Japanese counting is easy. You just have to memorize basic numbers, and you’ll find the rest of the trials easy.
No.
|
漢字 - Kanji
|
ひらがな - Hiragana
|
English
|
1
|
一
|
いち (ichi)
|
One
|
2
|
二
|
に (ni)
|
Two
|
3
|
三
|
さん (san)
|
Three
|
4
|
四
|
よん (yon), or し (shi)
|
Four
|
5
|
五
|
ご (go)
|
Five
|
6
|
六
|
ろく (roku)
|
Six
|
7
|
七
|
なな (nana), or しち (shichi)
|
Seven
|
8
|
八
|
はち (hachi)
|
Eight
|
9
|
九
|
きゅう (kyuu)
|
Nine
|
10
|
十
|
じゅう (juu)
|
Ten
|
100
|
百
|
ひゃく (hyaku)
|
Hundred
|
1000
|
千
|
せん (sen), orいっせん (issen)
|
Thousand
|
Notes:
|
Above these, yon is preferred ‘four’ and nana for ‘seven’. (There are a few exceptions, but shii is avoided because it is also the word for “death”. Due to relevant superstitions, buildings can be found without a fourth floor, room numbers with no fours, etc.)
|
After you memorize the numbers above, please proceed to the next table!
No.
|
漢字 - Kanji
|
Romāji
|
11
|
十一
|
juu ichi (This is literally "ten, one.")
|
12
|
十二
|
juu ni
|
13
|
十三
|
juu san
|
14
|
十四
|
juu yon
|
15
|
十五
|
juu go
|
16
|
十六
|
juu roku
|
17
|
十七
|
juu nana
|
18
|
十八
|
juu hachi
|
19
|
十九
|
juu kyuu
|
20
|
二十
|
ni juu (This is literally "two, ten." Think of it as "two tens.")
|
21
|
二十一
|
ni juu ichi
|
22
|
二十に
|
ni juu ni
|
23
|
二十三
|
ni juu san
|
The pattern should now be easy to see. Accordingly:
No.
|
漢字 - Kanji
|
Romāji
|
27
|
二十七
|
ni juu nana
|
35
|
三十五
|
san juu go
|
48
|
四十八
|
yon juu hachi
|
56
|
五十六
|
go juu roku
|
63
|
六十二
|
roku juu san
|
72
|
七十二
|
nana juu ni
|
89
|
八十九
|
hachi juu kyuu
|
94
|
九十四
|
kyuu juu yon
|
100
|
百
|
hyaku
|
200
|
二百
|
ni hyaku
|
208
|
二百八
|
ni hyaku hachi
|
242
|
二四十二
|
ni hyaku yon juu ni
|
290
|
二百九十
|
ni hyaku kyuu juu
|
300
|
三百
|
san byaku
|
350
|
三百五十
|
san byaku go juu
|
385
|
三百八十五
|
san byaku hachi juu go
|
400
|
四百
|
yon hyaku
|
423
|
四百二十三
|
yon hyaku ni juu san
|
500
|
五百
|
go hyaku
|
600
|
六百
|
roppyaku
|
700
|
七百
|
hana hyaku
|
800
|
八百
|
happyaku
|
900
|
九百
|
kuu hyaku
|
1,000
|
千(or 一千)
|
sen (or issen)
|
1,200
|
千二百
|
sen ni hyaku
|
1,632
|
千六百
|
sen roppyaku san juu ni
|
2,000
|
二千
|
ni sen
|
2,800
|
二千八百
|
ni sen happyaku
|
3,000
|
三千
|
san zen
|
4,000
|
四千
|
yon sen
|
5,000
|
五千
|
go sen
|
6,000
|
六千
|
roku sen
|
7,000
|
七千
|
nana sen
|
8,000
|
八千
|
hassen
|
9,000
|
九千
|
kyuu sen
|
10,000
|
一万
|
ichi man (Not juu sen. Man is the Japanese for units of 10,000. Unlike hyaku and sen, ichialways precedes man for numbers 10,000 to 19,999.)
|
17,000
|
一万七千
|
ichi man nana sen
|
18,570
|
一万八千五百七十
|
ichi man hassen go hyaku nana juu
|
20,000
|
二万
|
ni man
|
25,000
|
五百万
|
ni man go sen
|
30,000
|
一千万
|
san man
|
50,000
|
一億
|
go man
|
100,000
|
二千八百
|
juu man
|
200,000
|
三千
|
ni juu man
|
250,000
|
四千
|
ni juu go man
|
1,000,000
|
五千
|
hyaku man
|
2,000,000
|
六千
|
ni hyaku man
|
5,000,000
|
七千
|
go hyaku man
|
10,000,000
|
八千
|
issen man
|
100,000,000
|
九千
|
ichi oku (Oku is the next major unit jump when reaching ichi man man, or "ten thousand ten thousands.")
|
Hora! Yasui desu ne? (See! It’s easy, right?)
