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Japanese counter word

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In Japanese, counter words or counters (josūshi 助数
詞) are used along with numbers to count things,
actions, and events.
In Japanese, as in Chinese and Korean, numerals
cannot quantify nouns by themselves (except, in certain
cases, for the numbers from one to ten; see below). For
example, to express the idea "two dogs" in Japanese
one must say ni hiki no inu (二匹の犬, literally "two
small-animal dog"). Here inu 犬 means "dog", ni 二 is
the number 2, and hiki 匹 is the counter for small
animals. These counters are not independent words
and always appear with a number before them.
Counters are similar in function to the word "pieces" in
"two pieces of paper" and "cup" in "two cups of coffee".
They differ, however, in that they cannot take non-
numerical modifiers. So where "two pieces of paper"
translates fairly directly as "paper two-flat-pieces", the
phrase "two white pieces of paper" requires the
addition of another noun to accept the modifier: "paper
white sheet[s] two-flat-pieces."
In Japanese, virtually all nouns must use a counter to
express number. In this sense, virtually all Japanese
nouns are mass nouns. This grammatical feature can
result in situations where one is unable to express the
number of a particular object in a syntactically correct
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way because one does not know, or cannot remember,

the appropriate counting word. With quantities from one
to ten, this problem can often be sidestepped by using
the traditional numbers (see below), which can quantify
many nouns without help. For example, "four apples"
is ringo yonko (りんご四個) where ko (個) is the
counter), but can also be expressed, using the
traditional numeral four, as ringo yottsu (りんご四つ).
These traditional numerals cannot be used to count all
nouns, however; some, including nouns for people and
animals, require a proper counter.
Counters may be intentionally misused for humorous,
sarcastic, or insulting effects. For example, one might
say 男一匹なのに (Otoko ippiki nano ni; "I am only one
man..."). Using hiki (匹), the counter for small animals,
humorously suggests that the person is overpowered
by massive obstacles.
Some of the more common counters may substitute for
less common ones. For example, 匹 hiki (see below) is
often used for all animals, regardless of size. However,
many speakers will prefer to use the traditionally
correct counter, 頭 tō, when speaking of larger animals
such as horses.
Just as in English, different counters can be used to
convey different types of quantity. In English, one can
say one loaf of bread or one slice of bread. In
Japanese, the equivalents would be パン一斤 pan
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ikkin ("bread one-loaf") and パン一枚 pan

ichimai ("bread one-flat-piece").

Table of the traditional numerals

Numera Japanes Pronunciation Pronunciation
l e (romaji) (hiragana)

1 一つ hitotsu ひとつ

2 二つ futatsu ふたつ

3 三つ mittsu みっつ

4 四つ yottsu よっつ

5 五つ itsutsu いつつ

6 六つ muttsu むっつ

7 七つ nanatsu ななつ

8 八つ yattsu やっつ
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9 九つ kokonotsu ここのつ

10 十 tō とお

20 二十 hatachi はたち

Common counters by category

This is a selective list of some of the
more commonly used counting
words. See below for the full list.
Pronuncia Japane
Use
tion se

People and Things

Copies of a magazine or newspaper, or

bu 部
other packets of papers

Cars, bicycles, machines, mechanical

dai 台
devices, household appliances
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Cups and glasses of drink,

hai 杯 spoonfuls, cuttlefish, octopuses, crabs, s
quid, abalone, boats (slang)

hiki, piki,  Small animals, insects, fish, reptiles,

匹
biki amphibians, oni (demons/ogres)

Long, thin objects: rivers, roads, train

tracks, ties, pencils, bottles, guitars; also,
metaphorically, telephone calls, train or
hon, pon, 
本 bus routes, movies (see also: tsūwa),
bon
points or bounds in sports events.
Although 本 also means "book", the
counter for books is satsu.

kai 階 Number of floors, stories

個, 箇,  General measure word, used when

ko 个, there is no specific counter. 個 is also
or ヶ used for military units.

