By Tofugu.

com

COUNTING IN JAPANESE

That guy on the

right is
nabeatsu. Hes
a comedian who
just...counts. If
you havent
checked him out,
definitely look it
up on Youtube!

Why is it so difficult to count in Japanese?

one word: Counters

In English, counting is pretty
easy. We just say one dog, or
two bottles. In Japanese,
though, its a lot more difficult.
Sure, counting from one to ten is
pretty nice, but after that, you
have to learn the counters for all
sorts of things...from small
animals to flat things to people to
cars and machines. It can
definitely get confusing, but
hopefully this e-book will help
you! If you enjoyed this e-book,
and found it helpful, maybe you
would consider subscribing to our
RSS feed?

Enjoy Tofugu?
Get updates as soon as we update!
Subscribe to our RSS feed!
Or get updates via email!

WWW.TOFUGU.COM: How to count in Japanese

Basic Counting
1-10
Counting 1-10 all on its own is pretty basic. Its good to memorize these before you go
into learning the other counters, as youll notice a lot of similarities between 1-10 and all
the counters!

romaji

meaning

ichi

one

ni

two

san

three

shi/yon

four

go

five

roku

six

shichi/nana

seven

hachi

eight

ku/kyuu

nine

juu

ten

WWW.TOFUGU.COM: How to count in Japanese

Days of the month

1-31
The first ten days of the month are really strange, and require you to memorize them.
After that, its just the raw number (see above) plus nichi, except for a few exceptions.
14 is juu-yokka, 24 is nijuu-yokka, and 20 is hatsu-ka. Lets look at the first ten, for now
though:

romaji

meaning

tsuitachi

the 1st

futsuka

the 2nd

mikka

the 3rd

yokka

the 4th

itsuka

the 5th

muika

the 6th

nanoka

the 7th

youka

the 8th

kokonoka

the 9th

tooka

the 10th

juu-ichi-nichi

the 11th

WWW.TOFUGU.COM: How to count in Japanese

Hours / Time
1-10
Hours are pretty easy, you just add the number before ji, which means hour in
this context. There are a few exceptions, though, so take an extra hard look at 4, 7, and 9!

romaji

meaning

ichi-ji

1 oclock

ni-ji

2 oclock

san-ji

3 oclock

yo-ji

4 oclock

go-ji

5 oclock

roku-ji

6 oclock

shichi-ji

7 oclock

hachi-ji

8 oclock

ku-ji

9 oclock

juu-ji

10 oclock

WWW.TOFUGU.COM: How to count in Japanese

Minutes / Time
1-10
For minutes, the counter is a little more difficult than hours. If you learn the first ten,
you can use the same patterns to know how to say 11 (minutes) on. You just have to
memorize which ones end with pun, and which one end with bun. Get to it!

romaji

meaning

ippun

1 minute

nifun

2 minutes

sanpun

3 minutes

yonpun

4 minutes

gofun

5 minutes

roppun

6 minutes

nanafun

7 minutes

happun

8 minutes

kyuufun

9 minutes

juppun

10 minutes

WWW.TOFUGU.COM: How to count in Japanese

Age / Years old

1-10
Thank goodness, finally something straight forward. Theres only one exception here,
and thats 20. Itll be at the bottom of the list.

romaji

meaning

issai

1 year old

nisai

2 years old

sansai

3 years old

yonsai

4 years old

gosai

5 years old

rokusai

6 years old

nanasai

7 years old

hassai

8 years old

kyuusai

9 years old

juusai

10 years old

hatachi

20 years old

WWW.TOFUGU.COM: How to count in Japanese

People
1-10
If you want to count the amount of people, you would use this counter. How many
people are here? Oh, 3-nin! Check out the first two, they are especially strange.

romaji

meaning

hitori

1 person

futari

2 people

sannin

3 people

yonin

4 people

gonin

5 people

rokunin

6 people

shichinin

7 people

hachinin

8 people

kyuunin

9 people

juunin

10 people

WWW.TOFUGU.COM: How to count in Japanese

Long, Cylindrical Objects

1-10
Heres where counting in Japanese gets a little strange. By Long, Cylindrical
Objects, I mean things like trees, pens, bottles, chopsticks, lets, fingers, pencils, etc. Lets
take a look at how you count these things.