Special Numbers
Fractions & Decimals
A half is 半分 (hanbun).
A quarter (1/4) is 四分の一 (yon bun no ichi), literally "one of four parts."
Three-fourths (3/4) is 四分の三 (yon bun no san), or "three of four parts."
Two-thirds (2/3) is san bun no ni, and so on.
A decimal point is called ten, so:
1.5 一点五 (itten go) (ichi and ten are contracted)
2.5 二点五 (ni ten go)
4.78 四点七八 (yon ten nana hachi)
11.36 十一点三六 (juu ichi ten san roku)
Days of the Month
The days of the month are in a group all their own. Some are similar to other numbers or counters, while some are completely unique. The final ka or nichi means "day." Please keep in mind that these are not ordinal numbers in the English sense, and cannot be used to express the order of other things in a series. Take note of each one; there are some surprises.
English
|
漢字 - Kanji
|
Romāji
|
The first day of the month
|
一日
|
tsuitachi (some people use ippi)
|
The second
|
二日
|
futsuka
|
The third
|
三日
|
mikka
|
4th
|
四日
|
yokka
|
5th
|
五日
|
itsuka
|
6th
|
六日
|
muika (some people use miuka)
|
7th
|
七日
|
nanoka
|
8th
|
八日
|
youka
|
9th
|
九日
|
kokonoka
|
10th
|
十日
|
touka
|
11th
|
十一日
|
juu ichi nichi
|
12th
|
十二日
|
juu ni nichi
|
13th
|
十三日
|
juu san nichi
|
14th
|
十四日
|
juu yokka
|
15th
|
十五日
|
juu go nichi
|
16th
|
十六日
|
juu roku nichi
|
17th
|
十七日
|
juu nana nichi (some people use juu shichi nichi)
|
18th
|
十八日
|
juu hachi nichi
|
19th
|
十九日
|
juu ku nichi
|
20th
|
二十日
|
hatsuka
|
21st
|
二十一日
|
ni juu ichi nichi
|
22nd
|
二十三日
|
ni juu ni nichi
|
23rd
|
二十四日
|
ni juu san nichi
|
24th
|
二十五日
|
ni juu yokka
|
25th
|
二十六日
|
ni juu go nichi
|
26th
|
二十七日
|
ni juu roku nichi
|
27th
|
二十八日
|
ni juu nana nichi (or ni juu shichi nichi)
|
28th
|
二十九日
|
ni juu hachi nichi
|
29th
|
三十日
|
ni juu ku nichi
|
30th
|
三十一日
|
san juu nichi
|
31st
|
二十一日
|
san juu ichi nichi
|
Months of the Year
Sadly, the ancient Japanese names for the months are no longer used except in poems and other special literature. In daily writing and conversation the number of the month with the Japanese for month (gatsu) is used instead:
English
|
漢字 - Kanji
|
Romāji
|
January
|
1月
|
ichi gatsu
|
February
|
2月
|
ni gatsu
|
March
|
3月
|
san gatsu
|
April
|
4月
|
shi gatsu (never yon gatsu)
|
May
|
5月
|
go gatsu
|
June
|
6月
|
roku gatsu
|
July
|
8月
|
shichi gatsu
|
August
|
9月
|
hachi gatsu
|
September
|
10月
|
ku gatsu
|
October
|
11月
|
juu gatsu
|
November
|
12月
|
juu ichi gatsu
|
December
|
1月
|
juu ni gatsu
|
Years
Years are expressed in either 西暦 (seireki), the western reckoning, or 和暦 (wareki), which follows the Japanese eras of the reign of the emperors. In either reckoning, the word for “year” 年 (nen) follows the year. Years in seireki are expressed the same as any other number; there are no special abbreviations. This year, 2008, is 二千八年 (ni sen hachi nen); 1996 would be 千九百九十六年 (sen kyuu hyaku kyuu juu roku nen); 1872 is 千八百七十二年 (sen happyaku nana juu ni nen), and so on.
In the wareki reckoning, this year is the 20th year of the present emperor, and his era has been named Heisei. In Japanese it is called Heisei ni juu nen. If you were born in 1975, you were born in the 50th year of the Showa Era, or, in Japanese, Shouwa go juu nen. For year conversions see my Handy Tables of Japanese Years.
