Numbers in Japanese

There are two sets of numbers in Japanese: the native Japanese system and the Sino-Japanese system. The Sino-Japanese numbers are used in combination with counter words (助数詞 josūshi), when counting things, actions and events. When counting people there are different forms of the native numbers from 1-10, and there are also different forms of these numbers for dates. The native Japanese numbers are usually only used up to 10.

The Western (Arabic) numerals are generally used in horizontal texts, while the Kanji numerals are used in vertical texts.

If any of the numbers are links, you can hear a recording by clicking on them. If you can provide recordings, please contact me.

Numeral Sino-Japanese Native Japanese Ordinal
0 零 (rei)
〇 (zero)
〇 (nuru)
  零番目 (reibanme)
〇番目 (zerobanme)
〇番目 (nurubanme)
1 一 (ichi) 一つ (hitotsu) 一つ目 (hitotsume)
一番目 (ichibanme)
2 二 (ni) 二つ (futatsu) 二つ目 (futatsume)
二番目 (nibanme)
3 三 (san) 三つ (mittsu) 三番目 (sanbanme)
三つ目 (mittsume)
4 四 (shi/yon) 四つ (yottsu) 四番目 (yonbanme)
四つ目 (yottsume)
5 五 (go) 五つ (itsutsu) 五番目 (gobanme)
五つ目 (itsutsume)
6 六 (roku) 六つ (muttsu) 六番目 (rokubanme)
六つ目 (muttsume)
7 七 (shichi/nana) 七つ (nanatsu) 七番目 (nanabanme)
七つ目 (nanatsume)
8 八 (hachi) 八つ (yattsu) 八番目 (hachibanme)
八つ目 (yattsume)
9 九 (kyū/ku) 九つ (kokonotsu) 九番目 (kyūbanme)
九つ目 (kokonotsume)
10 十 (jū) 十 (tō) 十番目 (jūbanme)
11 十一 (jū ichi) 十余り一つ (tō amari hitotsu) 十一番目 (jū ichi banme)
12 十二 (jū ni) 十余り二つ (tō amari futatsu) 十二番目 (jū ni banme)
13 十三 (jū san) 十余り三つ (tō amari mittsu) 十三番目 (jū san banme)
14 十四 (jū yon) 十余り四つ (tō amari yottsu) 十四番目 (jū yon banme)
15 十五 (jū go) 十余り五つ (tō amari itsutsu) 十五番目 (jū go banme)
16 十六 (jū roku) 十余り六つ (tō amari muttsu) 十六番目 (jū roku banme)
17 十七 (jū nana) 十余り七つ (tō amari nanatsu) 十七番目 (jū nana banme)
18 十八 (jū hachi) 十余り八つ (tō amari yattsu) 十八番目 (jū hachi banme)
19 十九 (jū kyū) 十余り九つ (tō amari kokonotsu) 十九番目 (jū kyū banme)
20 二十 (ni-jū) 廿 (hatachi) 二十番目 (ni-jū banme)
30 三十 (san-jū) 卅 (miso/misoji) 三十番目 (san-jū banme)
40 四十 (yon-jū) 四十 (yoso/yosoji) 四十番目 (yon-jū banme)
50 五十 (go-jū) 五十 (iso/isoji) 五十番目 (go-jū banme)
60 六十 (roku-jū) 六十 (muso/musoji) 六十番目 (roku-jū banme)
70 七十 (nana-jū) 七十 (nanaso/nanasoji) 七十番目 (nana-jū banme)
80 八十 (hachi-jū) 八十 (yaso/yasoji) 八十番目 (hachi-jū banme)
90 九十 (kyū-jū) 九十 (kokonoso/kokonosoji) 九十番目 (kyū-jū banme)
100 百 (hyaku) 百 (momo) 百番目 (hyaku banme)
200 二百 (nihyaku) 二百 (futao) 二百番目 (nihyaku banme)
300 三百 (sanbyaku) 三百 (mio) 三百番目 (sanbyaku banme)
400 四百 (yonhyaku) 四百 (yō) 四百番目 (yonhyaku banme)
500 五百 (gohyaku) 五百 (io) 五百番目 (gohyaku banme)
600 六百 (roppyaku) 六百 (muo) 六百番目 (roppyaku banme)
700 七百 (nanahyaku) 七百 (nanao) 七百番目 (nanahyaku banme)
800 八百 (happyaku) 八百 (yao) 八百番目 (happyaku banme)
900 九百 (kyūhyaku) 九百 (kokonō) 九百番目 (kyūhyaku banme)
1,000 千 (sen)
一千 (issen)
千 (chi) 千番目 (sen banme)
2,000 二千 (nisen) 二千 (futachi) 二千番目 (nisen banme)
3,000 三千 (sanzen) 三千 (michi) 三千番目 (sanzen banme)
4,000 四千 (yonsen) 四千 (yochi) 四千番目 (yonsen banme)
5,000 五千 (gosen) 五千 (ichi) 五千番目 (gosen banme)
6,000 六千 (rokusen) 六千 (muchi) 六千番目 (rokusen banme)
7,000 七千 (nanasen) 七千 (nanachi) 七千番目 (nanasen banme)
8,000 八千 (hassen) 八千 (yachi) 八千番目 (hassen banme)
9,000 九千 (kyūsen) 九千 (kokonochi) 九千番目 (kyūsen banme)
10,000 一万/萬 (ichiman) 万/萬 (yorozu) 一万番目/一萬番目
(ichiman banme)
20,000 二万 (niman) 二万 (futayorozu) 二万番目 (niman banme)
30,000 三万 (sanman) 三万 (miyorozu) 三万番目 (sanman banme)
40,000 四万 (yonman) 四万 (yoyorozu) 四万番目 (yonman banme)
50,000 五万 (goman) 五万 (iyorozu) 五万番目 (goman banme)
60,000 六万 (rokuman) 六万 (muyorozu) 六万番目 (rokuman banme)
70,000 七万 (nanaman) 七万 (nanayorozu) 七万番目 (nanaman banme)
80,000 八万 (hachiman) 八万 (yayorozu) 八万番目 (hachiman banme)
90,000 九万 (kyūman) 九万 (kokonoyorozu) 九万番目 (kyūman banme)
100,000 十万 (jūman) 十万 (tōyorozu) 十万番目 (jūman banme)
1 million 百万 (hyakuman) 百万 (momoyorozu) 百万番目 (hyakuman banme)
10 million 千万 (senman)
一千万 (issenman)
千万 (chiyorozu) 千万番目 (senman banme)
100 million 一億 (ichioku) 億番目 (oku banme)
1 trillion 一兆 (itchō) 一兆番目 (itchō banme)
10 trillion 十兆 (jutchō) 十兆番目 (jutchō banme)

