Numbers in the Japanese language

Have you studied Hiragana and Katakana in Japanese? Let's study how to say numbers in Japanese together. You'll be able to say your age and today's date after reading this article.

How to say numbers in Japanese

The Japanese alphabet includes Hiragana, Katakana, and Kanji. Let's first learn how to use them differently for numbers.

Hiragana, Katakana

This is a way of saying numbers using Hiragana and Katakana. They are used to learn how to read numbers in Japanese.

Here is how to say numbers from 0 to 10.

How should we use Hiragana and Katakana for numbers?

Hiragana and katakana are emphatic ways of saying words that include numbers.

Katakana tends to be used more often than Hiragana. For example, signs often say “No.1 product!” may be written as “イチバンの商品!/ichiban no shouhin/". This "イチバン" emphasizes “No. 1.

Hiragana indicates the reading of the numbers. Just as we use Hiragana to read Kanji when learning Japanese, we use Hiragana to read numbers.

Kanji

Numbers are represented by kanji characters too. Here are the numbers in Kanji, from 0 to 10.

How should we use Kanji for numbers?

Why do Kanji numbers exist when numbers can be represented by characters such as 0, 1, 2, 3?

It is because of the way Japanese writing system. Japanese sentences are written vertically in books or addresses on envelopes. When Arabic numbers are written vertically, they are very difficult to read, but if you use Japanese Kanji numbers, you will find that they are easier to read.

Kanji is also used for addresses on phone numbers.

In contrast, Arabic numbers are often used for documents written horizontally.

However, idioms using Kanji numbers, e.g. “一番 /ichi ban/ No. 1”, “一塁 /ich irui/ first base”, or “一期一会 /ichi go ichi e/ once-in-a-lifetime meeting”, should be written in Kanji instead of using Arabic numbers.

Must know numbers with counters

There is a word called "counter" which is used to count things in Japanese.

For example, an apple is written as "1 apple" in English, but we rarely use only “1” to indicate the number of something in Japanese such as “one apple”.

There are about 500 such counters. That's too many, however, Japanese people cannot say all of them. That's like Japanese people don't know all of Kanji. Japanese learners should aim to learn 10 of them first.

We will show you how to say “counter” for date, for age, and for small things here.

Examples 1. Nichi for Days & gatsu for Months

First, let's say in Japanese what day it is today.

Days

Kanji numbers are used for vertical writing, and Arabic numbers are used for horizontal writing.

Months

Examples 2. Sai for ages

When we say our age, we use “歳/sai/years old” after the number. There is a simple Kanji for “才/sai/years old”, but for those of you who are learning Japanese now, remember it as “歳” because "才" is easier to learn for elementary school students in Japan before they learn ‘歳’.

Examples 3. Ko & Tsu for small things

The “個 /ko/” and “つ /tsu/” are very similar. Both can be used to count small things.

Actually, “つ” is the more useful counter of the two. If you cannot remember many counters, you can still use “つ” to communicate. It is such a convenient word. Tsu” is used both conceptually and generically.

The “個 /ko/” is often used to count more material things. For example, an apple for food, an eraser for something on your desk, or a rock outside.

Let's learn how to read it.

Ko

Tsu

Japanese people don't say 10(too) anymore. つ is for 1 to 9.