If you need to express B.C., use kigen zen before the number: 723 B.C. is kigen zen nana hyaku ni juu san nen.
Room Numbers & Floor Numbers
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Room numbers are usually read one number at a time. Interestingly, zeroes are usually read maru, which means "circle":
English
|
漢字 - Kanji
|
Romāji
|
310
|
三一丸
|
san ichi maru
|
407
|
四一丸
|
yon maru nana
|
1227
|
一二二丸
|
ichi ni ni nana
|
1502
|
一五丸二
|
ichi go maru ni
|
The floors of a building use 階 (kai):
English
|
漢字 - Kanji
|
Romāji
|
first floor
|
一階
|
ikkai
|
second floor
|
二階
|
ni kai
|
third floor
|
三階
|
san gai
|
fourth floor
|
四階
|
yon kai
|
fifth floor
|
五階
|
go kai
|
Telephone Numbers
Telephone numbers are also often read one number at a time. A very clever invention the Japanese have, however, is saying no where hyphens usually are. This makes listening to a long number easier. For example, 067-892-7813 would be read: zero roku nana no hachi kyuu ni no nana hachi ichi san.
Flight Numbers
Flight numbers use 便 (bin):
English
|
漢字 - Kanji
|
Romāji
|
Flight 26
|
二十六便
|
ni juu roku bin
|
Flight 183
|
百八十三便
|
hyaku hachi juu san bin
|
Trains and buses use 合 (gou) after their numbers, not 便 (bin).
Counting
There is a set of what could be loosely called "ordinal numbers" which are sometimes used for counting up to ten items. Similarities will be found between these and the days of the months introduced above:
No. (English)
|
漢字 - Kanji
|
Romāji
|
1
|
一つ
|
hitotsu
|
2
|
二つ
|
futatsu
|
3
|
三つ
|
mittsu
|
4
|
四つ
|
yottsu
|
5
|
五つ
|
itsutsu
|
6
|
六つ
|
muttsu
|
7
|
七つ
|
nanatsu
|
8
|
八つ
|
yattsu
|
9
|
九つ
|
kokonotsu
|
10
|
-
|
tou
|
These are used mainly by small children to count things or say how old they are. Adults will sometimes use these in short requests or replies:
A: 予備の電池ある? (Yobi no denchi aru?) -> Are there any spare batteries?
B: はい、三つあるよ。(Hai. Mittsu aru yo.) -> Yes. There are three.
However, it will sometimes be preferable to use the correct counter when counting things, especially in formal settings. The counter for batteries and similar irregularly-shaped, relatively small objects is ko. Counters are used with the basic numbers which were introduced at the top of this page. Here is the previous conversation made a bit more formal:
A: Yobi no denchi arimasu ka? (Are there any spare batteries?)
B: Hai. San ko arimasu. (Yes. There are three.)
There are many of these counters — many more than are mentioned on this page. These should be considered the absolutely essential ones that you need to learn and master first. The more counters you memorize and use correctly, the more literate and fluent you will sound.
個 (ko)
個(ko) was just mentioned. It is used to count things like apples, oranges, blocks, boxes, and many other things which are pretty much the same size in all dimensions. People often use ko in place of other counters. If you use ko to count bananas instead of the technically correct hon, it's no big deal, but using it to count cars or animals would really show a lack of knowledge.
本 (hon)
Use 本 (hon) for relatively long and narrow things: pens, pencils, rulers, sticks, bottles, etc. Take note how the pronunciation changes according to the number:
No. (English)
|
漢字 - Kanji
|
Romāji
|
1
|
一本
|
ippon
|
2
|
二本
|
ni hon
|
3
|
三本
|
san bon
|
4
|
四本
|
yon hon
|
5
|
五本
|
go hon
|
6
|
六本
|
roppon
|
7
|
七本
|
nana hon
|
8
|
八本
|
happon
|
9
|
九本
|
kyuu hon
|
10
|
十本
|
juppon
|
Example:
僕は鉛筆二本持っているから、一本貸して上げる。 (Boku wa enpitsu ni hon motte iru kara, ippon kashite ageru.) -> I have two pencils so I'll lend you one.
Note:
|
Note how the number of an item retains its counter even when the name of the item is known and omitted.
Please keep in mind that this is a general guide and there will be people who use other expressions. For example, there are people who will say hachi hon instead of happon. This applies to everything on this page.
|
杯 (hai)
杯 (hai) is for cups or glasses filled with a drink: ippai, ni hai, san bai:
Example:
お茶二杯下さい。 (O-cha ni hai kudasai.) -> Two cups of tea, please.