romaji

meaning

ippon

1 LCO

nihon

2 LCO

sanbon

3 LCO

yonhon

4 LCO

gohon

5 LCO

roppon

6 LCO

nanahon

7 LCO

happon

8 LCO

kyuuhon

9 LCO

juppon

10 LCO

WWW.TOFUGU.COM: How to count in Japanese

Flat, Thin Objects

1-10
Flat, Thin objects are things like plates, paper, stamps, cloth, boards, tickets, sheets,
shirts, etc.

romaji

meaning

ichimai

1 FTO

nimai

2 FTO

sanmai

3 FTO

yonmai

4 FTO

gomai

5 FTO

rokumai

6 FTO

nanamai

7 FTO

hachimai

8 FTO

kyuumai

9 FTO

juumai

10 FTO

WWW.TOFUGU.COM: How to count in Japanese

10

Bound Objects
1-10
Usually these will be things like books, magazines, etc. Im not sure if an e-book
would count though... hmmm.

romaji

meaning

issatsu

1 BO

nisatsu

2 BO

sansatsu

3 BO

yonsatsu

4 BO

gosatsu

5 BO

rokusatsu

6 BO

nanasatsu

7 BO

hassatsu

8 BO

kyuusatsu

9 BO

jussatsu

10 BO

WWW.TOFUGU.COM: How to count in Japanese

11

Small Animals
1-10
Did you know you have to use a special counter for counting small animals (though
birds have their own counter, which is wa). Big animals, on the other hand, are tou.
Small animals included in this list are insects, fish, cats, dogs, etc. So yes, a tofugu is a
hiki! One exception is rabbits, which get the bird counter...because of their ears.

romaji

meaning

ippiki

1 animals

nihiki

2 animals

sanbiki

3 animals

yonhiki

4 animals

gohiki

5 animals

roppiki

6 animals

nanahiki

7 animals

happiki

8 animals

kyuuhiki

9 animals

juppiki

10 animals

WWW.TOFUGU.COM: How to count in Japanese

12

Number of Times
1-10
How many times have you read this? How many times did you hit him? How many
times did you run around the track? All these questions and more are answered using this
counter. Another option is to use the counter do, but well be covering kai today.

romaji

meaning

ikkai

1 time

nikai

2 times

sankai

3 times

yonkai

4 times

gokai

5 times

rokkai

6 times

nanakai

7 times

hakkai

8 times

kyuukai

9 times

jukkai

10 times

WWW.TOFUGU.COM: How to count in Japanese

13

Small & Compact Objects

1-10
Often times, these small compact objects will be round. Besides that, its pretty hard to
put a finger on what these things are. Just think small and compact. Things like balls,
meatballs, rocks, etc.

romaji

meaning

ikko

1 SCO

niko

2 SCO

sanko

3 SCO

yonko

4 SCO

goko

5 SCO

rokko

6 SCO

nanako

7 SCO

hakko

8 SCO

kyuuko

9 SCO

jukko

10 SCO

WWW.TOFUGU.COM: How to count in Japanese

14

Things that dont have special counters

1-10

Even though it seems like theres counters for everything, thankfully there is a way to
count things that dont have counters (or things that have such rare and ridiculous
counters that Japanese people dont bother learning them).

romaji

meaning

hitotsu

futatsu

mittsu

yottsu

itsutsu

muttsu

nanatsu

yattsu

kokonotsu

10

too

10

WWW.TOFUGU.COM: How to count in Japanese

List of (somewhat) Ridiculous Counters

(this list comes from wikipedia, so be weary)

Theres so much more besides the ones I mentioned. Heres a list of ones you wont see as often
Pronunciation

Japanese

Use

ba

Scene of a play

bai

Multiples, -fold as in "twofold"

ban

Nights (see also: ya)

ban

Sports matches

bi

bu

Small fish and shrimps (used in the fish trade; most people say
hiki instead)
Copies of a magazine or newspaper, or other packets of papers

bun

Sentences

by

Seconds

byshi

Musical beats

chaku

Suits of clothing (see also: mai)

