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Numbers in Japanese - Complete Guide

Japanese

For Kevin

Ever wondered how the numbers are in Japanese or Chinese? How do Japanese people usually count or write numbers? In this article, we will make a complete guide to numbers in Japanese so that you can count or understand any number you see ahead.

To facilitate the navigation of this article about numbers in Japanese, we will leave a summary below:

Japanese numbers and their readings and ideograms

In the table below, we can see the numbers in Japanese and their readings:

NumberKanjiOn YomiKun Yomi
0零 / 〇zero - rei - maru
1ichihito(tsu)
2nifuta(tsu)
3sanmi(tsu)
4shiyon / yo(tsu)
5goitsu(tsu)
6rokumu(tsu)
7shichinana(tsu)
8hachiya(tsu)
9ku, kyukoonotsu
10ju, jyuto
11十一ju-ichi
12十二ju-ni
13十三ju-san
20二十ni-ju
25二十五ni-ju-go
100hyaku
1000sen
10.000一万ichi-man
50.000五万go-man
1.000.000百万hyaku-man
100.000.000一億ichi-oku (oku)
1.000.000.000.000一兆ichi-chō

In the West, number groupings are usually in millions (1 million), while in Japanese and Chinese they tend to be in myriads (10,000). It seems easy at first, but things get complicated when the numbers get larger, and we realize that 1,500,000 is just 150万.

This can be confusing, but we need to keep in mind that the ideogram 万 represents the 4 digits of zero. A similar thing happens with the other ideograms. So be careful not to get confused when mixing Roman numbers with numbers in ideograms. Below we will provide more examples of large numbers and mixed numbers.

NumbersKanjiRomaji
11,0011万1,001ichimanissenichi
20.000二万niman
100.000十万juuman
10.000.000一千万issenman
1.000.000.000十億juuoku
10.000.000.000百億hyakuoku
100.000.000.000一千億issenoku
10.000.000.000.000十兆jucchou
11十一juu ichi
17十七juu nana, juu shichi
151百五十一hyaku go-juu ichi
302三百二san-byaku ni / san-hyaku ni
469四百六十九yon-hyaku roku-juu kyuu
2025二千二十五ni-sen ni-juu go

If you wonder which numerals in myriads come after [兆] are the ideograms: 京, 垓, ?, 穣, 溝, 澗, 正, 載, 極;

Numbers in Japanese - complete guide

Different ways to say a Japanese number

Before you learn the numbers in Japanese, you need to be aware that Japanese ideograms originated from China. This means that numbers in Japanese have two readings, the Chinese (ON) and the Japanese (KUN). This results in not just one but different ways to say a single number or to pronounce a Kanji.

Of course, this should not be any hindrance; in reality, it is quite simple. The other pronunciations usually only appear when they are accompanied by a contador numérico. Each pronunciation is used in different situations. This even results in various trocadilhos envolvendo números do japonês.

Do not get too attached to the different readings that a single Japanese ideogram presents. If you are a novice in the Japanese language and are only interested in learning the numbers, we recommend using the readings of Chinese origin, except for 4 (yon) and 7 (nana) which is very common to use the Japanese reading, possibly because shi from the Chinese reading resembles [死] meaning death.

Note also that in the Chinese readings I placed the tsu [つ] in parentheses. This tsu is one of the most common counters used in the Japanese language, used to count objects. It is also common to use the Japanese reading when we are talking about people like "two people, together" futari [二人].

Indicators - Counters in Japanese

In Japanese, we use suffixes or prefixes to count and indicate things in the language. When we talk about, for example, the number of people, number of days, number of years, number of cars, or numbers of other objects, we must use a character that follows the number. Below we will provide a small list of numerical counters:

HumanNINpersonNumeric counter of people and human beings.
AnimatedHIKIPIKIBIKImatchCounter of small animals, such as fish, cat, mouse, etc.
GeneralTSUWith tsu you can count most things and objects not corresponding to other categories.
InanimateKOindividualFor inanimate objects, small or compact, usually round. We can count apples, oranges, lemons, stones, croquettes, and things of that nature.
Big, electric goals DAITableFor large objects such as cars, wardrobes, cupboards, it includes counting all types of household appliances such as refrigerators, computers and telephones, etc.
Fine ObjectsHONPONBONBookWidely used to count thin and elongated objects such as pencils, pens, trees, etc. The most curious thing about this counter was to realize that it was also used to count video tapes and telephone calls.
Printed materialSATSUVolumeIt is a counter used for practically all types of printed material such as books, magazines, pamphlets, handouts, etc.
Fine ObjectsMAIsheetFor the Japanese, fine objects are things like shirts, sheets of paper, plates, cookies, blankets

To see other counters, read our article on counting indicators in Japanese.

Japanese Numbers - Ordinals

  • 第一 DAI ICHI - 1st, first;
  • Second - 2nd, second;
  • 第三 DAI SAN - 3rd, third;
  • 第四 DAI YON - 4th, fourth;
  • 第五 DAI GO - 5th, fifth;
  • 第六 DAI ROKU - 6th, sixth;
  • 第七 DAI SHICHI -7th, seventh;
  • 第八 DAI HACHI - 8th, eighth (hachi ban 八番);
  • Ninth - DAI KYŪ - 9th, ninth;
  • 第十 DAI JŪ - 10th, tenth;

Besides the prefix DAI, the suffix BAN can be used as exemplified in the eighth [八番].

Japanese numbers - Multiplicatives

Goodni-bai二倍
Triplesan-bai三倍
Quadrupleyon-bai四倍
Twice biggerni-bai gata ookina二倍方大きな
Three times smallersan-bai gata   chiisana三倍方小さな
A coupleitsui一対
Two Pairsnitsui二対

Some things in this article are a bit complex and are for people who already have a certain level in the Japanese language, but I hope you understand the basics of Japanese numbers. Finally, we recommend reading also: