Counting numbers in Japanese
In Japan, it is quite common for the same kanji character to have multiple readings. In this article, we would like to focus on the ways of counting various things and their corresponding readings!
Hey, I recently became able to count various things in Japanese!
That’s great! What specifically did you learn to count?
１(いち), ２(に), ３(さん)…
Great! Then let’s try counting with the counter word “個(こ)”
I learned that too! 一個(いちこ), 二個(にこ), 三個(さんこ) …
Oh, you were close! There was just a small mistake in your previous message
But I put “個” after the number
Usually it is correct as it is, but in this case, the pronunciation of “一” changes from “いち” to “いっ”, and “一個” is pronounced as “いっこ”, so attention is required 🙂
I understand, but I also learned how to count with the counter “つ”! I am confident about this! In light of what happened earlier…
一つ(いっつ), 二つ(につ), 三つ(さんつ), 四つ(よんつ), 五つ(ごつ), 六つ(ろくつ)…
How about this!
Um…, your pronunciation is all wrong…
What!? I studied it, but how could this happen!
The way of thinking is correct, but it should be read as “ひとつ, ふたつ, みっつ, よっつ, いつつ, むっつ”
How many readings do I have to memorize just to count numbers…
Then let’s study various ways of counting together from here on!
Basic
| 一 | 二 | 三 | 四 | 五 | 六 | 七 | 八 | 九 | 十 |
| いち | に | さん | よん(し) | ご | ろく | なな(しち) | はち | きゅう | じゅう |
Counter words “個(こ)”
| 一個 | 二個 | 三個 | 四個 | 五個 | 六個 | 七個 | 八個 | 九個 | 十個 |
| いっこ | にこ | さんこ | よんこ | ごこ | ろっこ | ななこ | はちこ | きゅうこ | じゅっこ(じっこ) |
Counter words “つ”
| 一つ | 二つ | 三つ | 四つ | 五つ | 六つ | 七つ | 八つ | 九つ |
| ひとつ | ふたつ | みっつ | よっつ | いつつ | むっつ | ななつ | やっつ | ここのつ |
We do not use the counter “つ” for counting beyond the number ten.
Counter words “本(ほん)”
| 一本 | 二本 | 三本 | 四本 | 五本 |
| いっぽん | にほん | さんほん(ぼん) | よんほん | ごほん |
| 六本 | 七本 | 八本 | 九本 | 十本 |
| ろくほん(ろっぽん) | ななほん | はちほん(はっぽん) | きゅうほん | じゅっぽん(じっぽん) |
The counter word used for counting long, narrow objects is “hon” (本) in Japanese.
Counter words “回(かい)/階(かい)”
| 一回/階 | 二回/階 | 三回/階 | 四回/階 | 五回/階 |
| いっかい | にかい | さんかい | よんかい | ごかい |
| 六回/階 | 七回/階 | 八回/階 | 九回/階 | 十回/階 |
| ろっかい | ななかい | はちかい(はっかい) | きゅうかい | じゅっかい(じっかい) |
The counter “kai” (回) is used to count the number of times something occurs, while “kai” (階) is used to count the number of floors in a building. Although the pronunciation is the same, the meanings are completely different, so be careful.
Counter words “膳(ぜん)”
| 一膳 | 二膳 | 三膳 | 四膳 | 五膳 |
| いちぜん | にぜん | さんぜん | よんぜん | ごぜん |
| 六膳 | 七膳 | 八膳 | 九膳 | 十膳 |
| ろくぜん | しちぜん | はちぜん | きゅうぜん | じゅうぜん |
膳
The counter “zen” (膳) is used to count chopsticks, but it is used specifically when they come in a set. If there is only one chopstick, the counter “hon” (本) is used.
The counting system for numbers after 10 in Japanese
The counting system for numbers after 10 in Japanese is based on multiples of 10, with the unit digit added to the multiple. For example, 11 is “juu-ichi” (10 + 1), 12 is “juu-ni” (10 + 2), and so on. For numbers ending in 4 or 9, the pronunciation changes slightly. For example, 14 is “juu-yon” instead of “juu-shi,” and 19 is “juu-kyuu” instead of “juu-ku.” The numbers 20, 30, 40, and so on are expressed as “ni-juu” (2 x 10), “san-juu” (3 x 10), “yon-juu” (4 x 10), and so on.
| 十一(11) | 十二(12) | 十三(13) | 十四(14) | 十五(15) |
| じゅう いち | じゅう に | じゅう さん | じゅう よん(し) | じゅう ご |
| 十六(16) | 十七(17) | 十八(18) | 十九(19) | |
| じゅう ろく | じゅう なな(しち) | じゅう はち | じゅう きゅう |
| 二十(20) | 三十(30) | 四十(40) | 五十(50) |
| に じゅう | さん じゅう | よん じゅう | ご じゅう |
| 六十(60) | 七十(70) | 八十(80) | 九十(90) |
| ろく じゅう | なな じゅう | はち じゅう | きゅう じゅう |
| 二十一(21) | 二十二(22) | 二十三(23) | 二十四(24) | 二十五(25) |
| に じゅう いち | に じゅう に | に じゅう さん | に じゅう よん | に じゅう ご |
| 二十六(26) | 二十七(27) | 二十八(28) | 二十九(29) | |
| に じゅう ろく | に じゅう なな | に じゅう はち | に じゅう きゅう |
The principle for counting 100, 1,000, and 10,000 is also the same.
| 100 → ひゃく(百)（ex. に ひゃく |
| 1,000 → せん(千)（ex. に せん |
| 10,000 → まん(万)（ex. に まん |
Finally, here are some examples of how to read random numbers in Japanese.
| 52 / 五十 二 / ごじゅう に |
| 739 / 七百 三十 九 / ななひゃく さんじゅう きゅう |
| 2,371 / 二千 三百 七十 一 / にせん さんびゃく ななじゅう いち |
| 78,542 / 七万 八千 五百 四十 二 / ななまん はっせん ごひゃく よんじゅう に |
As the reading may change in some cases, it is important to pay attention to parts like the red one. （ex. 600[ろっぴゃく], 800[はっぴゃく], 8,000[はっせん]
As we have learned, learning the regular patterns makes it easier to count things in Japanese. With regard to units of numbers, by memorizing the minimum amount of information presented today, you will be able to go about your daily life, so please give it your best effort.
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