Numbers in Japanese



Learn numbers in Japanese

Knowing numbers in Japanese is probably one of the most useful things you can learn to say, write and understand in Japanese. Learning to count in Japanese may appeal to you just as a simple curiosity or be something you really need. Perhaps you have planned a trip to a country where Japanese is the most widely spoken language, and you want to be able to shop and even bargain with a good knowledge of numbers in Japanese.

It's also useful for guiding you through street numbers. You'll be able to better understand the directions to places and everything expressed in numbers, such as the times when public transportation leaves. Can you think of more reasons to learn numbers in Japanese?

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.

List of numbers in Japanese

Here is a list of numbers in Japanese. We have made for you a list with all the numbers in Japanese from 1 to 20. We have also included the tens up to the number 100, so that you know how to count up to 100 in Japanese. We also close the list by showing you what the number 1000 looks like in Japanese.

  • 1) 一 ichi (いち)
  • 2) 二 ni ()
  • 3) 三 san (さん)
  • 4) 四 yon (よん)
  • 5) 五 go ()
  • 6) 六 roku (ろく)
  • 7) 七 ana (なな)
  • 8) 八 achi (はち)
  • 9) 九 yū (きゅう)
  • 10) 十 ū (じゅう)
  • 11) 十一 ūichi (じゅういち)
  • 12) 十二 ūni (じゅうに)
  • 13) 十三 ūsan (じゅうさん)
  • 14) 十四 ūyon (じゅうよん)
  • 15) 十五 ūgo (じゅうご)
  • 16) 十六 ūroku (じゅうろく)
  • 17) 十七 ūnana (じゅうなな)
  • 18) 十八 ūhachi (じゅうはち)
  • 19) 十九 ūkyū (じゅうきゅう)
  • 20) 二十 ijū (にじゅう)
  • 30) 三十 anjū (さんじゅう)
  • 40) 四十 onjū (よんじゅう)
  • 50) 五十 ojū (ごじゅう)
  • 60) 六十 okujū (ろくじゅう)
  • 70) 七十 anajū (ななじゅう)
  • 80) 八十 achijū (じはちゅう)
  • 90) 九十 yūjū (じゅう)
  • 100) 百 yaku (ひゃく)
  • 1,000) 千 en (せん)

Numbers in Japanese: Japanese numbering rules

Each culture has specific peculiarities that are expressed in its language and its way of counting. The Japanese is no exception. If you want to learn numbers in Japanese you will have to learn a series of rules that we will explain below. If you apply these rules you will soon find that you will be able to count in Japanese with ease.

The way numbers are formed in Japanese is easy to understand if you follow the rules explained here. Surprise everyone by counting in Japanese. Also, learning how to number in Japanese yourself from these simple rules is very beneficial for your brain, as it forces it to work and stay in shape. Working with numbers and a foreign language like Japanese at the same time is one of the best ways to train our little gray cells, so let's see what rules you need to apply to number in Japanese

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  • Digits from zero to nine are rendered by specific words, namely: zero (ゼロ, ) or rei (れい, ) [0], ichi (いち, ) [1], ni (, ) [2], san (さん, ) [3], yon (よん, ) or shi (, ) [4], go (, ) [5], roku (ろく, ) [6], nana (なな, ) or shichi (しち, ) [7], hachi (はち, ) [8], and kyū (きゅう, ) or (, ) [9].
  • Tens are formed starting by the multiplier digit, followed by the word for ten () with no space, except for ten itself: (じゅう, ) [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, ) [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, ) [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, ), 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, ) (108, or one hundred millions), chō (ちょう, ) (1012, or one US trillion), kei or kyō (けい or きょう, ) (1016, or ten US quadrillions) and gai (がい, ) (1020, or one hundred US quintillions).
  • The Counting Dictionary for Japanese
  • Japanese Hepburn transliteration
  • Numbers in different languages