Learn Japanese Numbers: Counting from 1-100 - Rosetta Stone (2024)

Japanese numbers are a foundational aspect to learn for anyone interested in the Japanese language. Whether your interest stems from the desire to travel (for which you’ll want to know some key Japanese words), to understand Japanese media, or to connect with a unique heritage, mastering these basics are a great first step.

The numbers 1 through 100 are relatively simple. Once you know the numbers from 1-10, it just takes a few simple rules to get you the numbers from 11-99. However, as with most languages, 100 will be different from how the other numbers are formed and how they sound. Have no fear, you’ll probably pick them up faster than you think!

Japanese numbers 1-10

The numbers 1-10 are the building blocks of all numbers in Japanese. They are also a good sampler of the relative simplicity of Japanese sounds. When learning words in any language, it’s important to learn proper pronunciation and TruAccent is the ideal way to improve your accent. Otherwise you may have to work extra hard to break bad habits.

With Japanese pronunciation, vowels are especially important to say accurately. Keep this in mind as you go through the numbers.

Within the basic Japanese numbers, there are a few that have multiple possible pronunciations. 4 is sometimes shi, 7 is sometimes shichi, and 9 is sometimes ku. These are used depending on context. For example, when saying the day or month (where January is translated as “month number one”), the alternative sounds are used.

Tips for remembering numbers 1-10 in Japanese:

Memorizing new words without context tends to be a challenge for most language learners. While it’s important to repeat new words multiple times and try to use them frequently, you can make studying easier on yourself by using memory aids. Here are our suggestions to remember numbers 1-10 in Japanese:

• Ichi (1) sounds very close to the English word “each.” Just make the initial “ee” sound stronger and add a short “ee” sound to the end of the word.
• Ni (2) is practically identical in pronunciation to “knee.” You can remember it with ichi by thinking of the phrase “each knee.”
• San (3) can be thought of as a combination of two heat-related words: “sun” and “sauna.” It’s a single syllable like “sun,” but has the middle vowel sound of “sauna.”
• Yon (4) can be remembered with the word “yawn,” but the vowel sound is “oh” rather than “ah.”
• Go (5) basically sounds like “go” just with a deeper “oh” sound.
• Roku (6) is similar to “rock.” Just be careful that the vowel sound is an “oh” rather than “ah.”
• Nana (7) sounds like someone quickly refusing something. We can put it together with the preceding numbers to make a short dialogue where someone encourages their reluctant friend: “Yawn.” “Go rock!” “Nah nah.”
• Hachi (8) almost matches the phrase “Ha! Cheap!” but without the final consonant.
• Kyuu (9) sounds just like the letter “q.”
• Juu (10) conveniently rhymes with the preceding number. “J” and “k” are also next to each other in the alphabet though it’s reversed for these words.

Japanese numbers 11-19

For the numbers 11-19, all you need to do is say the number for 10 (juu), then say the number that would add up to the final number you need. It can help to think of this in a mathematical formula. For example, to make 11 we start with 10 then add 1.

• 10 + 1 = 11
• juu + ichi ➞ juu ichi = 11

This formula easily applies to the rest of the numbers in this range of 11-19.

Japanese numbers 20-99

Just as the numbers 11-19 follow a formula, so do the rest of the numbers in Japanese that go from 20-99. Instead of addition, this range of numbers uses multiplication that you can see with the number 20:

• 2 x 10 (or two tens) = 20
• ni x juu ➞ ni juu = 20

With this formula, just make sure your smaller number comes first, otherwise you’ll have created a different number like juu ni, which means 12 instead of 20. This pattern means that 30 is san juu, 40 is yon juu, 50 is go juu, and so on.

To create other numbers, such as 21, 46, etc., you combine the two formulas:

• 2 x 10 + 1 = 21
• ni x juu + ichi ➞ ni juu ichi = 21
• 4 x 10 + 6 = 46
• yon x juu + roku ➞ yon juu roku = 46

If you’d like to quiz yourself on whether you understand the rules so far, try saying these numbers in Japanese after trying to make the words on your own.

