1-10 numbers in Japanese1-10 numbers in Japanese1-10 numbers in Japanese1-10 numbers in Japanese
How to speak Japanese

Numbers in Japanese

Japanese is one of the most difficult languages for English speakers to learn. It uses three separate alphabets and writing systems, complex differences between formal and informal language, and has almost the exact opposite sentence structure to English. Although this may be intimidating at first, slowly learning different parts of language can help break down the process and simplify your journey to fluency. A great place for many new Japanese speakers to start is learning all the numbers in Japanese, starting with Japanese numbers 1 to 10. To help you get started, we’ll cover all of the numbers 1 to 100 in Japanese, with a few tips for pronunciation and memorization along the way.

How to Say Numbers in Japanese

Since Japanese numbers are written using the Japanese alphabet, understanding their phonetics can be a little confusing for new learners. However, with some practice, you’ll quickly be able to recognize the numbers 1 – 100 in Japanese and even use them in conversations! The best way to get started is to practice your phonetics and make sure you understand the difference between hiragana, katakana, and kanji. You can review our guide on these three components of Japanese language in our article on what to know about the Japanese alphabet.

How to Write Numbers in Japanese

Luckily, once you’ve got the alphabet down, Japanese numbers become even more manageable. In this article, we’ll give examples of the numbers 1 – 100 in Japanese hiragana, katakana, and kanji. Japanese numbers can also be written in native Japanese words called yamato kotoba. Luckily, many Japanese speakers rely a lot on Arab numerals (1, 2, 3, etc.) when they’re writing out numbers, making it even easier for non-native speakers. For the sake of fluency and language learning, we’ll teach you all about the authentic Japanese numbers.

Numbers from 1 to 10 in Japanese

As with many languages, learning the numbers in Japanese from 1 to 10 is a great starting point. This will give you the foundation you need to continue learning 11 and beyond. Try to solidify these numbers before moving on, as it makes constructing the Japanese numbers 1 to 100 much easier.

English NumberJapanese Number in HiraganaJapanese Number in KatakanaJapanese Number in KanjiJapanese Number Phonetics
0れい、ぜろレイ、ゼロrei, zero
1いちイチichi
2ni
3さんサンsan
4し、よんシ、ヨンshi, yon
5go
6ろくロクroku
7しち、ななシチ、ナナshichi, nana
8はちハチhachi
9きゅう、くキュウ、クkyuu, ku
10じゅうジュウjuu

You might notice that there are a few Japanese numbers 1 – 10 that have multiple spellings—numbers 0, 4, 7, and 9. Either option is fairly interchangeable, however, there is some superstition surrounding the sounds shi, shichi, and ku, which respectively, can mean death, place of death, and agony. In reality, most people just use one or the other depending on how they’re using Japanese numbers in context! To practice between the two, download Tandem and match with a native speaker today.

Japanese Numbers 11 to 19

Once you have a stronger understanding of the Japanese numbers 1 – 10, moving on to 11 through 19 gets a little easier! All you need to do is write the Japanese number 10, plus the other number. For example, 15 would be written 10-5. You can see this written out in the table below.

English Number b>Japanese Number in Hiragana b>Japanese Number in Katakana b>Japanese Number in Kanji Japanese Number Phonetics

English NumberJapanese Number in HiraganaJapanese Number in KatakanaJapanese Number in KanjiJapanese Number Phonetics
10じゅうジュウjuu
11じゅういちジュウイチ十一juuichi
12じゅうにジュウニ十二juuni
13じゅうさんジュウサン十三juusan
14じゅうし、 じゅうよんジュウシ、 ジュウヨン 十四juushi, juuyon
15じゅうごジュウゴ十五juugo
16じゅうろくジュウロク十六juuroku
17じゅうしち、 じゅうななジュウシチ、 ジュウナナ十七juushichi, juunana
18じゅうはちジュウハチ十八juuhachi
19じゅうきゅう、 じゅうくジュウキュウ、 ジュウク十九juukyuu, juuku

Japanese Numbers: Understanding Multiples of 10

Once you reach 20, the numbers in Japanese follow a repetitive pattern. However, each multiple of ten will be the building block for your counting, so it’s good to familiarize yourself with them before moving on. You’ll find that multiples of ten combine the number + 10. So, for example, 20 is written as two-ten. You can see this in the table below.

