COUNTING

NUMBERS IN
JAPANESE
The two methods of counting in Japanese:
KANGO & WAGO
There are two primary ways to count in Japanese. One comes from the Wago (Japanese
origin) system while the other comes from Kango and the Chinese counting system.

Number 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Kanji ⼀ ⼆ 三 六 七 ⼗
ichi ni san yon/shi go roku nana/shichi hachi ku/kyuu jyuu
Kango
いち に さん よん し ご ろく なな しち はち く きゅう じゅう
/ / /
hi hu mi yo i mu na ya ko too
Wago
ひ ふ み よ い む な や こ とお
How do we count numbers larger than 10?
For numbers larger than 10, it's actually very simple to count in Japanese.
You don't have to memorize any new words like "eleven," "twelve," and so on;
you simply use a combination of the numbers you've already memorized.

12：think
as
10
＋
2
=
じゅう＋に



so
12
is
じゅうに
20：think
as
2
＋
10
=
に＋じゅう



so
20
is
にじゅう
36：think
as
3＋10
＋
6
=
さん＋じゅう＋ろく



so
36
is
さんじゅうろく
48：think
as
4＋10
＋
8
=
よん＋じゅう＋はち



so
48
is
よんじゅうはち
51：think
as
5＋10
＋
1
=
ご＋じゅう＋いち



so
51
is
ごじゅういち
79：think
as
7＋10
＋
9
=
なな＋じゅう＋きゅう



so
79
is
ななじゅうきゅう
98：think
as
9＋10
＋
8
=
きゅう＋じゅう＋はち



so
79
is
きゅうじゅうはち
 Counting in the 100S, 1,000S, and beyond
From 1 to 10,000, the unit names change with each decimal.

Numerals 100 1,000 10,000 100,000 1,000,000 10,000,000 10,000,000

Kanji 百 千 万 ⼗万 百万 千万
hyaku sen man jyuuman hyakuman senman oku
Hiragana
ひゃく せん まん じゅうまん ひゃくまん せんまん おく
123：think
as
100
＋
20
＋3
=
ひゃく＋にじゅう＋さん

so
123
is
ひゃくにじゅうさん
1006：think
as
1000
＋
6
=
せん＋ろく

so
1006
is
せんろく
35210：think
as
30000
＋
5000
＋
200
＋
10=
さんまん＋ごせん＋にひゃく＋じゅう


so
1006
is
さんまんごせんにひゃくじゅう
 Counting in Wago, the Japanese style
There are two primary ways to count in Japanese. One comes from the Wago
(Japanese origin) system while the other comes from Kango and the Chinese
counting system.

Number 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Kanji ⼀ ⼆ 三 六 七 ⼗
hi hu mi yo i mu na ya ko too
Wago
ひ ふ み よ い む な や こ とお
hitotsu hutatsu mittsu yottsu itsutsu muttsu nanatsu yattsu kokonotsu too
ひとつ ふたつ みっつ よっつ いつつ むっつ ななつ やっつ ここのつ とお
 Numbers smaller or less than 1
From 1 to 10,000, the unit names change with each decimal.
Numerals 0 ー .

Kanji/Katakana 零/ゼロ/ マイナス 点

rei/zero/maru mainasu ten
Hiragana
れい ぜろ まる まいなす てん
/ /

-23：think
as
minus
＋
2
＋
10
＋
3



so
it
is
マイナスにじゅうさん
0.5：think
as
0
＋
point
＋
5
=
れい＋てん
＋
ご

so
0.5
is
れいてんご
0.0039：think
as
0
＋
point
＋
0
＋
0
＋
3＋
9
=
れい＋てん＋れい＋れい＋さん＋きゅう







so
0.0039
is
れいてんれいれいさんきゅう
Time (hour)
The hour is given by saying the number and adding 「時」 which is
pronounced here as 「じ 」 /ji with the following exceptions:

English 4 o'clock 7 o'clock 9 o'clock

Kanji 時 七時 時
yoji shichiji kuji
よじ しちじ くじ
Hiragana

6
o clock：
六時/ろくじ/rokuji Be careful!!