mai 枚 Thin, flat objects: sheets of paper,

photographs, plates, articles of clothing
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(see also: chaku)

mei 名 People (polite) (名 means "name")

Mirrors, boards for board games (chess,

men 面 Igo, Shogi), stages of computer games,
walls of a room, tennis courts

People (but see table of exceptions

nin 人
below)

り People, used in the words 一人 (ひと

ri
or 人 り) and 二人 (ふたり)

歳 (or  Years of age (才 is used informally as a

sai
才) shorthand)

satsu 冊 Books

General-purpose counter, used as part

of the indigenous Japanese numbers 一
tsu つ
つ ("one thing"), 二つ ("two things"), 三
つ ("three things"), etc.
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wa 話 Stories, episodes of TV series, etc.

Time, Calendar, etc.

byō 秒 Seconds

fun, pun 分 Minutes

gatsu, Months of the year. Month-long periods

月
alsotsuki when read tsuki (see also: kagetsu)

haku 泊 Nights of a stay

ji 時 Hours of the day

jikan 時間 Hour-long periods

ka 日 Day of the month

kagetsu ヶ月, Month-long periods (see also: gatsu). 箇

箇月 is normally abbreviated using a
small katakana ヶ in modern Japanese.
Alternatively 個, hiragana か, small
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katakana ヵ and full-size katakana カ &

ケ can also be seen, although only か is
similarly frequent.

Years, school years (grades); not years of

nen 年
age

Days of the month (but see table of

nichi 日
exceptions below)

shū 週 Weeks

Extent, Frequency, etc.

bai 倍 Multiples, -fold as in "twofold"

ban 番 Position, turn, sports matches

do, Occurrences, number of times, degrees

度
also tabi of temperature or angle (see also: kai).

jō 畳 Tatami mats. The kanji 畳 is also

read tatami and is the same one used
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for the mats. The room size of

a washitsu in Japan is given as a number
of mats, for example 4½jō

Occurrences, number of times (see

kai 回
also: do)

Full list of counters

This list also includes some counters
and usages that are rarely used or
not widely known.
Pronuncia Japanes
Use
tion e

ba 場 Scene of a play

bai 倍 Multiples, -fold as in "twofold"

ban 晩 Nights (see also: ya)

ban 番 Position, turn, sports matches

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Small fish and shrimps (used in the fish

bi 尾
trade; most people say hiki instead)

Copies of a magazine or newspaper, or

bu 部
other packets of papers

bun 文 Sentences

byō 秒 Seconds

byōshi 拍子 Musical beats

chaku 着 Suits of clothing (see also: mai)

Guns, sticks of
chō 挺
ink, palanquins, rickshaws, violins

Tools, scissors, saws, trousers, pistols,

chō 丁
cakes of tofu, town blocks

chō 町 Town blocks

dai 代 Generations, historical periods, reigns

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Cars, bicycles, machines, mechanical

dai 台
devices, household appliances

dan 段 levels, ranks, steps (of stairs).

danraku 段落 Paragraphs

do, Occurrences, number of times, degrees

度
also tabi of temperature or angle (see also: kai).

Sequences of letters or drawings that

you write or draw without removing
fude 筆
your pen off the paper. Not to be
confused with "hitsu"(筆) below.

Bowls of matcha (powdered green tea);

fuku, puk packets or doses of powdered medicine;
服
u puffs (of, e.g., a cigarette); rests or
breaks

fuku, puk
幅 Hanging scrolls (kakejiku)
u
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fun, pun 分 Minutes

furi 振 Swords

gakkyū 学級 Classes (in pre-university education)

gatsu, Months of the year. Month-long periods

月
alsotsuki when read tsuki (see also: kagetsu)

go 語 Words

gon,
言 Words
also koto

gu 具 Suits of armour, sets of furniture

gyō 行 Lines of text

haku 泊 Nights of a stay

Cups and glasses of drink,

hai, pai, b
杯 spoonfuls, cuttlefish, octopuses, crabs, s
ai
quid, abalone, boats (slang)
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hai 敗 Losses (sports bouts)

hako 箱 Boxes

hari 張 Umbrellas, parasols, tents

hashira 柱 Gods, memorial tablets

hatsu, pat Gunshots, bullets, aerial fireworks;

