Japanese numbers
Counting is regular once you know it, but three numbers have two readings each, and the one you pick matters.
Practice this These are quick quizzes, and the cards you miss come back until you get them right.
Zero to ten
| Number | Kanji | Reading | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 零 / ゼロ | rei / zero | ゼロ in everyday speech; 零 in formal writing |
| 1 | 一 | ichi | |
| 2 | 二 | ni | |
| 3 | 三 | san | |
| 4 | 四 | yon / shi | yon is safer — shi sounds like 死 (death) and is avoided |
| 5 | 五 | go | |
| 6 | 六 | roku | |
| 7 | 七 | nana / shichi | nana is safer — shichi is easily misheard as ichi |
| 8 | 八 | hachi | |
| 9 | 九 | kyuu / ku | kyuu is safer — ku also means 苦 (suffering) |
| 10 | 十 | juu |
Hundreds, thousands and beyond
| Number | Kanji | Reading | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 100 | 百 | hyaku | |
| 300 | 三百 | sanbyaku | sound change: hyaku → byaku |
| 600 | 六百 | roppyaku | sound change: hyaku → ppyaku |
| 800 | 八百 | happyaku | sound change: hyaku → ppyaku |
| 1,000 | 千 | sen | |
| 3,000 | 三千 | sanzen | sound change: sen → zen |
| 8,000 | 八千 | hassen | sound change: sen → ssen |
| 10,000 | 一万 | ichiman | never just man — always ichiman |
| 100,000 | 十万 | juuman | Japanese counts in units of 10,000, not 1,000 |
| 1,000,000 | 百万 | hyakuman | a million is 'hundred ten-thousands' |
| 100,000,000 | 一億 | ichioku |
Japanese counts in units of 10,000
Japanese groups digits in four, not three. 10,000 is one 万 (man), so 250,000 is 25万 (nijuugo-man) and 1,200,000 is 120万 (hyakunijuu-man). This is the single hardest habit for English speakers reading Japanese news, where populations and yen figures are written this way constantly.
Next
A number on its own is rarely enough — Japanese attaches a counter to say what is being counted.