Would you like to learn how to read and write Japanese numbers naturally? This page is the best place to start. Japanese numbers are highly useful in everyday situations such as giving prices, telling time, saying dates, reading addresses, understanding quantities, and following directions.

This guide takes you step by step through the Japanese number system. You will begin with the most important numerals to memorize, then learn the basic rules from 1 to 1000, and finally see how larger numbers are formed and used in real life.

Before you begin, it helps to know how the page labels Japanese number forms. You will see both Romaji and Kanji throughout the charts and examples so you can connect pronunciation with the written form.

• Romaji shows how the Japanese number is pronounced using the Latin alphabet.
• Kanji shows how the same number is written in standard Japanese characters.

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Every Japanese Numeral You Need First

First, take a bird’s-eye view. These are the key numerals you should know by heart. Any other Japanese number is written as a combination of them.

Number	Kanji	Romaji	Number	Kanji	Romaji
0	零	zero / rei	21	二十一	ni juu ichi
1	一	ichi	30	三十	san juu
2	二	ni	40	四十	yon juu
3	三	san	50	五十	go juu
4	四	yon / shi	60	六十	roku juu
5	五	go	70	七十	nana juu
6	六	roku	80	八十	hachi juu
7	七	nana / shichi	90	九十	kyuu juu
8	八	hachi	100	百	hyaku
9	九	kyuu / ku	101	百一	hyaku ichi
10	十	juu	200	二百	ni hyaku
11	十一	juu ichi	300	三百	san byaku
12	十二	juu ni	400	四百	yon hyaku
13	十三	juu san	500	五百	go hyaku
14	十四	juu yon	600	六百	ro ppyaku
15	十五	juu go	700	七百	nana hyaku
16	十六	juu roku	800	八百	ha ppyaku
17	十七	juu nana	900	九百	kyuu hyaku
18	十八	juu hachi	1000	千	sen
19	十九	juu kyuu	10,000	一万	ichi man
20	二十	nijuu	100,000,000	一億	ichi oku

Once these forms become familiar, the rest of the Japanese number system becomes much easier to understand.

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The Rules: Japanese Numbers 1–1000

Main Numbers in Japanese: Units and Tens

Start by learning the units from 0 to 9 and the main ten, juu (十). These are the foundation of nearly everything else in Japanese numbers.

Units	Kanji	Romaji	Tens	Kanji	Romaji
0	零	zero / rei	10	十	juu
1	一	ichi	20	二十	nijuu
2	二	ni	30	三十	san juu
3	三	san	40	四十	yon juu
4	四	yon / shi	50	五十	go juu
5	五	go	60	六十	roku juu
6	六	roku	70	七十	nana juu
7	七	nana / shichi	80	八十	hachi juu
8	八	hachi	90	九十	kyuu juu
9	九	kyuu / ku

Once you know these, you can already form many more numbers. Japanese builds larger numbers in a very regular pattern.

Examples in Use

• hon ga hachi (八) satsu arimasu. — There are eight books.
• kippu wa yon juu (四十) en desu. — The ticket is forty yen.
• repooto wa kyuu juu (九十) peeji desu. — The report is ninety pages.

How Japanese Builds 11–99

Japanese forms numbers from 11 to 99 in a very regular way. Start with juu (十) for ten, then add the unit. Tens are formed by placing the unit before juu (十).

Number	Kanji	Romaji
11	十一	juu ichi
12	十二	juu ni
13	十三	juu san
14	十四	juu yon
15	十五	juu go
21	二十一	ni juu ichi
34	三十四	san juu yon
58	五十八	go juu hachi
99	九十九	kyuu juu kyuu

This is one of the reasons Japanese numbers feel manageable: the pattern stays consistent for most numbers in this range.

Quick pattern: [unit] + juu (十) + [unit]

Examples in Use

• kore wa ni juu ichi (二十一) en desu. — This is 21 yen.
• san juu yon (三十四) nin ga kimasu. — Thirty-four people are coming.
• eiga wa go juu hachi (五十八) fun desu. — The movie is fifty-eight minutes long.

