Counting in Japanese

Language overview

Japanese language (nihongo, 日本語) belongs to the isolate Japonic language family which also includes the Ryukyuan languages. Spoken in Japan, it has three complementary writing systems: the hiragana syllabary for cursive writing, the katakana syllabary for words of foreign origin other than Chinese, and the kanjis for the logograms of Chinese origin. To be more precise, the kanas constitute a moraic system of writing, the nasal ん (hiragana) or ン (katakana) being made of only one mora. We show on this page the numbers in the Hepburn transcription (in rōmaji), in hiragana and in kanji.

Japanese counters

The numbers shown on this page are used to count in the abstract. Depending on the type of object you want to count, you have to use a counter in Japanese. Here is a short list among the most used.

• Generic objects, with no specificity (digits of Japanese origin used for instance to order in a restaurant): hitotsu (ひとつ) [1], futtsu (ふたつ) [2], mittsu (みっつ) [3], yottsu (よっつ) [4], itsutsu (いつつ) [5], muttsu (むっつ) [6], nanatsu (ななつ) [7], yattsu (やっつ) [8], kokonotsu (ここのつ) [9], and tō (とお) [10]. Beyond ten, the generic numbers are used.
• People (にん, 人): hitori (ひとり) [1], futari (ふたり) [2], sannin (さんにん) [3], yonin (よにん) [4], gonin (ごにん) [5], rokunin (ろくにん) [6], shichinin (しちにん) [7], hachinin (はちにん) [8], kyūnin (じゅうにん) [9], and jūnin (じゅうにん) [10].
• Days (か or にち, 日): ichinichi (いちにち) [1], futsuka (ふつか) [2], mikka (みっか) [3], yokka (よっか ) [4], itsuka (いつか) [5], muika (むいか) [6], nanoka (なのか) [7], yōka (ようか) [8], kokonoka (ここのか) [9], and tōka (とおか) [10].
• Floors (かい, 階) : ikkai (いっかい) [1], nikai (にかい) [2], sankai (さんかい) [3], yonkai (よんかい) [4], gokai (ごかい) [5], rokkai (ろっかい) [6], nanakai (ななかい) [7], hakkai (はっかい) [8], kyūkai (きゅうかい) [9], and jukkai (じゅっかい) [10].
• Nights (of a stay) (はく, 泊) : ippaku (いっぱく) [1], nihaku (にはく) [2], sanpaku (さんぱく) [3], yonhaku (よんはく) [4], gohaku (ごはく) [5], roppaku (ろっぱく) [6], nanahaku (ななはく) [7], happaku (はっぱく) [8], kyūhaku (きゅうはく) [9], and juppaku (じゅっぱく) [10].
• Age of a person (さい, 歳 or 才) : issai (いっさい) [1], nisai (にさい) [2], sansai (さんさい) [3], yonsai (よんさい) [4], gosai (ごさい) [5], rokusai (ろくさい) [6], nanasai (ななさい) [7], hassai (はっさい) [8], kyūsai (きゅうさい) [9], and jussai (じゅっさい) [10].

Japanese numerals

Japanese numbering rules

Now that you’ve had a gist of the most useful numbers, let’s move to the writing rules for the tens, the compound numbers, and why not the hundreds, the thousands and beyond (if possible).

• Digits from zero to nine are rendered by specific words, namely: zero (ゼロ, 零) or rei (れい, 零) [0], ichi (いち, 一) [1], ni (に, 二) [2], san (さん, 三) [3], yon (よん, 四) or shi (し, 四) [4], go (ご, 五) [5], roku (ろく, 六) [6], nana (なな, 七) or shichi (しち, 七) [7], hachi (はち, 八) [8], and kyū (きゅう, 九) or kū (く, 九) [9].
• Tens are formed starting by the multiplier digit, followed by the word for ten (jū) with no space, except for ten itself: jū (じゅう, 十) [10], nijū (にじゅう, 二十) [20], sanjū (さんじゅう, 三十) [30], yonjū (よんじゅう, 四十) [40], gojū (ごじゅう, 五十) [50], rokujū (ろくじゅう, 六十) [60], nanajū (ななじゅう, 七十) [70], hachijū (じはちゅう, 八十) [80], and kyūjū (じゅう, 九十) [90].
• Compound numbers are formed starting with the ten, followed by the unit digit (e.g.: nijū ichi (にじゅういち, 二十一) [21], gojū hachi (ごじゅうはち, 五十八) [58]).
• Hundreds are formed starting with the multiplier digit, directly followed by the word for hundred (hyaku), except for one hundred itself: hyaku (ひゃく, 百) [100], nihyaku (にひゃく, 二百) [200], sanbyaku (さんびゃく, 三百) [300], yonhyaku (よんひゃく, 四百) [400], gohyaku (ごひゃく, 五百) [500], roppyaku (ろぴゃく, 六百) [600], nanahyaku (ななひゃく, 七百) [700], happyaku (はぴゃく, 八百) [800], and kyūhyaku (きゅうひゃく, 九百) [900]. Please note that 300, 600 and 800 are irregular.
• Thousands are formed starting with the multiplier digit, directly followed by the word for thousand (sen), except for one thousand itself: sen (せん, 千) [1,000], nisen (にせん, 二千) [2,000], sanzen (さんぜん, 三千) [3,000], yonsen (よんせん, 四千) [4,000], gosen (ごせん, 五千) [5,000], rokusen (ろくせん, 六千) [6,000], nanasen (ななせん, 七千) [7,000], hassen (はっせん, 八千) [8,000], and kyūsen (きゅうせん, 九千) [9,000]. Please note that 3,000 and 8,000 are irregular.
• In Japanese, digits are grouped by myriads, or groups of four. Tens of thousands are formed starting with the multiplier digit, directly followed by the word for ten thousand (man, まん, 万), except for ten thousand itself: ichiman (いちまん, 一万) [10,000] (1 time 10,000), niman (にまん, 二万) [20,000] (2 times 10,000), jūman (じゅうまん, 十万) [100,000] (10 times 10,000), hyakuman (ひゃくまん, 百万) [1 million] (100 times 10,000).
• Compound numbers are also grouped by blocks of four digits (e.g.: niman gosen (にまんごせん, 二万五千) [25,000], roppyaku nanajū hachiman (ろぴゃくななじゅうはちまん, 六百七十八万) [6,780,000]).
• Each fourth power of ten following man has its own name. After man (10⁴), we have oku (おく, 億) (10⁸, or one hundred millions), chō (ちょう, 兆) (10¹², or one US trillion), kei or kyō (けい or きょう, 京) (10¹⁶, or ten US quadrillions) and gai (がい, 垓) (10²⁰, or one hundred US quintillions).

Write a number in full in Japanese

Let’s move now to the practice of the numbering rules in Japanese. Will you guess how to write a number in full? Enter a number and try to write it down in your head, or maybe on a piece of paper, before displaying the result.

Books

Articles

Links

• The Counting Dictionary for Japanese
• Japanese Hepburn transliteration

Other supported languages

As the other currently supported languages are too numerous to list extensively here, please select a language from the full list of supported languages.