発
su orgasms, sex acts

Small animals, insects, fish, reptiles,

hiki, piki 匹
amphibians, oni (ogres)

hin, pin 品 Parts of a meal, courses (see also: shina)

hitsu, pits
筆 Pieces of land
u

ho, po 歩 Number of (foot)steps

hon, pon,  本 Long, thin objects: rivers,

bon roads, train tracks, ties, pencils, bottles, 
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guitars; also, metaphorically, telephone

calls, train or bus routes, movies (see
also: tsūwa), points or bounds[clarification
needed]
 in sports events. Although 本 also
means "book", the counter for books
is satsu.

hyō 票 Votes

ji 字 Letters, kanji, kana

Children. As in 'father of two (children)',

ji 児
etc.

ji 時 Hours of the day

jikan 時間 Hour-long periods

Tatami mats. The kanji 畳 is also

read tatami and is the same one used
jō 畳 for the mats. The room size of
a washitsu in Japan is given as a number
of mats, for example 4½yo jō han
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jō 錠 Pills/capsules

ka 日 Day of the month

ka 架 Frames

ka 課 Lessons

kabu 株 Stocks; nursery trees

Month-long periods (see also: gatsu). 箇

is normally abbreviated using a
small katakana ヶ in modern Japanese.
ヶ月,
kagetsu Alternatively 個, hiragana か, small
箇月
katakana ヵ and full-size katakana カ &
ケ can also be seen, although only か is
similarly frequent.

Occurrences, number of times (see

kai 回
also: do)

kai 階 Number of floors, stories

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ヶ国,
kakoku Countries
箇国

ヶ国語,
kakokugo (National) languages
箇国語

kaku 画 Strokes in kanji

kan 貫 Pieces of nigiri-zushi

kan 艦 Warships

ken 件 Abstract matters and cases

ken 軒 Houses

ki 機 Aircraft, machines

Graves, wreaths, CPUs, reactors, elevato
ki 基
rs, dams

kire 切れ Slices (of bread, cake, sashimi etc.)

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個, 箇,  General measure word, used when

ko 个, there is no specific counter. 個 is also
or ヶ used for military units.

ko 戸 Houses (戸 means "door")

kō 校 Schools

kō 稿 Drafts of a manuscript

kō 行 Banks

齣, コ Frames, panels. 齣 is virtually unused

koma
マ nowadays.

ku 区 Sections, city districts

ku 句 Haiku, senryū

(Bank) accounts, donations (口 means

kuchi 口
"opening" or "entrance")

kumi 組 Groups, a pair of people (twins, a

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husband and a wife, dancers, etc.)

kurasu クラス School classes

kyaku 脚 Desks, chairs, long-stemmed glasses

kyaku 客 Pairs of cup and saucer

kyoku 曲 Pieces of music

Board game matches
kyoku 局 (chess, Igo, Shogi, Mahjong); radio
stations, television stations

Thin, flat objects, sheets of paper,

mai 枚 photographs, plates, articles of clothing
(see also: chaku)

maki or k
巻 Rolls, scrolls, kan for volumes of book
an

maku 幕 Theatrical acts

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mei 名 People (polite) (名 means "name")

Mirrors, boards for board games (chess,

men 面 Igo, Shogi), stages of computer games,
walls of a room, tennis courts,

mon 門 Cannons

mon 問 Questions

Years, school years (grades); not years

nen 年
of age

Days of the month (but see table of

nichi 日
exceptions below)

People (but see table of exceptions

nin 人
below)

Food portions (without exceptions,

ninmae 人前
unlike nin above)

ori 折 Boxes made of folded paper (compare

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to hako above, which refers to boxes in

general)

ページ, 
pēji Pages
頁

rei 例 Cases, Examples

rei 礼 Bows during worship at a shrine

People, used in the words 一人 (ひと

ri り or 人
り) and 二人 (ふたり).

