The following includes the Sino-Japanese Numbers used in Japanese for many number-related issues. In appearance, they are the same as those used in Mandarin Chinese, in fact that is where the characters were borrowed from (Sino – meaning “Chinese”). Thus, the numbers are in fact a part of the Kanji writing system.
While Sino-Japanese numbers are more common according to my Japanese friends, the traditional Japanese numbers are still occasionally used and it is good to memorize the numbers 1-10 in traditional form as well.
Also notice that the number 4 (shi) can sound like a bad word in Japanese (shi sounds like ‘death’), so it is replaced with the traditional number “yon”. And number 7 (nana) can also be replaced with the traditional number “shichi” depending on the usage.
SEPARATE WORDS YOU MUST MEMORIZE
| Number | Name | Kanji |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | ichi | 一 |
| 2 | ni | 二 |
| 3 | san | 三 |
| 4 | shi/yon* | 四 |
| 5 | go | 五 |
| 6 | roku | 六 |
| 7 | shichi/nana* | 七 |
| 8 | hachi | 八 |
| 9 | kyū | 九 |
| 10 | jū | 十 |
| 100 | hyaku*/ichi hyaku | 百 |
| 1000 | sen/issen* | 千 |
| 10,000 | man / ichiman | 万 |
| 100,000,000 | oku | 億 |
| 1,000,000,000,000 | chō | 兆 |
COUNTING THROUGH ONE TRILLION
Although my examples below use spacing to help you see the numbers laid out more easily, the Japanese will often just combine the numbers into one long string. For example, my Japanese friends would write 2109 as nisenhyakukyū if they wrote it out in Romaji.
**Please notice that the numbers 300 (sanbyaku), 600 (roppyaku), and 800 (happyaku) are different from the usual formula of Number + Hyaku. Not sure why, my Japanese teacher didn’t explain 🙂 I just know that this is true.
| Number | Name | Kanji |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | ichi | 一 |
| 2 | ni | 二 |
| 3 | san | 三 |
| 4 | shi/yon* | 四 |
| 5 | go | 五 |
| 6 | roku | 六 |
| 7 | shichi/nana* | 七 |
| 8 | hachi | 八 |
| 9 | kyū | 九 |
| 10 | jū | 十 |
| 11 | jūichi | 十一 |
| 12 | jūni | 十二 |
| 13 | jūsan | 十三 |
| 20 | nijū | 二十 |
| 30 | sanjū | 三十 |
| 40 | yonjū | 四十 |
| 50 | gojū | 五十 |
| 60 | rokujū | 六十 |
| 70 | nanajū | 七十 |
| 80 | hachijū | 八十 |
| 90 | kyūjū | 九十 |
| 100 | hyaku*/ichi hyaku | 百 |
| 200 | nihyaku | 二百 |
| 300 | sanByaku *note the change | 三百 |
| 600 | roPPyaku *note the change | 六百 |
| 800 | haPPyaku *note the change | 八百 |
| 1000 | sen/issen* | 千 |
| 10,000 | man / ichiman | 万 |
| 100,000 | jūman | 十万 |
| 1,000,000 | hyakuman | 百万 |
| 10,000,000 | senman | 千万 |
| 100,000,000 | oku | 億 |
| 1,000,000,000 | jūoku | 十億 |
| 10,000,000,000 | hyaku oku | 百億 |
| 100,000,000,000 | senoku | 千億 |
| 1,000,000,000,000 | chō | 兆 |
***Please notice that while in English, we count in 1,000s — the Japanese (and Chinese) count in 10,000s. So in English, we learn one thousand (1,000), ten thousand (10,000), one hundred thousand (100,000), one million (1,000,000), and ten million (10,000,000). But in Japanese, they learn sen (1,000), man (10,000), jūman (100,000), and hyakuman (1,000,000), senman (10,000,000). Notice that jū(man), hyaku(man), and sen(man) are all multiples of 10,000 (Japanese) instead of 1,000 (English).
| Number | English | Japanese |
|---|---|---|
| 10 | ten | jū (ten) |
| 100 | one hundred | hyaku (hundred) |
| 1000 | one thousand | sen (thousand) |
| 1,0000 | ten-thousand | man (ten-thousand) |
| 10,0000 | one-hundred thousand | jūman (ten man or ten ten-thousands) |
| 100,0000 | one million | hyakuman (one-hundred man) |
| 1000,0000 | ten million | senman (one-thousand man) |
| 1,0000,0000 | one-hundred million | oku (one oku) |
| 10,0000,0000 | one billion | jūoku (ten oku) |
Because of this, you can often see them mark numbers as 1,0000 with the comma after the ten-thousands. For example 1,0000 instead of 10,000.
PRACTICE
Here are examples of every number through ten million (follow same pattern if going farther)
| Number | Name | Kanji |
|---|---|---|
| 21 | nijū ichi | 二十一 |
| 32 | sanjū ni | 三十二 |
| 43 | yonjū san | 四十三 |
| 54 | gojū yon | 五十四 |
| 65 | rokujū go | 六十五 |
| 76 | nanajū roku | 七十六 |
| 87 | hachijū nana | 八十七 |
| 98 | kyūjū hachi | 九十八 |
| 109 | hyaku kyū | 百九 |
| 219 | nihyaku jūkyū | 二百十九 |
| 329 | sanByaku nijū kyū *note the change | 三百二十九 |
| 439 | yonhyaku sanjū kyū | 四百三十九 |
| 549 | gohyaku yonjū kyū | 五百四十九 |
| 659 | roPPyaku gojū kyū *note the change | 六百五十九 |
| 769 | nanahyaku rokujū kyū | 七百六十九 |
| 879 | haPPyaku nanajū kyū *note the change | 八百七十九 |
| 989 | kyūhyaku hachijū kyū | 九百八十九 |
| 2001 | nisen ichi | 二千一 |
| 3010 | sansen jū | 三千十 |
| 4100 | yonsen hyaku | 四千百 |
| 5210 | gosen nihyaku jū | 五千二百十 |
| 6222 | rokusen nihyaku nijū ni | 六千二百二十二 |
| 20,003 | niman san | 二万三 |
| 30,033 | sanman sanjū san | 三万三十三 |
| 40,333 | yonman sanbyaku sanjū san | 四万三百三十三 |
| 53,333 | goman sansen sanbyaku sanjū san | 五万三千三百三十三 |
| 140,000 | jūyonman | 十四万 |
| 400,000 | yonjūman | 四十万 |
| 654,321 | rokujūgo man yonsen sanbyaku nijū ichi | 六十五万四千三百二十一 |
| 7,654,321 | nanahyaku rokujūgo man yonsen sanbyaku nijū ichi | 七百六十五万四千三百二十一 |
| 87,654,321 | hachisen nanahyaku rokujūgo man yonsen sanbyaku nijū ichi | 八千七百六十五万四千三百二十一 |
Deceptively Blonde 