Japanese Numbers 1 to 100 and Beyond: How to Count in Japanese

Japanese numbers 1 to 10: ichi, ni, san

The Japanese numbers from one to ten are いち, に, さん, よん, ご, ろく, なな, はち, きゅう, じゅう (ichi, ni, san, yon, go, roku, nana, hachi, kyū, jū). Japanese also has a second, older set for counting things (ひとつ, ふたつ, みっつ: hitotsu, futatsu, mittsu), and every number above ten is built from the first set.

The kanji are 一, 二, 三, 四, 五, 六, 七, 八, 九 and 十. Tap one to see how it's written. If you can't read the kana yet, start with What Is Hiragana?.

Two sets of numbers

Japanese has two sets of numbers for one to ten, and you need both from your first week.

• Sino-Japanese numbers (いち, に, さん…) came into Japanese from Chinese. You count, calculate, and read prices and phone numbers with them. They're the only set that goes past ten.
• Native Japanese numbers (ひとつ, ふたつ, みっつ…) are the older Japanese words. Today they count things up to ten. They also hide inside a few everyday words, such as ふたり (two people) and ふつか (the 2nd of the month).

Both sets use the same kanji. 三 is さん in 三百 (three hundred) and みっつ in 三つ (three things). The word decides the reading.

Three numbers have two readings: 4, 7 and 9. That's the most-asked question about Japanese numbers, so it gets its own section below.

Counting things: hitotsu, futatsu, mittsu

The native numbers count objects. You can use them for most things when you don't know a more specific counter, or when there isn't one.

A few things to notice:

• On their own, the native numbers are almost always said with つ. They also join a few other native counters, such as ひとり (one person).
• The native set stops at ten. After とお, you switch to the Sino-Japanese numbers: eleven things is じゅういち, or じゅういち plus a counter.
• The native numbers are the reason some counters are irregular. ひとり and ふたり (one and two people) use them. So do the 2nd to the 10th of the month (ふつか, みっか, よっか…) and the 14th, 20th and 24th. See dates in Japanese for the full list.
• The dictionary also gives "… years of age" as a meaning of みっつ through ここのつ, and of とお. So the native numbers can count years of age as well as things.

To ask how many, say いくつ (ikutsu, “how many”). In a sentence, the number goes after the thing and its particle:

• りんごを三つください。 Three apples, please.
• コーヒーを二つください。 Two coffees, please.

4, 7 and 9: yon or shi, nana or shichi, kyū or ku

Why there are two readings

Four and seven have one Sino-Japanese reading (し, しち) and one native reading (よん, なな). Wiktionary gives the history:

• よん is a shift from the native よ (the よ of よっつ). It was influenced by the ん of さん, which comes just before it when you count. Wiktionary calls よん "the most common form as a stand-alone number".
• なな is the native word for seven (the なな of ななつ).
• Today, よん and なな are more common than し and しち outside fixed words. Wiktionary and Wikipedia give two likely reasons. し sounds the same as 死 (し, shi, “death”). And しち is easy to confuse with いち (one), し (four) and はち (eight).

Nine is different. きゅう and く both come from Chinese, borrowed at different times. Wiktionary and Wikipedia note that く is sometimes thought unlucky, because it sounds the same as 苦 (く, ku, “pain”).

So when you say four or seven on its own, よん and なな are the safe choices. For nine, the dictionary's frequency markers rate きゅう as more common than く. Wikipedia adds one exception: when counting out loud in order (いち, に, さん, し…), し and しち may be preferred.

Which reading in which word

In many words only one reading is correct, and the rule of thumb doesn't help. April is しがつ, never よんがつ. Learn these as words:

Four o'clock (よじ) and four people (よにん) use the short native よ, not よん. For the months, the time and the counters, see dates in Japanese, telling the time and Japanese counters.

In bigger numbers, both readings often work. Fourteen is じゅうよん (jūyon) or じゅうし, and the dictionary lists じゅうし first. Counting on its own, じゅうよん is the usual one. Seventeen is 十七 (じゅうなな, jūnana) or じゅうしち. Nineteen is only 十九 (じゅうきゅう, jūkyū). The tables below show the other reading where there is one.

Japanese numbers 1 to 100

From eleven on, Japanese numbers are built like a sum. They're more regular than English: there's no "eleven" or "twelve", only ten-one and ten-two.

• 11 to 19 are じゅう + the number: 十一 (じゅういち, jūichi), 十二 (じゅうに, jūni).
• The tens are the number + じゅう: 二十 is にじゅう (nijū), "two tens".
• Everything in between is tens + units: 二十五 (にじゅうご, nijūgo) is two tens and five. 二十七 is にじゅうなな or にじゅうしち.

There are no sound changes between ten and ninety-nine: you just join the pieces. One hundred is simply 百 (ひゃく, hyaku), with no "one" in front.

Hundreds and thousands: hyaku and sen (and the sound changes)

Hundreds and thousands work the same way: the number + ひゃく (百), or the number + せん (千). But a few of them change sound where the two parts meet. These are the ones to learn:

The thousands missing from the table (2,000, 5,000, 6,000 and 9,000) have no sound change. They're just the number plus せん: Wikipedia's table of Japanese numerals lists them as nisen, gosen, rokusen and kyūsen.

One thousand is usually just 千 (せん, sen). The form 一千 (いっせん, issen) also exists.

The pattern is the same one behind the counters. After さん, an h or s sound can become b or z. ろく shrinks to ろっ before h, and はち shrinks to はっ before h and s. If you've read our counters guide, you've already met it in さんびき and ろっぽん.

A worked example: 3,800 is 三千八百. That's 三千 (さんぜん) followed by 八百 (はっぴゃく): さんぜん はっぴゃく (sanzen happyaku).