冊 (satsu), 枚 (mai), 台 (dai)
For the number of books use 冊 (satsu): 一冊 issatsu, 二冊 ni satsu, 三冊 san satsu, etc.
For flat things like sheets of paper, photographs, and tiles use 枚 (mai): 一枚 ichi mai, 二枚 ni mai, 三枚 san mai, etc.
For cars, bikes, and other machines use 台 (dai): 一台 ichi dai, 二台 ni dai, 三台 san dai, etc.
Animals & People
Small animals up to dogs use 疋 (hiki): 一疋 ippiki, 二疋 ni hiki, 三疋 san biki, 四疋 yon hiki, 五疋 go hiki, etc.
Larger animals from sheep on up use 頭 (tou): 一頭 ittou, 二頭 ni tou, 三頭 san tou, etc.
Birds use 羽 (wa): 一羽 ichi wa, 二羽 ni wa, 三羽 san wa, etc.
Fish use 尾 (bi): 一尾 ichi bi, 二尾 ni bi, 三尾 san bi, etc.
Example:
私の従兄は犬三匹、猫八疋と二羽鳥五羽買っています。 (Watashi no itoko wa inu san biki, neko happiki to niwatori go wa o katte imasu.) -> My cousin has three dogs, eight cats, and five chickens.
For people use hitori for one person, futari for two people, and then the counter nin for three or more:
English
|
漢字 - Kanji
|
Romāji
|
1 person
|
一人
|
hitori
|
2 people
|
二人
|
futari
|
3 people
|
三人
|
san nin
|
7 people
|
七人
|
nana nin
|
12 people
|
十二人
|
juu ni nin
|
65 people
|
六十五人
|
roku juu go nin
|
Example:
二人の姐と三人の弟がいます。 (Futari no ane to san nin no otouto ga imasu.) -> I have two big sisters and three little brothers.
Rankings & Placings
Rankings within a group or placings for contest winners use 位 (i):
English
|
漢字 – Kanji
|
Romāji
|
first place
|
一位
|
ichi i
|
second place
|
二位
|
ni i
|
third place
|
三位
|
san i
|
Numbers in Succession
Use 番 (ban) to show the number of something in a succession:
English
|
漢字 – Kanji
|
Romāji
|
number one (or "the best")
|
一番
|
ichi ban
|
number two
|
二番
|
ni ban
|
number three
|
三番
|
san ban
|
Note:
|
番 (ban) is also sometimes used instead of 位 (i) to show rankings.
|
A Specific Number in a Series
To specifically point out the number of something in a series, add me:
English
|
漢字 – Kanji
|
Romāji
|
the second person
|
二人目
|
futari me
|
the third day
|
三日目
|
mikka me
|
the fifth machine
|
五台目
|
go dai me
|
Example:
妹は右から三番目です。 (Imouto wa migi kara san ban me desu.) -> My sister is the third one from the right.
Vague Numbers
English
|
漢字 – Kanji
|
Romāji
|
a few dogs
|
犬二、三匹
|
inu ni, san biki
|
4 or 5 students
|
四、五人の学生
|
shi, go nin no gakusei (not yon, go)
|
around 25 people
|
二十五人ぐらい
|
ni juu go nin gurai
|
50 or more
|
五十以上
|
go juu ijou
|
several years
|
数百羽の鳥
|
suu nen kan
|
hundreds of birds
|
数千リトル
|
suu hyaku wa no tori (or nan byaku wa no tori)
|
thousands of liters
|
犬二、三匹
|
suu sen litoru (or nan zen litoru)
|
Kaoko: Phew! That was a lot of effort
... I hope you have benefitted from this lesson of counting
, and enjoyed it as well as to find it simple ^^ The one who wrote this is originally Tim-sensei from the Tim Werx website. I just edited it and added more pictures to make it more convincing
. Later! I’ll post another lesson article about clocks and time
!
Original Work: http://ww8.tiki.ne.jp/~tmath/language/numbers.htm
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

Original Work: http://ww8.tiki.ne.jp/~tmath/language/numbers.htm
Regarding counting large numbers. I haven't been able to find anything else backing up something I saw on a Japanese site recently. Is it more common in casual speech to read numbers in the 万 and higher range as decimals? for example the site has 15 000 written as 1.5万 as opposed to just writing out 15 000円 or 一万五千円 In school in North America I had been taught to count with the non decimal method, but it's common knowledge that schools in NA teach very formal Japanese not colloquial. Is this actually more common?
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