These are your foundation. Master these ten numbers and you're ready to build any number.
1 一 いち ichi
2 二 に ni
3 三 さん san
4 四 よん yon
5 五 ご go
6 六 ろく roku
7 七 なな nana
8 八 はち hachi
9 九 きゅう kyuu
10 十 じゅう juu
1 Digits 1-10
2 Special Readings: 4, 7, 9
These numbers have alternate readings!
4 can be よん (yon) or し (shi)
7 can be なな (nana) or しち (shichi)
9 can be きゅう (kyuu) or く (ku)
The first reading is more common for counting. The alternate readings appear in specific contexts like telling time or counting objects.
3 Teens: 11-19
Pattern じゅう (juu) + digit
Simply add じゅう (ten) before any digit. Every number from 11-19 follows this exact pattern — no irregular readings to memorize here!
11 十一 じゅういち juu-ichi
14 十四 じゅうよん juu-yon
17 十七 じゅうなな juu-nana
4 Tens: 20-99
Pattern digit + じゅう (juu) + ones digit
Say the tens digit, then じゅう (ten), then the ones digit. For round numbers like 20 or 30, just stop after じゅう.
20 二十 にじゅう ni-juu
35 三十五 さんじゅうご san-juu-go
72 七十二 ななじゅうに nana-juu-ni
99 九十九 きゅうじゅうきゅう kyuu-juu-kyuu
5 Hundreds: 100-999
Pattern digit + ひゃく (hyaku)
100 is ひゃく. For 200+, say the digit first. But watch out for sound changes!
100 百 ひゃく hyaku
200 二百 にひゃく ni-hyaku
500 五百 ごひゃく go-hyaku
Irregular Hundreds
These three numbers have sound changes for easier pronunciation:
300 三百 さんびゃく san-byaku
600 六百 ろっぴゃく rop-pyaku
800 八百 はっぴゃく hap-pyaku
6 Thousands: 1,000-9,999
Pattern digit + せん (sen)
1000 is せん. For 2000+, say the digit first. Again, watch for irregular readings!
1000 千 せん sen
2000 二千 にせん ni-sen
5000 五千 ごせん go-sen
Irregular Thousands
These have sound changes:
3000 三千 さんぜん san-zen
8000 八千 はっせん has-sen
7 Ten Thousands & Beyond
New Unit 万 (まん / man) = 10,000
Japanese groups large numbers by ten thousands, not thousands. 万 (まん) is 10,000 and is the key to large numbers.
10000 万 いちまん ichi-man
50000 五万 ごまん go-man
100000 十万 じゅうまん juu-man
1000000 百万 ひゃくまん hyaku-man
Think of it this way: 100,000 is "10 ten-thousands" (じゅうまん), and 1,000,000 is "100 ten-thousands" (ひゃくまん).
Putting it all together: 1,234,567
123 × 万
(123 × 10,000 = 1,230,000)
百二十三万
hyaku-ni-juu-san-man
4 × 千
(4 × 1,000 = 4,000)
四千
yon-sen
5 × 百
(5 × 100 = 500)
五百
go-hyaku
67
(ones)
六十七
roku-juu-nana
= 1,234,567
百二十三万四千五百六十七
hyaku-ni-juu-san-man yon-sen go-hyaku roku-juu-nana