Big numbers: man (10,000), oku and beyond

This is the part that trips up English speakers. English groups big numbers in threes (thousand, million, billion). Japanese groups them in fours, and the unit is 万 (まん, man, “10,000”). Tap 万 to see how the kanji is written.

Three things to remember:

• Ten thousand always takes a "one". It's 一万 (いちまん), never まん on its own. Wikipedia's article on Japanese numerals states the rule: 100 is just 百 and 1,000 is just 千, but 10,000 is 一万.
• Ten million is usually いっせんまん. Wikipedia says 10,000,000 "is normally read as 一千万 (issenman)". The dictionary also lists 千万 (せんまん) on its own.
• Split big numbers into groups of four digits from the right. 1,000,000 splits into 100 | 0000, so it's 百 (ひゃく) + 万 (まん): a hundred ten-thousands. The unit after 万 is 億 (おく), a hundred million.

A worked example: 12,345

Split 12,345 from the right into 1 | 2345. The left part is 一万 (いちまん). The right part is 二千三百四十五: にせん, さんびゃく, よんじゅう, ご. All together:

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 (ichiman nisen sanbyaku yonjūgo).

Prices

You'll use 万 every day in Japan, because prices are in yen. 百円 (ひゃくえん, hyakuen) is 100 yen, 千円 (せんえん, senen) is 1,000 yen, and 一万円 (いちまんえん, ichimanen) is 10,000 yen. To ask the price, say いくら (ikura, “how much”).

Zero in Japanese: zero, rei and maru

Zero has two common words, both in the dictionary and both on our N5 list:

• ゼロ (zero), a loanword from English, written in katakana.
• 零 (れい, rei), the Sino-Japanese word.

ゼロ is the one you'll hear most. れい appears in set words like 零時 (れいじ, reiji), twelve o'clock. Wikipedia notes that as a number, zero is only written 0 or 零.

You'll also see the circle 〇, which can be read 〇 (まる, maru). Wikipedia's example is Shibuya's famous 109 building, read いち・まる・きゅう (ichi-maru-kyū).

In a 電話番号 (でんわばんごう, denwabangō, “telephone number”), numbers are read out digit by digit. Wikipedia notes that 2 and 5 are often stretched to にい (nī) and ごお (gō) in phone numbers.

How to learn Japanese numbers

• Learn one to ten in both sets first. Everything else (big numbers, counters, dates) is built from them.
• Default to よん, なな and きゅう for numbers on their own. Learn the exceptions (しがつ, しちじ, くがつ, くじ) as words.
• Learn the five sound changes as a group: さんびゃく, ろっぴゃく, はっぴゃく, さんぜん and はっせん. And remember いちまん, not まん.
• Practise with prices. Reading 三千八百円 on a receipt is a faster way to get fluent than counting to a hundred.
• Move on to counters. Once the numbers are automatic, the counters are mostly the same numbers with a few regular sound changes.

Questions about Japanese numbers

How do you count to 10 in Japanese?

To count to 10 in Japanese, say いち, に, さん, よん, ご, ろく, なな, はち, きゅう, じゅう (ichi, ni, san, yon, go, roku, nana, hachi, kyū, jū). To count objects, use the native set: ひとつ, ふたつ, みっつ, up to とお.

How do you count to 100 in Japanese?

To count to 100 in Japanese, build each number from one to ten. Eleven is ten-one, じゅういち (jūichi), and twenty is two-ten, にじゅう (nijū). So 25 is にじゅうご (nijūgo), and 100 is ひゃく (hyaku).

How do you say 10,000 in Japanese?

10,000 in Japanese is 一万, いちまん (ichiman). Never say まん on its own: unlike 百 and 千, 万 always takes a "one".

How do you say one million in Japanese?

One million in Japanese is 百万, ひゃくまん (hyakuman), "a hundred ten-thousands". Ten million is 一千万, いっせんまん (issenman).

Is it yon or shi?

Four on its own is usually よん (yon) in Japanese. The other reading, し (shi), appears in set words, such as しがつ (April).

Is it nana or shichi?

Seven on its own is usually なな (nana) in Japanese. The other reading, しち (shichi), appears in set words, such as しちがつ (July) and しちじ (seven o'clock).

Why is 4 unlucky in Japanese?

Four is unlucky in Japanese because one of its readings, し (shi), sounds the same as the word for death, 死 (shi). That may be one reason よん is usually preferred.

How do you say zero in Japanese?

Zero in Japanese is ゼロ (zero) or れい (rei). When digits are read out one by one, 〇 can also be read まる (maru), "circle".

What are hitotsu, futatsu, mittsu?

Hitotsu, futatsu and mittsu (ひとつ, ふたつ, みっつ) are the native Japanese numbers one, two and three. They're used for counting things, and they stop at ten (とお).

Sources

• Readings and meanings: JMdict (EDRDG, CC BY-SA 4.0), including its frequency markers for きゅう and く, its "years of age" meaning for the native numbers, and its note that しちひゃく is outdated.
• Wiktionary contributors, 四 (Japanese: where よ and よん come from), 七 (Japanese: how なな and しち are used) and 九 (Japanese: きゅう and く), revisions of September 2026, CC BY-SA 4.0.
• Wikipedia contributors, Japanese numerals (revision of August 2026), CC BY-SA 4.0: the preference for よん and なな and its reasons, し and しち when counting in order, 2,000 to 9,000, grouping by 万, 一万, 一千万, zero written 0 or 零, まる (109), and にい and ごお in phone numbers.
• Reviewed by two independent reviews; the points about じゅうよん vs じゅうし, 一千万 vs 千万, ゼロ vs れい, phone numbers, counting aloud with し and しち, the short forms みつ and よつ, and the example sentences are waiting for a native speaker's check.
• The full list of sources is on our attributions page.