Japanese Numbers 1 to 100: How to Count, With Kanji
Japanese numbers 1 to 100 follow one simple pattern. Learn ten words, ichi (1) to jū (10), and the word hyaku (100), and you can build every number in between. Eleven is jūichi (ten one), twenty is nijū (two ten), and twenty one is nijūichi (two ten one). The only small puzzle is that 4, 7 and 9 each have two readings.
How do you count from 1 to 10 in Japanese?
Here are the numbers from 0 to 10, with the kanji, the hiragana and the romaji.
| Number | Kanji | Hiragana | Romaji |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 零 | れい / ゼロ | rei / zero |
| 1 | 一 | いち | ichi |
| 2 | 二 | に | ni |
| 3 | 三 | さん | san |
| 4 | 四 | よん / し | yon / shi |
| 5 | 五 | ご | go |
| 6 | 六 | ろく | roku |
| 7 | 七 | なな / しち | nana / shichi |
| 8 | 八 | はち | hachi |
| 9 | 九 | きゅう / く | kyū / ku |
| 10 | 十 | じゅう | jū |
For zero, you will hear both rei and zero. Zero, written in katakana as ゼロ, is very common in everyday speech, for example when reading out a phone number digit by digit.
Why do 4, 7 and 9 have two readings?
Shi, shichi and ku came from Chinese, along with ichi, ni and san. Yon and nana are older Japanese readings, and kyū is another reading of the same character as ku. Shi sounds the same as the word for death, and ku sounds like the word for suffering, so many speakers avoid them. Shichi is also easy to mix up with ichi and shi.
A simple guide for beginners:
- When you count aloud from one to ten, many people say ichi, ni, san, shi, go, roku, shichi, hachi, kyū, jū.
- In larger numbers, use yon, nana and kyū. Forty is yonjū, seventy is nanajū, and ninety is kyūjū.
- Some fixed words keep the other reading. April is 四月 (shigatsu) and September is 九月 (kugatsu), which our guide to months and dates in Japanese covers.
How do you make the numbers from 11 to 99?
Japanese builds numbers the way you would say them as a sum.
- 11 to 19: ten, then the number. 十一 (jūichi, 11), 十五 (jūgo, 15), 十九 (jūkyū, 19).
- Tens: the number, then ten. 二十 (nijū, 20), 三十 (sanjū, 30), 五十 (gojū, 50).
- Everything else: the tens, then the ones. 二十一 (nijūichi, 21), 四十四 (yonjūyon, 44), 九十九 (kyūjūkyū, 99).
| Number | Kanji | Romaji | Built from |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12 | 十二 | jūni | ten two |
| 17 | 十七 | jūnana | ten seven |
| 30 | 三十 | sanjū | three ten |
| 48 | 四十八 | yonjūhachi | four ten eight |
| 63 | 六十三 | rokujūsan | six ten three |
| 76 | 七十六 | nanajūroku | seven ten six |
| 85 | 八十五 | hachijūgo | eight ten five |
| 92 | 九十二 | kyūjūni | nine ten two |
Notice that ten on its own is jū, not ichijū. You never say one ten.
How do you say 100 in Japanese?
One hundred is 百 (hyaku). Like ten, it needs no one in front of it, so 100 is simply hyaku.
Kanji numbers appear on menus, price tags, calendars and signs, although Arabic numerals such as 25 are just as common in modern Japan. The number kanji are some of the first and simplest kanji learners meet. If you are wondering how many more there are, see how many kanji there are and how many you need.
One note: to count objects, such as two bottles or three sheets of paper, Japanese adds a counter word to the number. Counters are a separate topic, so start with plain numbers first.
Practise Japanese numbers with LanguaCards
Numbers stick when you hear them and say them often. In LanguaCards, Japanese words come as flashcards with audio in a female or male voice, grouped by JLPT level from N5 to N1. Romaji is shown under the Japanese, and you can switch it off once you feel ready. Reviews bring each number back before you would forget it, and you can make your own pack, for example the ten numbers you mix up most.
Free gives you full access for the first 24 hours, then a set number of cards a day. Pro gives unlimited learning and every pack, with a 7-day free trial on monthly and yearly plans. There are no ads.