Japanese Numbers and Counters: A Practical Guide
Numbers come up everywhere in Japan: prices, times, dates, how many people are in your group. The numbers themselves are logical, but Japanese also uses counters, small words that change depending on what you are counting. Here is what you need first.
The numbers from one to ten
Japanese numbers are built from a small set: いち ichi (1), に ni (2), さん san (3), よん yon or し shi (4), ご go (5), ろく roku (6), なな nana or しち shichi (7), はち hachi (8), きゅう kyū or く ku (9), じゅう jū (10).
Four, seven and nine have two readings. When counting on their own, yon, nana and kyū are the safest choices, but some fixed words use the other reading, as you will see with times and dates below.
Bigger numbers
Above ten, you simply combine: 11 is じゅういち jūichi, 20 is にじゅう nijū, 35 is さんじゅうご sanjūgo. Hundreds are ひゃく hyaku and thousands せん sen, with a few sound changes to learn: さんびゃく sanbyaku (300), ろっぴゃく roppyaku (600), はっぴゃく happyaku (800), さんぜん sanzen (3,000) and はっせん hassen (8,000).
The big difference from English is まん man, ten thousand. Japanese groups large numbers in fours, so 50,000 is ごまん goman (five ten-thousands) and 100,000 is じゅうまん jūman. Prices make this very practical: いちまんえん ichiman en is 10,000 yen.
Counters: the essentials
In Japanese you don’t say “three tickets” with the number alone. You attach a counter that matches the shape or type of the thing. The good news is that a handful covers most daily situations.
| Counter | Used for | 1 | 2 | 3 | How many? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 〜つ | general things, up to ten | ひとつ hitotsu | ふたつ futatsu | みっつ mittsu | いくつ ikutsu |
| 〜人 | people | ひとり hitori | ふたり futari | さんにん sannin | なんにん nannin |
| 〜枚 | flat things: paper, tickets, shirts, plates | いちまい ichimai | にまい nimai | さんまい sanmai | なんまい nanmai |
| 〜本 | long, thin things: bottles, pens, umbrellas | いっぽん ippon | にほん nihon | さんぼん sanbon | なんぼん nanbon |
| 〜個 | small, compact objects: fruit, eggs, boxes | いっこ ikko | にこ niko | さんこ sanko | なんこ nanko |
| 〜匹 | small animals: cats, dogs, fish | いっぴき ippiki | にひき nihiki | さんびき sanbiki | なんびき nanbiki |
A few patterns help. 本 and 匹 change their first sound with 1, 3, 6, 8 and 10 (ろっぽん roppon, はっぴき happiki, じゅっぽん juppon). For people, only one and two are irregular; four is よにん yonin. The つ series goes yottsu, itsutsu, muttsu, nanatsu, yattsu, kokonotsu, and ten is とお tō.
If you forget a counter while shopping or ordering, the つ series works for most objects up to ten. これをふたつください kore o futatsu kudasai (two of these, please) will always be understood.
Money
Yen is 円 en: ひゃくえん hyaku en (100 yen), せんえん sen en (1,000 yen). Note that 4 yen is よえん yoen, not yon en. To ask the price, say いくらですか？ ikura desu ka?
Telling the time
Hours use 時 ji. Watch three of them: よじ yoji (4:00), しちじ shichiji (7:00) and くじ kuji (9:00). Minutes use 分, which is read fun or pun: ごふん gofun (5 minutes), じゅっぷん juppun (10 minutes). Half past is 半 han, so 3:30 is さんじはん sanji han. Morning and afternoon are 午前 gozen and 午後 gogo, placed before the time.
Dates
Months are simple: the number plus 月 gatsu. Use しがつ shigatsu (April), しちがつ shichigatsu (July) and くがつ kugatsu (September).
Days of the month are the tricky part. The 1st to the 10th have special readings: tsuitachi, futsuka, mikka, yokka, itsuka, muika, nanoka, yōka, kokonoka, tōka. The 14th (jūyokka), 20th (hatsuka) and 24th (nijūyokka) are also irregular. Most other days are the number plus 日 nichi, such as じゅうごにち jūgonichi (the 15th).
Making numbers automatic
Knowing the rules is one thing; hearing “sanzen roppyaku en” at a register and understanding it instantly is another. Numbers become automatic through short, repeated practice: prices, phone numbers, times, dates. A tutor can drill these with you in realistic role-plays, and at Hanabuddies we tailor the practice to what you actually need, whether that is shopping on a trip or scheduling meetings at work.