Guns, sticks of ink, palanquins, rickshaws, violins

ch

15

ch

Tools, scissors, saws, trousers, pistols, cakes of tofu, town blocks,

ch

Town blocks

dai

Generations, periods, reigns

dai

danraku

Cars, bicycles, machines, mechanical devices, household

appliances
Paragraphs

do, also tabi

fuku, puku

fuku, puku

Occurrences, number of times, degrees of temperature or

angle (see also: kai).
Bowls of matcha (powdered green tea); packets or doses of
powdered medicine
Hanging scrolls (kakejiku)

fun, pun

Minutes

furi

Swords

gakky

Classes (in pre-university education)

gatsu, also
tsuki
go

Months of the year. Month-long periods when read tsuki (see

also: kagetsu)
Words

gon, also koto

Words

gu

Suits of armour, sets of furniture

gy

Lines of text

ku

Haiku, senry

WWW.TOFUGU.COM: How to count in Japanese

16

Pronunciation

Japanese

Use

kuchi

(Bank) accounts, donations ( means "opening" or "entrance")

kumi

kurasu

Groups, a pair of people (twins, a husband and a wife, dancers,

etc.)
School classes

kyaku

Desks, chairs, long-stemmed glasses

kyaku

Pairs of cup and saucer

kyoku

Pieces of music

kyoku

mai

maki or kan

Board game matches (chess, Igo, Shogi, Mahjong); radio

stations, television stations
Thin, flat objects, sheets of paper, photographs, plates, articles
of clothing (see also: chaku)
Rolls, scrolls, kan for volumes of book

maku

Theatrical acts

mei

People (polite) ( means "name")

men

mon

Mirrors, boards for board games (chess, Igo, Shogi), stages of

computer games, walls of a room, tennis courts,
Cannons

mon

Questions

nen

Years, school years (grades); not years of age

nichi

Days of the month (but see table of exceptions below)

nin

People (but see table of exceptions below)

ninmae

Food portions (without exceptions, unlike nin above)

pji

Pages

rei

Bows during worship at a shrine

rin

Wheels, Flowers

ry

Railway cars

sai

or

Years of age

sao

Chests of drawers, flags

satsu

Books

seki

Seats, Rakugo shows, (drinking) parties

seki

Ships

shina

Parts of a meal, courses (see also: hin)

sha

used for businesses, i.e.

WWW.TOFUGU.COM: How to count in Japanese

17

Pronunciation

Japanese

Use

shiki

Sets of things, such as documents or furniture

sh

Wins (sports bouts)

shu

Tankas

sh

Weeks

shurui or shu

or

Kinds, species

soku

Pairs of footwear, pairs of socks, stockings, and tabis.

tai

Images, person's remains, dolls

tawara

Bags of rice

teki

Drops of liquid

ten

Points, dots

Large animals, cattle, elephants ( means "head")

tri

Combinations, puzzle solutions

ts

Letters

tswa

Telephone calls (see also: hon)

toki

tsubo

Time periods, a sixth of either day or night (in the traditional,

obsolete way of telling time). See also: jikan
Commonly used unit of area equal to 3.3 square metres.

wa

Birds, rabbits* (because of their ears); means "feather" or

wa

"wing".
Bundles

ya

Nights (see also: ban')

zen

Pairs of chopsticks; bowls of rice

WWW.TOFUGU.COM: How to count in Japanese

Want to know more about counters?

Hrmm, maybe?
There are more counters out there, as well as several great resources that can help you
with that. Heres a few places you can learn more about counters:
Tae Kims Guide to Japanese Counter Page
Abouts Counters Page
Wikipedias Japanese Counters Page

Want to get Tofugu Updates when

they Happen?
Hecks Yes.
You can get updates every time Tofugu puts up a post by subscribing to our RSS feed.
RSS is an amazing thing that sends updates from all the websites youve subscribed to.
My favorite feed reader is Google Reader. Here are a couple options for subscribing!
Subscribe via a Reader
Subscribe via Email (get email updates)
Thank You for Your Support!

18