Numbers in Japanese 日本語の数字

Numbers in Japanese 日本語の数字

You can learn how to say 1 - 100+ with Japanese numbers.

1: 一 (いち ichi‎‎‏‏‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‎, ichi)

2: 二 (に ni‎‎‏‏‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎, ni)

3: 三 (さん san‎‎‏‏‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎, san)

4: 四 (よん yon‎‎‏‏‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ / し shi‎‎‏‏‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎, yon or shi)

5: 五 (ご go‎‎‏‏‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎, go)

6: 六 (ろく roku‎‎‏‏‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎, roku)

7: 七 (なな nana‎‎‏‏‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ / しち shichi‏‏‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎, nana or shichi)

8: 八 (はち hachi‎‎‏‏‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎, hachi)

9: 九 (く ku‎‎‏‏‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ / きゅう kyuu‎‎‏‏‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎, ku or kyuu)

10: 十 (じゅう juu‎‎‏‏‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎, juu)

Once you memorize these 10, counting to 100 is easy!

However, keep in mind: three numbers have two different readings: 4, 7, and 9.

The numbers 4 and 9 are considered unlucky in Japanese because し (shi) and く (ku) sound the same as the words for death (死, shi) and agony (苦, ku). Therefore, Japanese people avoid using those readings whenever possible.

Even though 7 is a lucky number, it’s reading しち (shichi) also has し so it's more common to say なな (nana).

For "zero", the Japanese word is 零 (rei), but it's more common to say it like in English. ゼロ (zero) is most often used, or まる (maru) which means "circle" and is like saying "oh" in English instead of zero.

Count to 100 in Japanese: Here’s how that looks:

11 is 十一 (juuichi): 10 + 1 12 is 十二 (juuni): 10 + 2

and so on up to 19.

Once you get to twenty, it’s the same concept, but you start by counting the 10s:

20 is 二十 (nijuu): 2 10’s 21 is 二十一 (nijuuichi): 2 10's + 1

and so on, up to 99.

Kanji Kana + Romaji

1 一 いち (ichi)

2 二 に (ni)

3 三 さん (san)

4 四 よん (yon)

5 五 ご (go)

6 六 ろく (roku)

7 七 なな (nana)

8 八 はち (hachi)

9 九 きゅう (kyuu)

10 十 じゅう (juu)

100 百 ひゃく (hyaku)

1,000 千 せん (sen)

10,000 万 まん (man)

100,000 十万 じゅうまん (juuman)

1,000,000 百万 ひゃくまん (hyakuman)

10,000,000 千万 せんまん (senman)

100,000,000 一億 いちおく (ichioku)

1,000,000,000 十億 じゅうおく (juuoku)

1,000,000,000,000 一兆 いっちょう (icchou)