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Japanese numbers 1 to 10 Kanji
Kanji in Japanese is very important. In many sentences, Kanji is used to represent numbers. Today, let's study numbers from 1 to 10 using Japanese Kanji.
How to say Japanese numbers 1 to 10 in kanji
Here are the Kanji characters from 1 to 10. We will also introduce how Japanese people count with their fingers.
1 「一」
2 「二」
3 「三」
4 「四」
5 「五」
6 「六」
7 「七」
8 「八」
9 「九」
10 「十」
How do we use numbers in Japanese Kanji?
Japanese used to write characters vertically. Nowadays they mostly write horizontally.
When writing vertically, it is very difficult to read Arabic numbers when they are written vertically. Therefore, Kanji numbers are used when writing vertically.
As for when to write vertically, most Japanese novels and other books are written vertically. Japanese envelopes and postcards also.
Also, Kanji numbers are often used for Japanese idioms. For example, there are so many idioms using numbers. For example:
| Idioms | Hiragana | Meanings |
|---|---|---|
| 一歩 | いっぽ | a step |
| 一見 | いっけん | a glimpse |
| 一石二鳥 | いっせきにちょう | Killing two birds with one stone |
| 一期一会 | いちごいちえ | once-in-a-lifetime encounter |
| 二重 | にじゅう | double |
| 二流 | にりゅう | second-rate |
| 三日坊主 | みっかぼうず | a person who gives up easily |
| 七転八起 | ななころびやおき | fall down seven times, get up eight |
| 四苦八苦 | しくはっく | suffering greatly |
| 十人十色 | じゅうにんといろ | to each their own |
Four-letter idioms are also known as "四字熟語(よじじゅくご)". A large meaning can be expressed in one idiom. Herein lies the beauty of the Japanese language. I think it is very interesting to learn both two-character and four-character idioms while studying kanji.