rin 輪 Wheels, Flowers

ryō 両 Railway cars

才 or 
sai Years of age
歳

sao 棹 Chests of drawers, flags

satsu 冊 Books
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seki 席 Seats, Rakugo shows, (drinking) parties

seki 隻 Ships

shina 品 Parts of a meal, courses (see also: hin)

sha 社 used for businesses, i.e. 会社

Sets of things, such as documents or

shiki 式
furniture

shō 勝 Wins (sports bouts)

shu 首 Tanka

shū 週 Weeks

shurui or s 種類 or 
Kinds, species
hu 種

Pairs of footwear, pairs of socks,

soku 足
stockings, tabi
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bundles (of banknotes), bunches (of

taba 束
flowers, vegetables), sheaves

tai 体 Images, statues, person's remains, dolls

tawara 俵 Bags of rice

teki 滴 Drops of liquid

ten 点 Points, dots, pieces of a set

Large animals, cattle, elephants (頭

tō 頭
means "head")

Time periods, a sixth of either day or

toki 時 night (in the traditional, obsolete way of
telling time). See also: jikan

tōri 通り Combinations, puzzle solutions

Used as part of the indigenous Japanese

tsu つ
numbers 一つ, 二つ, 三つ etc.
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tsū 通 Letters

Commonly used unit of area equal to

tsubo 坪
3.3 square metres.

tsūwa 通話 Telephone calls (see also: hon)

Birds, rabbits* (see note); 羽 means

wa 羽
"feather" or "wing."

wa 把 Bundles

wa 話 Stories, episodes of TV series, etc.

ya 夜 Nights (see also: ban')

zen 膳 Pairs of chopsticks; bowls of rice

*Japanese Buddhist monks were not

allowed to eat any meat other than
birds, but liked rabbit meat so much
they came up with the contrived
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"explanation" that rabbits are actually

birds, and that their ears are
unusable wings. The rationale was
that while moving, rabbits only
touched the ground with two feet at a
time. Nowadays, hiki is the usual
counter for rabbits.
Euphonic changes
Systematic changes occur when
particular numbers precede counters
that begin with certain phonemes.
For example, ichi 一
+ k- = ikk-, roku 六 + h- = ropp-. The
details are listed in the table below.
These changes are followed fairly
consistently but exceptions and
variations between speakers do exist.
Where variations are common, more
than one alternative is listed.
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Jū is replaced by
either ju- or ji- (じゅっ/じっ) followed
by a doubled consonant before the
voiceless consonants as shown in
the table. Ji- is the older form, but it
has been replaced by ju- in the
speech of recent generations.
h- (は
s/sh- t/ch- ひ へ
k- (か
Numer (さ (た ほ p- (ぱ
きゃ f- (ふ) w- (わ)
al しゃ ちゃ ひゃ etc.)
etc.)
etc.) etc.) ひゅ
ひょ)

ipp-  ipp-  ipp- 

ikk- い iss- い itt- い
1 ichi いっ いっ いっ
っか っさ った
ぱ ぷ ぱ

sanb-  sanp- 
sanb- さ
3 san さん さん
んば
ば ぷ
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yonh-  yonf-  yow- よ

よん よん わ
は ふ
4 yon yonw- よ
yonp-  yonp-  んわ yo
よん よん nb- よん
ば ぷ ば

rokuw- 
rokk-  ropp-  ropp-  ropp- 
ろくわ
6 roku ろっ ろっ ろっ ろっ
か ぱ ぷ ぱ ropp- ろ
っぱ
happ- は
8 hach hakk-  hass-  hatt-  happ-  happ-  happ-  っぱ
はっ はっ はっ はっ はっ はっ
i hachiw- 
か さ た ぱ ぷ ぱ
はちわ
jikk-  jiss-  jipp-  jipp-  jipp- 
jitt- じ
じっ じっ じっ じっ じっ
った
か さ ぱ ぷ ぱ jipp- じ
10 jū
jutt-  っぱ
jukk-  juss-  じゅ jupp-  jupp-  jupp- 
じゅ じゅ った じゅ じゅ じゅ
っか っさ っぱ っぷ っぱ
hyakk hyapp hyapp hyapp
100 hy
- ひゃ - ひゃ - ひゃ - ひゃ
aku
っか っぱ っぷ っぱ
27 | P a g e