100 in Japanese (and beyond)

Now that you know most of the numbers, your last task is to learn the number 100 in Japanese. It’s a unique word: hyaku (百), pronounced “hyah-koo.” If you’re curious, the previous rules also apply to numbers over 100. Here are two examples.

• 125 = hyaku ni juu go
• 936 = kyuu hyaku san juu roku

There are a few numbers where the pronunciation of hyaku changes, however, so 300 is san byaku, 600 is roppyaku, and 800 is happyaku. The established formula also applies to numbers in the thousands. The word for 1,000 is sen (千), pronounced “sehn.” So, 2,000 in Japanese is ni sen, and 2,471 is ni sen yon hyaku nana juu ichi.

The counting system for Japanese numbers (and that of its predecessor: Chinese numbers) is one of the most logical systems among the major world languages. There are no drastic rule changes like you’ll see in the infamous French numbers that are more complicated to understand.

Be forewarned, though, that using numbers in a practical sense is often made more complicated because of the use of counters in Japanese. When you want to say quantities of items, you cannot simply say ichi, ni, etc. You have to use the appropriate counter word along with the base numbers taught in this article.

Still, your new knowledge of the Japanese numbers will allow you to understand numbers of items when spoken, even if you are unfamiliar with the particular counter. And the Japanese person helping you will understand and appreciate your efforts anyway.

How to write numbers in Japanese

In Japan, it is common to write numbers using the same Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3, etc.) that most countries around the world use. However, it is also possible to write numbers using kanji, which is one of three writing systems in Japanese.

When writing Japanese characters, there is a set stroke order that will make your characters look natural and balanced. The general rule when writing strokes is that you go from left to right and top to bottom. To write a number in kanji, put them in the same order that you pronounce them. The number 46 (yon juu roku) will be written as 四十六. To help you practice writing Japanese numbers, we’ve included the numbers 1-10 and the number 100 in kanji with arrows showing the direction to write the lines.

Number	Typed Kanji	Written Kanji With Strokes
1 (ichi)	一
2 (ni)	ニ
3 (san)	三
4 (yon)	四
5 (go)	五
6 (roku)	六
7 (nana)	七
8 (hachi)	八
9 (kyuu)	九
10 (juu)	十
100 (hyaku)	百

Tips for remembering the kanji:

Memory aids are great to rely on when learning something new. This is especially true when learning kanji. In fact, you do yourself an especially great disservice if you just try to memorize kanji without looking carefully at the shape, as most kanji include radicals that have inherent meaning.

The numbers are a great place to start learning about kanji, and there’s some intuitive mnemonics to go along with them:

• Numbers 1-3 are straightforward: 1 is one horizontal line, 2 is two horizontal lines, and 3 is three horizontal lines.
• The kanji for 4 includes the shape of a four, like this:

• Number 5 kanji includes the shape of a five that you’d see on a digital clock, like this:

• The kanji for 6 and 8 are good to remember together, as they resemble each other and are both larger even numbers. 8 just looks like a mustache, and 6 looks like a mustache with a beret.
• The number 7 kanji looks like a 7 if you turn it upside down:

• The kanji for 9 resembles the katakana カ (ka), and both begin with the letter “k.”

• The kanji for 10 has a plus sign in it, and 10 is the foundation of what you need to “add up” to larger numbers.

With these initial Japanese words masteredーboth spoken and writtenーyou’re set to build upon them in your future studies! There is so much to discover as you delve into learning more about this incredible language.

Numbers are an easy first step when learning a language, but where should you go from here? You’ll certainly want to work on conversational Japanese but that’s such a broad field.

The simplest choice is to learn Japanese with Rosetta Stone. The program features short, intuitive lessons that fit a lifestyle on the go since they even work offline! Before you know it you’ll move beyond the basics and will be able to apply Japanese to a variety of situations whether you’re at home or traveling in Japan.