Counting in Japanese: Numbers, Counters, and Tips
Numbers in Japanese are actually one of the more logical parts of the language once you get the base system down. The tricky part is the counter words, which is where most learners stumble. Japanese doesn't just say "three books" - it says "three flat-thing books," using a special counter word depending on what you're counting. Weird at first, completely natural once you get used to it.
Numbers 1 to 10
These are the foundation. You need these cold before anything else. Note that some numbers have two readings: a Japanese-origin reading (kun'yomi) and a Chinese-origin reading (on'yomi). Both are used in different contexts, but the Chinese-origin numbers are far more common in everyday use.
| Japanese | Reading | Romaji | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| 一 (1) | いち | ichi | one |
| 二 (2) | に | ni | two |
| 三 (3) | さん | san | three |
| 四 (4) | し / よん | shi / yon | four (し is traditional; よん is more common in daily speech) |
| 五 (5) | ご | go | five |
| 六 (6) | ろく | roku | six |
| 七 (7) | しち / なな | shichi / nana | seven (なな is more common to avoid confusion with いち) |
| 八 (8) | はち | hachi | eight |
| 九 (9) | く / きゅう | ku / kyuu | nine (きゅう is more common; く can sound like 苦, suffering) |
| 十 (10) | じゅう | juu | ten |
Tens, Hundreds, and Thousands
Japanese numbers scale in a very regular way. Once you know 1-10, you can build any number by combining. Twenty is "two-ten" (にじゅう), three hundred is "three-hundred" (さんびゃく), and so on. The pattern breaks slightly with 100, 1000, and 10000, which have their own words.
| Japanese | Reading | Romaji | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| 二十 (20) | にじゅう | nijuu | twenty (literally: two-ten) |
| 三十 (30) | さんじゅう | sanjuu | thirty |
| 四十 (40) | よんじゅう | yonjuu | forty |
| 五十 (50) | ごじゅう | gojuu | fifty |
| 百 (100) | ひゃく | hyaku | one hundred |
| 二百 (200) | にひゃく | nihyaku | two hundred |
| 三百 (300) | さんびゃく | sanbyaku | three hundred (note the sound change: び) |
| 千 (1,000) | せん | sen | one thousand |
| 一万 (10,000) | いちまん | ichiman | ten thousand (Japan groups numbers in units of 10,000, not 1,000) |
| 十万 (100,000) | じゅうまん | juuman | one hundred thousand (literally: ten ten-thousands) |
The 10,000 Thing
Counter Words (Josushi)
This is the part everyone finds confusing at first. Japanese uses different counter words depending on what you're counting. Think of it like how English says "a sheet of paper" or "a head of cattle" but for everything. The good news is that there's a catch-all counter (つ, tsu) you can use when you don't know the right one, and people will understand you fine.
| Japanese | Reading | Romaji | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| 〜枚 (まい) | まい | -mai | Flat, thin things: paper, tickets, shirts, slices of bread, plates |
| 〜本 (ほん) | ほん | -hon | Long, cylindrical things: pens, bottles, trees, rivers, phone calls |
| 〜匹 (ひき) | ひき | -hiki | Small animals: cats, dogs, fish, insects |
| 〜頭 (とう) | とう | -tou | Large animals: cows, horses, elephants |
| 〜羽 (わ) | わ | -wa | Birds and rabbits |
| 〜人 (にん) | にん | -nin | People (with exceptions: ひとり for one person, ふたり for two people) |
| 〜台 (だい) | だい | -dai | Machines and vehicles: cars, bikes, computers, TVs |
| 〜冊 (さつ) | さつ | -satsu | Bound books and notebooks |
| 〜杯 (はい) | はい | -hai | Cups and glasses of liquid, also bowls of food |
| 〜個 (こ) | こ | -ko | Small, round or compact objects: apples, balls, eggs, buttons |
Counting in Action
Here's how counters work in real sentences. The number plus counter comes right before or after the noun it modifies.
猫が三匹います。ペンが二本あります。本を五冊買いました。
Neko ga san-biki imasu. Pen ga ni-hon arimasu. Hon wo go-satsu kaimashita.
"There are three cats. There are two pens. I bought five books."
Native Japanese Numbers (Hitotsu, Futatsu...)
There's a second counting system using native Japanese words, used for general objects without a specific counter (or when you're not sure which counter to use). It only goes up to ten, and after that you use the Chinese-origin numbers.
| Japanese | Reading | Romaji | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| 一つ | ひとつ | hitotsu | one (thing) |
| 二つ | ふたつ | futatsu | two (things) |
| 三つ | みっつ | mittsu | three (things) |
| 四つ | よっつ | yottsu | four (things) |
| 五つ | いつつ | itsutsu | five (things) |
| 六つ | むっつ | muttsu | six (things) |
| 七つ | ななつ | nanatsu | seven (things) |
| 八つ | やっつ | yattsu | eight (things) |
| 九つ | ここのつ | kokonotsu | nine (things) |
| 十 | とお | too | ten (things) |
A Note on Sound Changes
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