1000 s senb-  senp- 

せん せん
en
ば ぷ
manb manp
10000 
- まん - まん
man
ば ぷ
nanb-  nanp- 
何 nan なん なん
ば ぷ

Exceptions
The traditional numbers are used by
and for young children to give their
ages, instead of using the age
counter sai 歳 (or 才).
Some counters, notably nichi 日
and nin 人, use the traditional
numerals for some numbers as
shown in the table below. Other uses
of traditional numbers are usually
restricted to certain phrases, such
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as hitotsuki 一月 and futatsuki 二月
(one and two months
respectively), hitokoto 一言 (a single
word) and hitotabi 一度 (once).
Sometimes common numbers that
have a derived meaning are written
using different kanji. For
example, hitori (alone) is written 独り,
and futatabi (once more, another
time) is normally written 再び instead
of 二度. The counter for
months kagetsu (derived from kanji
箇月) is commonly written ヶ月.
Nana and shichi are alternatives for
7, yon and shi are alternatives for 4,
and kyū and ku are alternatives for 9.
Having said
that, nana, yon and kyū are more
commonly used. Some counters,
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however, notably nin 人
(people), gatsu 月 (month of the
year), ka/nichi 日 (day of the month,
days), ji 時 (time of day) and jikan 時
間 (hours) take certain alternatives
only. These are shown in the table
below.
While kai 回 (occurrences)
and sen 銭 (0.01 yen, now rarely
used) follow the euphonic changes
listed above, homophones kai 階
(storeys/floors) and sen 千 (1000) are
slightly different as shown below,
although these differences are not
followed by all speakers. Thus 三階
("third floor") can be read
either sankai or sangai, while 三回
("three times") can only be
read sankai.
30 | P a g e

Num nichi nin gatsu ji jikan kai hyak sen sai

eral 日 人 月 時 時間 階 u 百 千 歳

tsuita ichiga
1 hitori
chi* tsu

futsu futar nigats

2
ka i u

mikk sanni sanga san sanby san

3
a n tsu gai aku zen

yokk yonin shigat yojika

4 yoji
a *** su n

itsuk
5
a

muik roppy
6
a aku
31 | P a g e

nano shich shichi shic shichij

7
ka inin gatsu hiji ikan

happ has
8 yōka
yaku sen

koko kugats kujika

9 kuji
noka u n

10 tōka

jūyok jūyo jūyojik

14
ka nin an

hatsu hat
20
ka achi

nijūy nijūy nijūyo

24
okka onin jikan

nan  nan nan

**
何 gai zen
32 | P a g e

* But when counting number of days

rather than days of the
month, ichinichi is used. Ippi is also
heard.
** Both ikunin 幾人 and nannin 何人
are used to mean "how many
people".
*** In remote rural areas (e.g.
Northern Honshū and
Eastern Hokkaido) older speakers
might use yottari.[1]
Ordinal numbers
In general, the counter words
mentioned above are cardinal
numbers, in that they indicate
quantity. To transform a counter word
into an ordinal number that denotes
position in a sequence, me (目) is
added to the end of the counter. Thus
33 | P a g e

