Japanese numbers are straightforward, but the counter system — different counting words for different categories of objects — is one of the unique challenges of the language.
Basic Numbers
| Number |
Kanji |
Hiragana |
Romaji |
Notes |
| 1 |
一 |
いち |
ichi |
|
| 2 |
二 |
に |
ni |
|
| 3 |
三 |
さん |
san |
|
| 4 |
四 |
し/よん |
shi/yon |
yon preferred in counting |
| 5 |
五 |
ご |
go |
|
| 6 |
六 |
ろく |
roku |
|
| 7 |
七 |
しち/なな |
shichi/nana |
nana preferred in counting |
| 8 |
八 |
はち |
hachi |
|
| 9 |
九 |
く/きゅう |
ku/kyuu |
kyuu more common |
| 10 |
十 |
じゅう |
juu |
|
| 11 |
十一 |
じゅういち |
juuichi |
10+1 |
| 12 |
十二 |
じゅうに |
juuni |
|
| 20 |
二十 |
にじゅう |
nijuu |
|
| 21 |
二十一 |
にじゅういち |
nijuuichi |
|
| 30 |
三十 |
さんじゅう |
sanjuu |
|
| 100 |
百 |
ひゃく |
hyaku |
|
| 200 |
二百 |
にひゃく |
nihyaku |
|
| 300 |
三百 |
さんびゃく |
sanbyaku |
pronunciation changes! |
| 600 |
六百 |
ろっぴゃく |
roppyaku |
pronunciation changes! |
| 800 |
八百 |
はっぴゃく |
happyaku |
pronunciation changes! |
| 1,000 |
千 |
せん |
sen |
|
| 2,000 |
二千 |
にせん |
nisen |
|
| 3,000 |
三千 |
さんぜん |
sanzen |
pronunciation changes! |
| 8,000 |
八千 |
はっせん |
hassen |
pronunciation changes! |
| 10,000 |
万 |
まん |
man |
Japanese has a 10,000 unit! |
| 100,000 |
十万 |
じゅうまん |
juuman |
10 × 10,000 |
| 1,000,000 |
百万 |
ひゃくまん |
hyakuman |
100 × 10,000 |
| 100,000,000 |
億 |
おく |
oku |
100 million |
Key difference from English: Japanese groups numbers in units of 10,000 (万 man), not 1,000. So 100,000 = "ten man" (十万) and 1,000,000 = "hundred man" (百万).
Native Japanese Numbers (Hitotsu–Toono)
Used for general counting without a specific counter (1–10 objects):
| Number |
Japanese |
Romaji |
| 1 |
一つ |
hitotsu |
| 2 |
二つ |
futatsu |
| 3 |
三つ |
mittsu |
| 4 |
四つ |
yottsu |
| 5 |
五つ |
itsutsu |
| 6 |
六つ |
muttsu |
| 7 |
七つ |
nanatsu |
| 8 |
八つ |
yattsu |
| 9 |
九つ |
kokonotsu |
| 10 |
十 |
too |
The Counter System
Japanese uses different "counters" (助数詞, josushi) for different categories of objects. After a number, attach the appropriate counter.
