Learning Japanese Numbers: 1-100 to 1 Trillion

Counting is one of the first things you learn in any language, but Japanese numbers are a little bit different. Numbers in Japanese are so different, in fact, that we're going to take TWO POSTS to tell you everything about counting in Japanese. If you're already a little more advanced, you may already be aware of the Japanese counting system. But if not, then let's start with Japanese numbers and we can learn more from there! The most important thing to remember is that the Japanese have a different set of numbers for counting things, actions, and events than they do for counting people or for counting dates. When you use which system will depend on the suffix of the following counter word. If you don't know about Japanese counter words, don't worry. We will be covering those next week! It may seem confusing at first, but once you learn the different systems it will be second nature to you which one to use when! So first, let's learn the two different Japanese number systems: First, we have Sino-Japanese numbers. These readings are based on the On'Yomi (or Chinese pronunciations) of the numbers. The second system is the Native Japanese number system, which is based on the Kun'Yomi, or Japanese pronunciation. Check out this post to learn the difference between On'Yomi and Kun'yomi in Japanese.

Notes on Counting in Japanese

• The Kun Reading, or Native Japanese numbers, are usually only used up until the #10, but of course there are plenty of exceptions to this!
• 4 is considered unlucky since the On reading sounds like 死 (the kanji for death). So the Kun reading is preferred for almost all numbers containing 四.
• For the number 7 (七) nana is often preferred over shichi, but both readings are used depending on what you're talking about.
• Since the saying of 9 (九) sounds like 苦 (the kanji for suffering), it is usually pronounced kyu instead and hospitals often avoid having a Ward 9.
• Large numbers are divided into units of ten thousand, so 1 million is one hundred tenthousands: 百萬 (hyaku man).
• On financial and legal documents, complex forms of the numerals known as 大字 (daiji) are used to prevent fraud.

Japanese Numbers for Person

And of course, if you are counting people, they have yet ANOTHER Japanese number system! You can use the Japanese counter for person, 人 (にん –). Except for numbers 1 and 2, which are irregular. | 一人 (ひとり, hitori) | 1 person | |---|---| | 二人 (ふたり, futari) | 2 people | | 三人 (さんにん**,** sannin) | 3 people | | 四人 (よにん**,** yonin) | 4 people | | 五人 (ごにん**,** gonin) | 5 people | | 六人 (ろくにん, rokunin) | 6 people | | 七人 (しちにん, shichinin) | 7 people | | 八人 (はちにん, hachinin) | 8 people | | 九人 (きゅうにん, kyuunin) | 9 people | | 十人 (じゅうにん, juunin**)** | 10 people |