"one time" would be translated

as ikkai (一回), whereas "the first
time" would be translated
as ikkaime (一回目).
This rule is inconsistent, however, as
counters without the me suffix are
often used interchangeably with
cardinal and ordinal meanings. For
example, sankai (三階) can mean
both "three floors" and "third floor."
Periods of time
To express a period of time one may
add kan 間 to the following
words: byō 秒, fun 分, ji 時, nichi 日
(and its irregular readings aside
from tsuitachi), shū 週, kagetsu ヶ月
and nen 年. Usage varies depending
on the word, though. For example,
omitting kan in the case of jikan 時間
34 | P a g e

would be a grave mistake,

whereas shūkan and shū are both in
frequent use. In
addition, kagetsukan is rarely heard
due to essentially being superfluous,
the ka already functioning to express
the length.
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Japanese numerals
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The system of Japanese numerals is the system
of number names used in the Japanese language. The
Japanese numerals in writing are entirely based on
theChinese numerals and the grouping of large
numbers follow the Chinese tradition of grouping by
10,000. Two sets of pronunciations for the numerals
exist in Japanese: one is based on Sino-
Japanese (on'yomi) readings of the Chinese
characters and the other is based on the
Japanese kun'yomi readings.

Basic numbering in Japanese

There are two ways of writing the numbers in
Japanese, in Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3) or in Chinese
numerals (一, 二, 三). The Arabic numerals are more
often used in horizontal writing, and the Chinese
numerals are more common in vertical writing.
(Some numbers have multiple names.)
36 | P a g e

Preferr
Charact On
Number ed Kun reading
er reading
reading

0 零 / 〇* zero rei / れい zero / ぜろ

hito(tsu) / ひ
1一 ichi ichi / いち
と・つ

ni, ji / に, futa(tsu) / ふ
2二 ni
じ た・つ

mi(ttsu) /
3三 san san / さん
み・っつ

yon, yo(ttsu) /
4四 yon shi / し よん、よ・っ
つ

itsu(tsu) / い
5五 go go / ご
つ・つ

roku / ろ mu(ttsu) /
6六 roku
く む・っつ
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shichi / し nana(tsu) / な
7七 nana
ち な・つ

hachi / は ya(ttsu) /
8八 hachi
ち や・っつ

kyū, ku /
kokono(tsu) /
9九 kyū きゅう,
ここの・つ
く

jū / じゅ
10 十 jū tō / とお
う

ni-jū / に hata(chi) / は
20 二十 ni-jū
じゅう た・ち

san-jū /
30 三十 san-jū さんじゅ miso / みそ
う

hyaku / (momo / も
100 百 hyaku
ひゃく も)

1,000 千 sen sen / せん (chi / ち)

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man / ま (yorozu / よろ
10,000 万 man
ん ず)

oku / お
100,000,000 億 oku -
く

1,000,000,000, chō /
兆 chō -
000 ちょう

* The special reading maru (which means "round" or

"circle") is also found. It is used when reading individual
digits of a number one after another, instead of as a full
number. A popular example is the famous 109 store
in Shibuya, Tokyo which is read as ichi-maru-kyū. (It
can also be read as 'ten-nine' - pronounced tō-kyū -
which is a pun on the name of the Tokyu department
store which owns the building.) This usage of maru for
numerical 0 is similar to reading numeral 0 in English
as oh. It literally means a circle. However, as a number,
it is only written as 0 or rei (零?).
Starting at 万, numbers begin with 一 (ichi) if no digit
would otherwise precede. That is, 100 is just 百 hyaku,
and 1000 is just 千 sen, but 10,000 is 一万 ichiman, not
just *man.
The numbers 4 and 9 are considered unlucky in
Japanese: 4, pronounced shi, is a homophone
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for death (死?); 9, when pronounced ku, is a

homophone for suffering (苦?). See tetraphobia. The
number 13 is sometimes considered unlucky, though
this is a carryover from Western tradition.
In modern Japanese, the digits are given
the on readings except 4 and 7, which are
called yon and nana respectively. Alternate readings
are used in month names, day-of-month names, and
fixed phrases. For instance, the decimal fraction 4.79 is
always read yon-ten nana kyū, though April, July, and
September are called shi-gatsu (4th month), shichi-
gatsu (7th month), and ku-gatsu (9th month)
respectively. Intermediate numbers are made by
combining these elements:
 Tens from 20 to 90 are "(digit)-jū".
 Hundreds from 200 to 900 are "(digit)-hyaku".
 Thousands from 2000 to 9000 are "(digit)-sen".
 Additionally, the tens from 30 to 90 in kun reading
are formed by "(digit)-so", where the digit is also in
kun
reading: miso (30), yoso (40), iso (50), muso (60), na
naso (70), yaso (80), kokonoso (90). Variations
include i for 50 and the suffix -ji for 20 through 90.
However, for the most part, these are not in use in
modern Japanese.
There are some phonetic modifications to larger
numbers involving voicing or gemination of certain
consonants, as typically occurs in Japanese
40 | P a g e

