Numbers in Japanese from 1 to 1000

Counting in Japanese has proven to be a necessity when trying to learn Japanese quickly. Counting objects, paying for things, asking for the time, giving addresses, etc. Numbers and their usage is indispensable in daily life. Today, we’ll see how to count from 1 to 1000 in Japanese. We’ll also touch on the topic of “counter words” in Japanese.

Learn Japanese Numbers and Counter Words

Here you’ll find the numbers and their names in Japanese. First from 1 to 10, then counting by 10s, and finally counting by 100s. All the numbers will be presented in kanji, hiragana, and rōmaji.

We’ll also touch on Japanese counter words, which are suffixes that you add to count objects based on their form. You may be asking, why even have specific counters like this? It’s a “small” linguistic specification in Japanese that we can’t afford to ignore.

But don’t panic! We’ll only review essential counter words, the ones that are truly indispensable in Japanese life and day-to-day interactions.

Count from 1 to 10 in Japanese

Even if Japanese relies heavily on Arabic numerals for counting, it’s essential to learn the Sino-Japanese characters. For example, kanji is still widely used when transcribing numbers. Let’s look at the numbers 1 to 10 in kanji, hiragna, and rōmaji.

Look carefully, some numbers have two pronunciations. Those different pronunciations correspond with the difference between Sino-Japanese reading and pure Japanese reading. The numbers that can change here were 4, 7, and 9.

There is no rule about how to choose between these two pronunciations in order to speak properly. You’re free to choose one or the other as you review the numbers 1 to 10.

Once you’ve memorized these 10 numbers, counting in Japanese up to 1,000 is easy. Counting in Japanese follows a very straightforward logic.

Count by 10s in Japanese

Counting by 10s in Japanese is easy once you’ve learned the first 10 numbers. After 10, you count by doing addition. Here’s an example of how simple counting is:

20 is 二十 (にじゅう) ni jū
21 is 二十一 (にじゅういち) ni jūichi
and counting continues like this, all the way to 99.

Here are the details for counting by 10s in Japanese:

Count by 100s in Japanese

To count by 100s, you need to know how to say 100. In Japanese, 100 is 百 (ひゃく) hyaku. And just like with regular counting, you can just add the 1s and 10s as you read.

101 百一  (ひゃく いち) hyaku ichi
110 百十  (ひゃく じゅう ) hyaku jū
122 百二十二 (ひゃく に じゅう に) hyaku jyūni
178 百七十八 (ひゃく ななじゅう はち ) hyaku nana jyū hachi
199 百九十 九 (ひゃく きゅう じゅう きゅう ) hyaku kyū jū kyū

For the 100s, you’ll notice several irregularities in the pronunciation. This is due to a phenomena called Rendaku which is when you voice the initial consonant. This applies to hyaku as well, and we can see that consonant change for 300, 600, and 800:

300 三百 sanbyaku
600 六百 roppyaku
800 八百 happyaku

Last but not least, to say 1000 you say 千 (せん) sen. And with that, we’ve concluded our counting in Japanese for today.

Japanese Counting Words and Descriptions of Quantity

In Japanese, objects are categorized by their form or attributes when they’re counted (if an object is long, thin, small, flat, etc.). These categories are called “counters.”

Basically, these counters allow you to say “two cars,” “three books,” “five pens,” etc. We could say they’re like the equivalents of the words “piece” or “slice,” like “a piece of string” or “a slice of bread.”

Why is this important? Simply put, because we always need them to describe quantities. In English it’s fine to say “two cats” or “three cars,” but in Japanese you have to be precise: “two [units of] cats” or “three [units of] cars.”

Nouns have to be accompanied by a “counter” each time that we want to indicate their quantity. The important thing here is that every noun has a specific counter. They exist for everything in Japanese. But don’t worry because in modern Japanese, only a handful are used.

The Generic Counter つ（tsu) – for counting general objects in Japanese

つ (tsu) is a generic counter to indicate countable quantities. This counter can be used to indicate quantities from 1 to 10. For that reason, it’s very useful when you’re out buying things.

Example :

• トマトを三つください / tomato o mittsu kudasai / please give me 3 tomatoes

You’ll notice that the object is mentioned first, followed by the number, and then the counter. In fact, the counter always goes after the noun its describing.

As always, the particle depends on the structure of the sentence. Using a counter doesn’t change the structure of the sentence, it simply gives some information about the quantity.

The generic counter here is mostly used for small objects when there isn’t a more specific counter already assigned. This counter is important to know for when you don’t know which one to use. Another feature of this generic counter is that it can only be used to count from 1 to 10, and past that, you can no longer use it.

• ひとつ (hitotsu/one)
• ふたつ (futatsu/ two)
• みっつ (mittsu/ three)
• よっつ (yottsu/ four)
• いつつ (itsutsu/ five)
• むっつ (muttsu/ six)
• ななつ (nanatsu/ seven)
• やっつ (yattsu/ eight)
• ここのつ (kokonotsu/ nine)
• とお (tō/ ten)

The Small Counter 個 (ko) – for counting small objects in Japanese

Here is counter typically used to count small objects: 個 (ko). Whenever you can use hitotsu, futatsu, or mittsu, you can also use 個 (ko). This counter is used in the same way as the previous counter, except that 個 (ko) can be used to count higher than 10, since small objects can add up quickly.

Example :

• このレシピを作るには、卵が12個必要です / Kono reshipi o tsukuru niwa tamago jūni ko hitsuyō desu / To make this recipe, you will need 12 eggs

The People Counter にん (nin) – for counting people in Japanese

To count people in Japanese, you can use the counter にん (nin). All the numbers, except 1 and 2, will employ にん (nin) to count people.

To count one person, you say ひとり(hitori). And to count two people, you say ふたり(futari). Any number higher than that uses にん (nin).

• ゲスト五十人 / gesuto gojūnin/ fifty guests

Be careful with the number 4. Although 4 can either be pronounced as よん (yon) or し(shi), when using the people counter, “4 people” is simply pronounced よにん (yonin).

The Plate Counter 枚 (まい – mai) – for counting thin or flat objects in Japanese

You can use the Japanese counter 枚 (まい – mai) to count thin or flat objects. For example: pieces of paper, plates, clothes, stamps, etc.

• お皿3枚/ osara san mai/ three plates

The Bottle Counter 本 (ほん – hon) – for counting cylindrical objects in Japanese

You can use the 本 (ほん – hon) counter to count long or cylindrical objects like pens, bottles, umbrellas, pants, trees, etc.

Be careful! Most of the numbers can end with ほん (-hon) except the number 3, which ends with ぼん (-bon), and numbers 1, 6, 8, and 10, which end with ぽん (-pon). These changes are also due to the rules of Rengaku, which we mentioned earlier.

• ボトル６本 / botoru roppon/ six bottles

Counting in Japanese – Closing Thoughts

With these counters, you’ll be able to precisely speak about quantities. To start, focus on remembering these generic counters.

Remember syntax when using counters – the counter always goes after the noun its describing.

To perfect this lesson, head to the MosaLingua app to get the pronunciation for all of these Japanese words and to work on perfecting your accent.

For More Information

• Discover 8 Ways to Say Hello in Japanese
• How to Sound More Polite in Japanese
• Learn 10 Common Japanese Phrases to Know

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