〜本 (hon) — Long cylindrical objects
| Japanese |
Romaji |
For |
| 一本 |
ippon |
pencils, pens, bottles, trees, roads, movies (films) |
| 二本 |
nihon |
|
| 三本 |
sanbon |
|
| 四本 |
yonhon |
|
| 五本 |
gohon |
|
Examples: ペン一本 (one pen), ビール二本 (two bottles of beer), 木三本 (three trees)
〜枚 (mai) — Flat objects
| Japanese |
Romaji |
For |
| 一枚 |
ichimai |
paper, tickets, stamps, plates, thin things |
| 二枚 |
nimai |
|
| 三枚 |
sanmai |
|
Examples: 切手一枚 (one stamp), 紙二枚 (two sheets of paper), Tシャツ三枚 (three T-shirts)
〜冊 (satsu) — Bound books
| Japanese |
Romaji |
For |
| 一冊 |
issatsu |
books, magazines, notebooks |
| 二冊 |
nisatsu |
|
| 三冊 |
sansatsu |
|
Examples: 本三冊 (three books), 雑誌二冊 (two magazines)
〜匹 (hiki) — Small animals
| Japanese |
Romaji |
For |
| 一匹 |
ippiki |
cats, dogs, fish, insects (small animals) |
| 二匹 |
nihiki |
|
| 三匹 |
sanbiki |
|
Examples: 猫二匹 (two cats), 魚一匹 (one fish)
〜頭 (tou) — Large animals
| Japanese |
Romaji |
For |
| 一頭 |
ittou |
horses, cows, elephants, bears |
| 二頭 |
nitou |
|
| 三頭 |
santou |
|
〜羽 (wa) — Birds
| Japanese |
Romaji |
For |
| 一羽 |
ichiwa |
birds, rabbits |
| 二羽 |
niwa |
|
| 三羽 |
sanwa |
|
〜個 (ko) — Small round/miscellaneous objects
| Japanese |
Romaji |
For |
| 一個 |
ikko |
apples, eggs, boxes, buttons, general objects |
| 二個 |
niko |
|
| 三個 |
sanko |
|
〜杯 (hai) — Cups and bowls
| Japanese |
Romaji |
For |
| 一杯 |
ippai |
cups of tea, glasses of water, bowls of ramen |
| 二杯 |
nihai |
|
| 三杯 |
sanbai |
|
〜台 (dai) — Machines and vehicles
| Japanese |
Romaji |
For |
| 一台 |
ichidai |
cars, bikes, computers, washing machines |
| 二台 |
nidai |
|
| 三台 |
sandai |
|
〜人 (nin) — People
| Japanese |
Romaji |
Note |
| 一人 |
hitori |
Irregular! (not ichininn) |
| 二人 |
futari |
Irregular! |
| 三人 |
sannin |
Regular from 3 onward |
| 四人 |
yonin |
|
| 五人 |
gonin |
|
〜階 (kai) — Floors of a building
| Japanese |
Romaji |
For |
| 一階 |
ikkai |
first floor |
| 二階 |
nikai |
second floor |
| 三階 |
sangai/sankai |
third floor |
| 地下一階 |
chika ikkai |
basement level 1 |
〜回 (kai) — Number of times
| Japanese |
Romaji |
Meaning |
| 一回 |
ikkai |
once |
| 二回 |
nikai |
twice |
| 三回 |
sankai |
three times |
〜番 (ban) — Ordinal (number position)
| Japanese |
Romaji |
Meaning |
| 一番 |
ichiban |
number 1; first; most |
| 二番 |
niban |
number 2; second |
| 三番 |
sanban |
number 3; third |
一番 also means "the best/most" as an adverb: 一番好き = like the most
Ordinal Numbers
| Japanese |
Reading |
English |
| 〜番目 |
〜ばんめ |
-th in order (一番目, 二番目) |
| 〜つ目 |
〜つめ |
-th (with hitotsu counting) |
| 第〜 |
だい〜 |
the -th (formal: 第一章 = Chapter 1) |
Time Counters
| Unit |
Counter |
Examples |
| Minutes |
〜分 (fun/pun) |
一分 (ippun), 三分 (sanpun), 五分 (gofun) |
| Hours |
〜時間 (jikan) |
一時間 (ichijikan), 二時間 (nijikan) |
| Days |
〜日 (nichi/ka) |
一日 (ichinichi/tsuitachi), 二日 (futsuka), 三日 (mikka) |
| Weeks |
〜週間 (shuukan) |
一週間 (isshuukan), 二週間 (nishuukan) |
| Months |
〜ヶ月 (kagetsu) |
一ヶ月 (ikkagetsu), 二ヶ月 (nikagetsu) |
| Years |
〜年 (nen) |
一年 (ichiinen), 二年 (ninen) |