Learn Japanese Numbers: Counting from 1-100

Japanese numbers are a foundational aspect to learn for anyone interested in the Japanese language. Whether your interest stems from the desire to travel (for which you’ll want to know some key Japanese words), to understand Japanese media, or to connect with a unique heritage, mastering these basics are a great first step.

The numbers 1 through 100 are relatively simple. Once you know the numbers from 1-10, it just takes a few simple rules to get you the numbers from 11-99. However, as with most languages, 100 will be different from how the other numbers are formed and how they sound. Have no fear, you’ll probably pick them up faster than you think!

Japanese numbers 1-10

The numbers 1-10 are the building blocks of all numbers in Japanese. They are also a good sampler of the relative simplicity of Japanese sounds. When learning words in any language, it’s important to learn proper pronunciation and TruAccent is the ideal way to improve your accent. Otherwise you may have to work extra hard to break bad habits.

With Japanese pronunciation, vowels are especially important to say accurately. Keep this in mind as you go through the numbers.

Within the basic Japanese numbers, there are a few that have multiple possible pronunciations. 4 is sometimes shi, 7 is sometimes shichi, and 9 is sometimes ku. These are used depending on context. For example, when saying the day or month (where January is translated as “month number one”), the alternative sounds are used. 

Tips for remembering numbers 1-10 in Japanese:

Memorizing new words without context tends to be a challenge for most language learners. While it’s important to repeat new words multiple times and try to use them frequently, you can make studying easier on yourself by using memory aids. Here are our suggestions to remember numbers 1-10 in Japanese:

• Ichi (1) sounds very close to the English word “each.” Just make the initial “ee” sound stronger and add a short “ee” sound to the end of the word.
• Ni (2) is practically identical in pronunciation to “knee.” You can remember it with ichi by thinking of the phrase “each knee.”
• San (3) can be thought of as a combination of two heat-related words: “sun” and “sauna.” It’s a single syllable like “sun,” but has the middle vowel sound of “sauna.”
• Yon (4) can be remembered with the word “yawn,” but the vowel sound is “oh” rather than “ah.”
• Go (5) basically sounds like “go” just with a deeper “oh” sound.
• Roku (6) is similar to “rock.” Just be careful that the vowel sound is an “oh” rather than “ah.”
• Nana (7) sounds like someone quickly refusing something. We can put it together with the preceding numbers to make a short dialogue where someone encourages their reluctant friend: “Yawn.” “Go rock!” “Nah nah.”
• Hachi (8) almost matches the phrase “Ha! Cheap!” but without the final consonant.
• Kyuu (9) sounds just like the letter “q.”
• Juu (10) conveniently rhymes with the preceding number. “J” and “k” are also next to each other in the alphabet though it’s reversed for these words. 

Japanese numbers 11-19

For the numbers 11-19, all you need to do is say the number for 10 (juu), then say the number that would add up to the final number you need. It can help to think of this in a mathematical formula. For example, to make 11 we start with 10 then add 1.

• 10 + 1 = 11
• juu + ichi ➞ juu ichi = 11

This formula easily applies to the rest of the numbers in this range of 11-19.

Japanese numbers 20-99

Just as the numbers 11-19 follow a formula, so do the rest of the numbers in Japanese that go from 20-99. Instead of addition, this range of numbers uses multiplication that you can see with the number 20:

• 2 x 10 (or two tens) = 20 
• ni x juu ➞ ni juu = 20

With this formula, just make sure your smaller number comes first, otherwise you’ll have created a different number like juu ni, which means 12 instead of 20. This pattern means that 30 is san juu, 40 is yon juu, 50 is go juu, and so on.

To create other numbers, such as 21, 46, etc., you combine the two formulas:

• 2 x 10 + 1 = 21 
• ni x juu + ichi ➞ ni juu ichi = 21
• 4 x 10 + 6 = 46 
• yon x juu + roku ➞ yon juu roku = 46

If you’d like to quiz yourself on whether you understand the rules so far, try saying these numbers in Japanese after trying to make the words on your own.

100 in Japanese (and beyond)

Now that you know most of the numbers, your last task is to learn the number 100 in Japanese. It’s a unique word: hyaku (百), pronounced “hyah-koo.” If you’re curious, the previous rules also apply to numbers over 100. Here are two examples.

• 125 = hyaku ni juu go 
• 936 = kyuu hyaku san juu roku

There are a few numbers where the pronunciation