Notes

Japanese 大字 (daiji) numerals

壱 [壹] 弐 [貳] 参 [參] 四 [肆] 五 [伍] 六 [陸] 七 [柒] 八 [捌] 九 [玖] 百 [佰] 千 [仟] 万/萬
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 100 1000 10000

The first row of the table shows the 大字 (daiji) numerals. Those in [square brackets] are no longer commonly used.

How to count people in Japanese

These are special forms of the Native Japanese numbers used to count people.

一人 二人 三人 四人 五人 六人 七人 八人 九人 十人
hitori futari sannin yonin gonin rokunin shichinin hachinin kyūnin jūnin
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

How to refer to days of the month in Japanese

There are some irregularities in the way the days of the month are named in Japanese. The table below show the days which have irregular names. Other days are formed by combining the Sino-Japanese numbers with 日 (nichi - day), e.g. 十一日 (jūichi-nichi = 11th).

一日 二日 三日 四日 五日 六日 七日
tsuitachi futsuka mikka yokka itsuka muika nanoka
1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th
八日 九日 十日 十四日 二十日 二十四日  
yōka kokonoka tōka jūyokka hatsuka nijūyokka  
8th 9th 10th 14th 20th 24th  

Hear Japanese numbers:

Corrections provided by かずき (Kazuki) and Ryulong

If you spot any mistakes, and/or can provide recordings of these numbers, please contact me.

Links

Information about Japanese numbers
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_numerals
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_counter_word
http://japanese.about.com/od/japanesevocabulary/a/numbers.htm
http://sp.cis.iwate-u.ac.jp/sp/lessonj/doc/numbers.html
http://nihongoichiban.com/japanese-grammar-numbers/
http://www.sf.airnet.ne.jp/~ts/language/number/japanese.html
http://www.sf.airnet.ne.jp/~ts/language/number/ancient_japanese.html
https://lingualift.com/blog/japanese-math-vocabulary/

Information about Japanese counter words (助数詞 josūshi)
http://nihongoichiban.com/2011/03/28/list-of-japanese-classificators/

How to write Japanese numerals
http://howtowriteinjapanese.blogspot.com/2009/09/how-to-write-numbers-in-japanese.html

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