Numbers 数字 (sūji)

How to describe Numbers in Japanese

0 - 10

日本語[Japanese] 読み[Reading] 数字[number]
0 (ゼロ/零) zero 0
1 (一) ichi 1
2 (二) ni 2
3 (三) san 3
4 (四) yon 4
5 (五) go 5
6 (六) roku 6
7 (七) nana 7
8 (八) hachi 8
9 (九) kyū 9
10 (十) 10

This is the standard way of reading the numbers 0 to 10.

Kanji 零 is rarely used. It is usually written in Arabic number or Katakana.

Arabic number is used more often than Kanji numbers.

11 - 100

日本語 [nihongo] 読み [yomi] 数字 [sūji]
11 (十一) jūichi 11
12 (十二) jūni 12
13 (十三) jūsan 13
14 (十四) jūyon 14
15 (十五) jūgo 15
16 (十六) jūroku 16
17 (十七) jūnana 17
18 (十八) jūhachi 18
19 (十九) jūkyū 19
20 (二十) nijū 20
30 (三十) sanjū 30
40 (四十) yonjū 40
50 (五十) gojū 50
60 (六十) rokujū 60
70 (七十) nanajū 70
80 (八十) hachijū 80
90 (九十) kyūjū 90
100 (百) hyaku 100

101 - 1,000

日本語 [にほんご] 読み [よみ] 数字 [すうじ]
101 (百一、一〇一) hyakuichi 101
200 (二百、二〇〇) nihyaku 200
300 (三百、三〇〇) sanbyaku 300
400 (四百、四〇〇) yonhyaku 400
500 (五百、五〇〇) gohyaku 500
600 (六百、六〇〇) roppyaku 600
700 (七百、七〇〇) nanahyaku 700
800 (八百、八〇〇) happyaku 800
900 (九百、九〇〇) kyūhyaku 900
1,000 (千、一〇〇〇) sen 1,000

Irregular readings are colored in red.

These changes happen because of the interaction between two syllables. It's better to just get used to it, rather than analyzing it.

To describe the price or the western calender year, units 十, 百, 千 are usually omitted. For example, 1980 is 一九八五, not 千九百八十五.

1,001 - 10,000

日本語 読み 数字
1,001 (千一、一〇〇一) senichi 1,001
2,000 (二千) nisen 2,000
3,000 (三千) sanzen 3,000
4,000 (四千) yonsen 4,000
5,000 (五千) gosen 5,000
6,000 (六千) rokusen 6,000
7,000 (七千) nanasen 7,000
8,000 (八千) hassen 8,000
9,000 (九千) kyūsen 9,000
10,000 (一万) ichiman 10,000

10,000 is [ichi man], not just [man].

More than 10,000

日本語 読み 数字
1万1,001 ichimanissenichi 11,001
2万 (二万) niman 20,000
10万 (十万) jūman 100,000
100万 (百万) hyakuman 1 million
1,000万 (一千万) issenman 10 million
1億 (一億) ichioku 100 million
10億 (十億) jūoku 1 billion
100億 (百億) hyakuoku 10 billion
1,000億 (一千億) issenoku 100 billion
1兆 (一兆) icchō 1 trillion
10兆 (十兆) jucchō 10 trillion

When 1,000 appears in the higher units, you read it [issen (ichi + sen)]. For example, 21,000 is [ni man issen], 10 million is [issen man].

100 million is [ichi oku], not just [oku].

1 trillion is [icchō (ichi + chō)], not just [chō].

Related Phrases

Rate

日本語 読み 英語
10% (10パーセント) juppāsento 10%
1割 (一割) ichi wari 1/10 (10%)
25% (25パーセント) nijūgo pāsento 25%
2割5分 (二割五分) ni wari go bu 2.5/10 (25%)
50%の増加 gojuppāsento no zōka 50% increase
5割の減少 go wari no genshō 50% decrease
人口の5% jinkō no go pāsento 5% of the population

As well as the percentage, the Japanese expression [wari] is also commonly used.

10% is read [juppāsento], not [jū pāsento].

Price

日本語 読み 英語
100円 (百円) hyaku en 100 yen
500円割引 gohyaku en waribiki 500 yen discount
20%引き nijuppāsento biki 20% off
半額 hangaku half price

Decimal Fraction

日本語 読み 英語
0.1 ten ichi 0.1
0.02 ten zeroni 0.02

0 before the decimal point is read [rei], 0 after the point can be either way, [rei] or [zero].

Decimal point is [ten].

Fractional Number

日本語 読み 英語
2/5 (5分の2) 5 bun no 2 2/5
3/7 (7分の3) 7 bun no 3 3/7

Mathematical Expression

日本語 読み 英語
+ (足す) tasu
- (引く) hiku
× (掛ける) kakeru ×
÷ (割る) waru ÷
= (は) wa
1 + 1 = 2 1 tasu 1 wa 2 1 + 1 = 2
5 - 2 = 3 5 hiku 2 wa 3 5 - 2 = 3
3 × 3 = 9 3 kakeru 3 wa 9 3 × 3 = 9
8 ÷ 2 = 4 8 waru 2 wa 4 8 ÷ 2 = 4

Printable List (PDF)

Item File Type File Size
List of Numbers PDF 83 KB

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