(i.e. rendaku): e.g. roku "six" and hyaku "hundred"

yieldroppyaku "six hundred".
In large numbers, elements are combined from largest
to smallest, and zeros are implied.

Numbe
Character Reading
r

11 十一 jū ichi

17 十七 jū nana, jū shichi

151 百五十一 hyaku go-jū ichi

302 三百二 san-byaku ni*

469 四百六十九 yon-hyaku roku-jū kyū

2025 二千二十五 ni-sen ni-jū go

* Hyaku becomes byaku due to rendaku.
Powers of 10
Large numbers
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Following Chinese tradition, large numbers are created

by grouping digits in myriads (every 10,000) rather than
the Western thousands (1000):

5 105
10 6
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2  o 60
1064  1068 
Ran 1 4
 or 10  or
4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 r 72 or or
k 0 8 12 16 20 24 28 32 36 40 44 8 10 6
10
6
10 1080 1088
4

Cha � 不
� 恒 阿 那由
可 無量
ract 万億兆京垓 穣溝澗正載極 河 僧 他/那
, 思 大数
er 沙 祇 由多
秭 議

j
o g
mo c k gōg fuka mur
Rea k g , j k s s o as nayut
a k h a ash shig yōtai
ding ei ai s ō ō ei ai k ōgi a
n u ō n a i sū
h u
i

Variation is due to Jinkōki, Japan's oldest mathematics

text. The initial edition was published in 1627. It had
many errors. Most of these were fixed in the 1631
edition. In 1634 there was yet another edition which
42 | P a g e

again changed a few values. The above variation is

due to inconsistencies in the latter two editions.
Examples: (spacing by groups of four digits is given
only for clarity of explanation)
 1 0000 : 一万 (ichi-man)
 983 6703 : 九百八十三万 六千七百三 (kyū-hyaku
hachi-jū san man, roku-sen nana-hyaku san)
 20 3652 1801 : 二十億 三千六百五十二万 千八百一
(ni-jū oku, san-zen rop-pyaku go-jū ni-man, sen hap-
pyaku ichi)
However, numbers written in Arabic numerals are
separated by commas every three digits following
Western convention. If Arabic numbers and kanji are
used in combination, Western orders of magnitude may
be used for numbers smaller than 10,000 (e.g. 2,500 万
for 25,000,000).
In Japanese, when long numbers are written out in
kanji, zeros are omitted for all powers of ten. Hence
4002 is 四千二 (In contrast, Chinese requires the use of
零 wherever a zero appears, e.g. 四千零二 for 4002).
However, in reading, the letter zero is sometimes
pronounced as tobi (飛び) or tonde (飛んで) to indicate
the lack of numbers, e.g. yon-sen tobi ni or yon-
sen tonde ni can be used instead of the normal yon-
sen ni.
Decimal fractions
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Japanese has two systems of numerals for decimal

fractions. They are no longer in general use, but are
still used in some instances such as batting and fielding
averages of baseball players, winning percentages for
sports teams, and in some idiomatic phrases (such as
五分五分の勝負 "fifty-fifty chance"), and when
representing a rate or discount.
One system is as follows:

Rank 10−1 10−2 10−3 10−4 10−5 10−6 10−7 10−8 10−9 10−10

Characte
分 厘 毛 糸 忽 微 繊 沙 塵 埃
r

Reading bu rin mō shi kotsu bi sen sha jin ai

This is the system used with the traditional Japanese

units of measurement. Several of the names are used
"as is" to represent a fraction of a shaku.
The other system of representing these decimal
fractions of rate or discount uses a system "shifted
down" with a bu becoming a "one hundredth" and so
on, and the unit for "tenth" becoming wari:

