4.1 - Numbers and Counting

Like all languages, Japanese has its very own set of numbers that follow the denary (0 - 9) number system. Today, we're going to learn how to say any number, no matter how large, in Japanese.

The numbers 1 to 10 are pretty straightforward:

0 - rei / zero
1 - ichi
2 - ni
3 - san
4 - shi (yon after 10)
5 - go
6 - roku
7 - shichi (nana after 10)
8 - hachi
9 - kyuu
10 - jyuu

These numbers are pretty darn straightforward. Like English numerals (0 - 10) the Japanese numbers have different sounds for each digit from zero to ten.

But what about writing greater numbers - numbers greater than 10, maybe 100 or even as high as 50 million? Unlike English numerals where each number after 10 is spelt different and doesn't borrow anything from 0 - 9, Japanese numbers greater than 10 all make use of the numbers 1 (ichi) to 10 (jyuu).

For example:

11 in English is "eleven" which is completely different from one - ten.

11 in Japanese, however, is "jyuu ichi", (meaning 10 1), which DOES make use of the previous learned 1 - 10.

Similarly, 19 is "jyuu kyuu" in Japanese. What what about 20?

20 becomes "ni jyuu".

Here's a formula for two-digit numbers: (Easier method at the end)

e.g: san jyuu yon (34) = 3(san) x 10(jyuu) + 4(yon)

Following this trend, the number 99 would be "kyuu jyuu kyuu"= 9 x 10 + 9 = 99. You can also think of "kyuu jyuu kyuu" as (9 10 9) and do the calculation directly in your head. It's primary school level stuff so you should be able to do this mentally.

Pretty darn easy right? Now this is just for two-digit numbers (11 - 99). But what about 100 and above?

Hundred is "hyaku" (百) in Japanese. "ni hyaku" is 200, "san hyaku" is 300, "yon hyaku" is 400 and "kyuu hyaku kyuu jyuu kyuu" is 999. Do you understand this?

Just "kyuu hyaku" alone would mean 900 (as 9 x 100). Now to add 99 to the obtained 900, we simply add the number for 99 IN FRONT of kyuu hyaku. 99 is "kyuu jyuu kyuu".
Hence, 999 is "kyuu hyaku kyuu jyuu kyuu." (900 + 99) Kanji: 九百九十九


Now try:

i.  560
ii.  32
iii.  998
iv.  750
v.  640

Moving on, let's do the numbers greater then 1000. The kanji for 1000 is 千 (sen). Therefore, the number 1000 is simply sen. 2000 is ni sen, 5000 is go sen, and 9000 is kyuu sen, but 10000 is NOT jyuu sen. That is simply incorrect. 10000 has a special name in Japanese unlike other languages. Ten-thousand (10000) is 万 (man).

Therefore, 10000 itself is ichi man (1 x 10000). Similarly, ni man is 20000, san man is 30000, yon man is 40000, go man is 50000, hachi man is 80000, 90000 is kyuu man. You can convert any number from Japanese to English and vice-versa at this website (don't cheat just yet!):
https://www.sljfaq.org/afaq/large-numbers.html

Now let's try two numbers:

i. 1586:

1586 = (1000 + 500 + 80 + 6) = sen go hyaku hachi jyuu roku

ii. 18637:

18637 = (10000 + 8000 + 600 + 30 + 7) = ichi man hachi sen roku hyaku san jyuu nana  [一万八千六百三十七]

Phew! That was lengthy but you get the idea.

Now please try 99999 and check your answer on the website I mentioned. First, express 99999 as:

(90000 + 9000 + 900 + 90 + 9; this is called 'decreasing significance form') and then fill in everything with the Japanese equivalent:

kyuu man kyuu sen kyuu hyaku kyuu jyuu kyuu. [九万九千九百九十九]

It was your homework, but I did it anyway! Hope you did understand everything, though. I tried my best to make this lesson as informative as possible while maintaining an easy-to-follow structure.

Below is a list of some large numbers (powers of 10):

You translate each of them, even oku (100 million) in the same way as we did 1000 (sen) and 10000 (man). You break the number down into its "decreasing signifance form" and convert it to Japanese afterwards.

Hope you learned something new and informative. Mata ashita!