Counting 100 to 1000

Once you can count from 1 to 99, moving into the hundreds is much more manageable. Japanese forms the hundreds with hyaku (百) and the thousands with sen (千).

Number	Kanji	Romaji
100	百	hyaku
200	二百	ni hyaku
300	三百	san byaku
400	四百	yon hyaku
500	五百	go hyaku
600	六百	ro ppyaku
700	七百	nana hyaku
800	八百	ha ppyaku
900	九百	kyuu hyaku
1000	千	sen

A few forms change pronunciation, so they are especially worth memorizing: san byaku (三百), ro ppyaku (六百), and ha ppyaku (八百).

Number	Kanji	Romaji
101	百一	hyaku ichi
125	百二十五	hyaku ni juu go
242	二百四十二	ni hyaku yon juu ni
518	五百十八	go hyaku juu hachi
999	九百九十九	kyuu hyaku kyuu juu kyuu

Examples in Use

• heya ni hyaku yon juu ni (二百四十二) wa nikai desu. — Room 242 is on the second floor.
• kono hon wa kyuu hyaku kyuu juu kyuu (九百九十九) peeji desu. — This book has 999 pages.
• go hyaku juu hachi (五百十八) nin ga kaijou ni imasu. — There are 518 people in the hall.

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Large Numbers in Japanese

Japanese uses a different grouping system from English once numbers become very large. Instead of focusing only on thousands and millions, Japanese uses man (万) for ten thousand and oku (億) for one hundred million.

Number	Kanji	Romaji
1,000	千	sen
10,000	一万	ichi man
20,000	二万	ni man
100,000	十万	juu man
1,000,000	百万	hyaku man
100,000,000	一億	ichi oku

This system is important because Japanese speakers naturally think in units of 10,000 for large numbers.

Number	Kanji	Romaji
1,225	千二百二十五	sen ni hyaku ni juu go
22,000	二万二千	ni man ni sen
305,400	三十万五千四百	san juu man go sen yon hyaku
2,300,000	二百三十万	ni hyaku san juu man

Examples in Use

• machi ni wa ni sen go hyaku (二千五百) nin no juumin ga imasu. — The town has 2,500 residents.
• ni man ni sen (二万二千) nin ga ibento ni kimashita. — 22,000 people came to the event.
• ni hyaku san juu man (二百三十万) nin ga bangumi o mimasu. — 2,300,000 people watch the program.

The Units “Man” and “Oku” Matter

In Japanese, large numbers are often easier to understand if you think in groups of man (万) (10,000) and oku (億) (100,000,000). This is one of the biggest differences between Japanese and English-style number systems.

• ichi man en (一万円) — 10,000 yen
• go juu man nin (五十万人) — 500,000 people
• ichi oku en (一億円) — 100,000,000 yen

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Useful Notes About Japanese Numbers

• Multiple readings exist: some numbers have more than one reading, such as yon / shi (四) for 4 and nana / shichi (七) for 7.
• Pronunciation changes matter: forms like san byaku (三百), ro ppyaku (六百), and ha ppyaku (八百) are especially worth memorizing.
• Large-number grouping is different: Japanese uses man (万) for 10,000 and oku (億) for 100,000,000.
• Counters are separate: many real-life Japanese counting situations also require counters, which are learned separately from the core number system.

Real-Life Japanese Number Examples

• kore wa juu kyuu en kyuu juu kyuu (十九円九十九) desu. — This costs 19.99 yen.
• watashi wa ni juu go sai (二十五歳) desu. — I am twenty-five years old.
• juusho wa yon juu hachi ban (四十八番) desu. — The address is number 48.
• kyou wa san gatsu juu ni nichi (三月十二日) desu. — Today is March 12.
• shichi ji san juu ppun (七時三十分) desu. — It is 7:30.

Continue Learning Japanese Numbers

Once you understand the main patterns, it becomes much easier to read, write, and recognize Japanese numbers in context. Use the chart pages, date lessons, time lessons, and quiz pages to keep strengthening your understanding.