to pass the Kanji Kentei level 1 test, which he did in 2012.
In 2013 John Brobst (from the US) became the second non-native Japanese language speaker and a non-native kanji learner who was able to pass the first level of the Kanji Kentei (Kanken) test.
As published in the official Kanken magazine (漢検ジャーナル) vol. 34, among the people listed as having successfully passed the first level of the 3rd Kanji Kentei level 1 test in 2021 there is a name of タウンズ・クリストファー.
Though, it may not always be safe to judge people’s background based on their names, there could be reasonable grounds to assume that this person fits the definition of a “foreigner” (i.e. non-native Japanese speaker / non-native kanji learner) this page is dedicated to.
(to be updated if additional information becomes available)
Note 1: although upon collecting information for this article the author has encountered several anecdotal references to other foreigners who allegedly have also been able to pass the first level of the Kanji Kentei test, as it was not possible to confirm the existence of any concrete evidence to corroborate those claims – such as official passing certificates given to those persons – such instances were omitted.
Note 2: this page has no intent whatsoever to infringe on the privacy of the persons mentioned here in any possible way; the information presented herein is taken from open sources, and is already available in public domain – either being revealed by the persons in question themselves, or published with their consent; this page exists for information purposes only.