Rank 10−1 10−2 10−3 10−4 10−5

Characte 割 分 厘 毛 糸
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Reading wari bu rin mō shi

This is often used with prices. For example:

 一割五分引き (ichi-wari go-bu biki): 15% discount
 打率三割八分九厘 (daritsu san-wari hachi-bu kyū-
rin): batting average .389
With the exception of wari, these are rarely seen in
modern usage. Decimal fractions are typically written
with either kanji numerals (vertically) or Arabic
numerals (horizontally), preceded by a decimal point,
and are read as successive digits, as in Western
convention. Note that, in written form, they can be
combined with either the traditional system of
expressing numerals (42.195 kilometers: 四十二・一九
五 キロメートル), in which powers of ten are written, or
with the place value system, which uses zero (50.04
percent: 五〇・〇四 パーセント.) In both cases,
however, the reading follows the traditional system
(yon-jū ni-ten ichi-kyū go kiromētoru for 42.195
kilometers; go ju-tten rei-yon pāsento for 50.04
percent.)
[edit]Formal numbers
As with Chinese numerals, there exists in Japanese a
separate set of kanji for numerals called daiji (大字)
45 | P a g e

used in legal and financial documents to prevent

unscrupulous individuals from adding a stroke or two,
turning a one into a two or a three. The formal numbers
are identical to the Chinese formal numbers except for
minor stroke variations. Today, only the formal
numbers for one, two, three, and ten are used in legal
documents.[1][2][3][4] They are the ones whose common
forms can be changed to a higher value by adding
strokes (1 and 2 were explained above, while 3 can be
changed to 5, and 10 to 1000). In some cases, the digit
1 is explicitly written like 壱百壱拾 for 110, as opposed
to 百十 in common writing.
Formal numbers:

Formal
Numbe
Common
r
In use Obsolete

1 一 壱 壹

2 二 弐 貳

3 三 参 參

4 四 四 肆
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5 五 五 伍

6 六 六 陸

7 七 七 柒, 漆

8 八 八 捌

9 九 九 玖

10 十 拾 拾

100 百 百 佰

1000 千 千 阡, 仟

万,
10000 万 萬
萬

The four current banknotes of the Japanese yen, 1000-

yen, 2000-yen, 5000-yen, and 10000-yen, have formal
numbers 千, 弐千, 五千, and 壱万 respectively.
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Old Japanese
Old Japanese shares some vocabulary with later
periods, but there are also some unique numbers which
are not used any more.
Notes:
 The transcription is based on the phoneme and is
not phonetic. See Old Japanese language for further
information.
 See Jōdai Tokushu Kanazukai for information on
subscript notation.

Number Reading Examples Notes

hi1to2hi1 (1 day),
1 hi1to2  
hi1to2to2se (1 year)

2 huta hutayo1 (2 nights)  

3 mi1 mi1so1 (30)  

yo2so1 (40), yo2tari (4
4 yo2  
people)

5 itu ituto2se (5 years)  

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6 mu mutuma (6 claws)  

Often used to
7 nana nanase (many rapids)
mean many.

Often used to
8 ya yakumo1 (many clouds)
mean many.

ko2ko2no2hashira (9
9 ko2ko2no2  
nobles / gods)

10 to2 / to2wo to2woka (10 days)  

Found only in
mi1so1 (30), yo2so1 (40), compound
10 so1
muso1 (60), yaso (80) words; not
used alone.

hatati (20), hatatari (20

20 hata people), hatato2se (20  
years)

50 i ika (50 days)  

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iho (500), ihoto2se (500 Used for

years), ihoyo2 (500 multiple
100 ho nights), yaho (800), hundreds.
mi1ho (300), muho Often used to
(600), ko2ko2no2ho (900) mean many.

Used for non-

multiple
100 mo1mo1 mo1mo1ka (many days) hundred.
Often used to
mean many.

tito2se (1000 years, Often used to

1000 ti
many years) mean many.