12
o clock：
⼗⼆時/じゅうにじ/jyuuniji yonji / nanaji / kyuuji

よんじ ななじ きゅうじ
/ /
Time (minutes)
The minutes are given by adding 「 」 which usually read as 「ふん/hun」
with the following exceptions:

English 1 minutes 3 minutes 4 minutes 6 minutes 8 minutes 10 minutes

Kanji ⼀ 三 六 ⼗
ippun sanpun yonpun roppun happun jyuppun
Hiragana
いっぷん さんぷん よんぷん ろっぷん はっぷん じゅっぷん
15
minutes：
⼗五分/じゅうごふん/jyuugohun
37
minutes：
三⼗七分/さんじゅうななふん/sanjyuunanahun
52
minutes：
五⼗⼆分/ごじゅうにふん/gojyuunihun
Time (seconds)
All readings for seconds consists of the number plus「 」 , which is read as
「びょう 」
/byou . There are no exceptions for seconds and all the readings
are the same.

27
seconds：
⼆⼗七秒/にじゅうななびょう/nijyuunanabyou
41
seconds：
四⼗⼀秒/よんじゅういちびょう/yonjyuuichibyou
A Span of Time
The basic counter for a span of time is「間」 , which is read as 「かん/kan」.
You can attach it to the end of hours, days, weeks, and years.
nijikan yonjyuppun
⼆時間 ⼗ （にじかん・よんじゅっぷん）2 hours and 40 minutes
hatuka kan
⼆⼗⽇間 （はつかかん）20 days
jyuugonichi kan
⼗ ⽇間 （じゅうごにちかん）15 days
ninen kan
⼆年間 （にねんかん）two years
sanshuukan
三 間 （さんしゅうかん）three weeks
ichinichi
⼀⽇ （いちにち）1 day
A Span of Time(Year/Month/Days)
Year
All you have to do is say the number and add 「年」 which is pronounced here
as 「ねん 」
/nen
Month
Write the number (either in numerals or kanji) of the month and add 「⽉」 which
is read as「がつ 」 ⽉ 「し
/gatsu . However, you need to pay attention to April(4 )
がつ 」 ⽉ 「しちがつ
/shigatu , July (7 ) 」
/shichigatu , and September(9 )⽉ 「くが
つ 」
/kugatsu .
Days
Simply say the number and add 「⽇」 「に
which is pronounced here as
ち 」/nichi .
「⼀⽇ ついたち」
The first day of the month is / 「⼀⽇ いちに
; different from /
ち」 , which means “one day”.
A Span of Time(Month)
To count the number of months, take a regular number and add 「ヶ⽉」 which is
pronounced here as 「かげつ 」
/kagetsu and not 「かがつ 」 「か」
/kagatsu . The
「ヶ」
used in this counter is usually written as a small katakana which is confusing
because it’s still pronounced as「か 」 /ka and not「け 」 /ke .
In counting months, you should watch out for the following sound changes:

English 1 months ６ month 10 month

Kanji ⼀ヶ⽉ 六ヶ⽉ ⼗ヶ⽉

ikkagetsu rokkagetsu jyukkagetsu
いっかげつ ろっかげつ じゅっかげつ
Hiragana
nannichi
tsuitachi
hutsuka
mikka
yokka
itsuka
muika
nanoka
youka
kokonoka
touka
jyuuichinichi
jyuuninichi
jyuusannichi
jyuuyokka
jyuugonichi
jyuurokunichi
jyuushichinichi
jyuuhachinichi
jyuukunichi
hatsuka
nijyuuichinichi
nijyuuninichi
nijyuusannichi
nijyuuyokka
nijyuugonichi
nijyuurokunichi
nijyuushichinichi
nijyuuhachinichi
nijyuukunichi
sanjyuunichi
sanjyuuichinichi
Other Counters

(nin)
(hon)
(mai)
(satsu)
(hiki)
(sai)
(ko)
(kai)
(kasho)
(tsu)