Japanese numbers
Japanese numbers are wonderfully logical. Once you know the digits from one to ten and a few big units, you can build any number like a sum: 23 is literally “two ten three”. Type a number into the converter to see it in kanji and kana, or read on to learn the rules.
Number converter
Zero to ten
| Number | Kanji | Reading | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 〇 | ゼロ zero れい rei | ゼロ (from English) is usual in speech; れい is more formal. |
| 1 | 一 | いち ichi | |
| 2 | 二 | に ni | |
| 3 | 三 | さん san | |
| 4 | 四 | よん yon し shi | し sounds like 死 (death), so よん is usually preferred. し survives in fixed words like 四月 (しがつ, April). |
| 5 | 五 | ご go | |
| 6 | 六 | ろく roku | |
| 7 | 七 | なな nana しち shichi | Both are common; なな is clearer because しち sounds like いち. |
| 8 | 八 | はち hachi | |
| 9 | 九 | きゅう kyū く ku | く sounds like 苦 (suffering), so きゅう is usual. く appears in 九時 (くじ, nine o'clock) and 九月 (くがつ, September). |
| 10 | 十 | じゅう jū |
From 11 to 99
Put the tens first, then the units: 十一 (じゅういち) is 11, 二十 (にじゅう) is 20 and 九十九 (きゅうじゅうきゅう) is 99. Ten on its own is just じゅう, never いちじゅう.
Hundreds and thousands
百 (ひゃく) is 100 and 千 (せん) is 1,000. Like ten, they need no “one” in front. A few combinations change their sound, so learn these by heart:
- 300 is さんびゃく, 600 is ろっぴゃく and 800 is はっぴゃく
- 3,000 is さんぜん and 8,000 is はっせん
Ten thousand: 万
English groups digits in threes (thousand, million); Japanese groups them in fours. 万 (まん) is 10,000, so 100,000 is 十万 (じゅうまん, “ten ten-thousands”) and a million is 百万 (ひゃくまん). Unlike 十, 百 and 千, 万 always needs a number in front: 10,000 is いちまん.
A hundred million: 億
The next unit is 億 (おく), 100,000,000. Prices, populations and salaries in Japan are counted in 万 and 億, so it pays to get used to thinking in groups of four digits.
More examples
| Number | Kanji | Reading |
|---|---|---|
| 11 | 十一 | じゅういち jūichi |
| 20 | 二十 | にじゅう nijū |
| 42 | 四十二 | よんじゅうに yonjūni |
| 99 | 九十九 | きゅうじゅうきゅう kyūjūkyū |
| 100 | 百 | ひゃく hyaku |
| 300 | 三百 | さんびゃく sanbyaku |
| 600 | 六百 | ろっぴゃく roppyaku |
| 800 | 八百 | はっぴゃく happyaku |
| 1,000 | 千 | せん sen |
| 3,000 | 三千 | さんぜん sanzen |
| 8,000 | 八千 | はっせん hassen |
| 10,000 | 一万 | いちまん ichiman |
| 12,345 | 一万二千三百四十五 | いちまんにせんさんびゃくよんじゅうご ichimannisensanbyakuyonjūgo |
| 100,000 | 十万 | じゅうまん jūman |
| 1,000,000 | 百万 | ひゃくまん hyakuman |
| 10,000,000 | 一千万 | いっせんまん issenman |
| 100,000,000 | 一億 | いちおく ichioku |
Ready to count things? Japanese adds a counter word after the number: see the Japanese counters →
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