Basic Numbers

This lesson introduces the core number vocabulary you need to know. Once you've memorized these, you'll learn how to combine them to read any number in the next lesson.

Numbers 1-10

These are the foundation of all Japanese numbers. Memorize these first!

Number	Kanji	Hiragana	Romaji	English
1	一	いち	ichi	one
2	二	に	ni	two
3	三	さん	san	three
4	四	よん / し	yon / shi	four
5	五	ご	go	five
6	六	ろく	roku	six
7	七	なな / しち	nana / shichi	seven
8	八	はち	hachi	eight
9	九	きゅう / く	kyuu / ku	nine
10	十	じゅう	juu	ten

Why Two Readings?

Some numbers have alternative pronunciations:

4 (四): よん is preferred; し sounds like 死 (shi - death) 7 (七): なな is preferred; しち can be confused with し (4)
9 (九): きゅう is preferred; く sounds like 苦 (ku - suffering)

Which Reading to Use?

Generally use よん, なな, and きゅう unless you're in specific contexts like:

• Dates: 四月 is しがつ (April)
• Counting specific objects with traditional counters

Numbers 11-20

Once you know 1-10, Japanese numbers follow a simple pattern:

Number	Kanji	Hiragana	Romaji	Breakdown
11	十一	じゅういち	juuichi	十 + 一 (10 + 1)
12	十二	じゅうに	juuni	十 + 二 (10 + 2)
13	十三	じゅうさん	juusan	十 + 三 (10 + 3)
14	十四	じゅうよん	juuyon	十 + 四 (10 + 4)
15	十五	じゅうご	juugo	十 + 五 (10 + 5)
16	十六	じゅうろく	juuroku	十 + 六 (10 + 6)
17	十七	じゅうなな	juunana	十 + 七 (10 + 7)
18	十八	じゅうはち	juuhachi	十 + 八 (10 + 8)
19	十九	じゅうきゅう	juukyuu	十 + 九 (10 + 9)
20	二十	にじゅう	nijuu	二 + 十 (2 + 10)

Pattern: じゅう + [1-9] = 11-19

Place Value Units

These are the building blocks for larger numbers:

Unit	Kanji	Hiragana	Romaji	Value
Ten	十	じゅう	juu	10
Hundred	百	ひゃく	hyaku	100
Thousand	千	せん	sen	1,000
Ten Thousand	万	まん	man	10,000
Hundred Million	億	おく	oku	100,000,000
Trillion	兆	ちょう	chou	1,000,000,000,000

Japanese vs English Grouping

Japanese groups numbers by 4 digits instead of 3:

• English: 1,000,000 (million)
• Japanese: 100,0000 (百万 - hyakuman - "hundred ten-thousands")

Quick Examples

Here are some examples of how numbers combine:

• 23 = にじゅう さん (20 + 3)
• 99 = きゅうじゅう きゅう (90 + 9)
• 100 = ひゃく
• 1,000 = せん
• 10,000 = いちまん (1 × 万)

Vocabulary Summary

Kanji	Hiragana	Romaji	English	Type
一	いち	ichi	one	noun
二	に	ni	two	noun
三	さん	san	three	noun
四	よん/し	yon/shi	four	noun
五	ご	go	five	noun
六	ろく	roku	six	noun
七	なな/しち	nana/shichi	seven	noun
八	はち	hachi	eight	noun
九	きゅう/く	kyuu/ku	nine	noun
十	じゅう	juu	ten	noun
百	ひゃく	hyaku	hundred	noun
千	せん	sen	thousand	noun
万	まん	man	ten thousand	noun
億	おく	oku	hundred million	noun
兆	ちょう	chou	trillion	noun

Next Steps

Once you're comfortable with this lesson, check out:

Reading Numbers

Learn how to pronounce any number with sound changes and special cases

→