English Number b>Japanese Number in Hiragana b>Japanese Number in Katakana b>Japanese Number in Kanji Japanese Number Phonetics

English NumberJapanese Number in HiraganaJapanese Number in KatakanaJapanese Number in KanjiJapanese Number Phonetics
10じゅうジュウjuu
20にじゅうニジュウ二十nijuu
30さんじゅうサンジュウ三十sanjuu
40よんじゅうヨンジュウ四十yonjuu
50ごじゅうゴジュウ 五十gojuu
60ろくじゅうロクジュウ六十rokujuu
70ななじゅうナナジュウ七十nanajuu
80はちじゅうハチジュウ八十hachijuu
90きゅうじゅうキュウジュウ九十kyuujuu

Japanese Numbers 20 to 100

Now that you know the basic numbers in Japanese from 1 to 10 and the rules for Japanese numbers in multiples of 10, you can easily learn how to say numbers in Japanese from 1 to 100. All it takes is a strong foundation and a little practice getting used to the structure. You can find all of the Japanese numbers 20 to 99 in the table below.

English NumberJapanese Number in HiraganaJapanese Number in KatakanaJapanese Number in KanjiJapanese Number Phonetics
20にじゅうニジュウ二十nijuu
21にじゅういちニジュウイチ二十一nijuuichi
22にじゅうにニジュウニ二十二nijuuni
23にじゅうさんニジュウサン二十三nijuusan
24にじゅうよんニジュウヨン二十四nijuuyon
25にじゅうごニジュウゴ二十五nijuugo
26にじゅうろくニジュウロク二十六nijuuroku
27にじゅうななニジュウナナ二十七nijuunana
28にじゅうはちニジュウハチ二十八nijuuhachi
29にじゅうきゅうニジュウキュウ二十九nijuukyuu
30さんじゅうサンジュウ三十sanjuu
31さんじゅういちサンジュウイチ三十一sanjuuichi
32さんじゅうにサンジュウニ三十二sanjuuni
33さんじゅうさんサンジュウサン三十三sanjuusan
34さんじゅうよんサンジュウヨン三十四sanjuuyon
35さんじゅうごサンジュウゴ三十五sanjuugo
36さんじゅうろくサンジュウロク三十六sanjuuroku
37さんじゅうななサンジュウナナ三十七sanjuunana
38さんじゅうはちサンジュウハチ三十八sanjuuhachi
39さんじゅうきゅうサンジュウキュウ三十九sanjuukyuu
40よんじゅうヨンジュウ四十yonjuu
41よんじゅういちヨンジュウイチ四十一yonjuuichi
42よんじゅうにヨンジュウニ四十二yonjuuni
43よんじゅうさんヨンジュウサン四十三yonjuusan
44よんじゅうよんヨンジュウヨン四十四yonjuuyon
45よんじゅうごヨンジュウゴ四十五yonjuugo
46よんじゅうろくヨンジュウロク四十六yonjuuroku
47よんじゅうななヨンジュウナナ四十七yonjuunana
48よんじゅうはちヨンジュウハチ四十八yonjuuhachi
49よんじゅうきゅうヨンジュウキュウ四十九yonjuukyuu
50ごじゅうゴジュウ五十gojuu
51ごじゅういちゴジュウイチ五十一gojuuichi
52ごじゅうにゴジュウニ五十二gojuuni
53ごじゅうさんゴジュウサン五十三gojuusan
54ごじゅうよんゴジュウヨン五十四gojuuyon
55ごじゅうごゴジュウゴ五十五gojuugo
56ごじゅうろくゴジュウロク五十六gojuuroku
57ごじゅうななゴジュウナナ五十七gojuunana
58ごじゅうはちゴジュウハチ五十八kgojuuhachi
59ごじゅうきゅうゴジュウキュウ五十九gojuukyuu
60ろくじゅうロクジュウ五十rokujuu
61ろくじゅういちロクジュウイチ五十一rokujuuichi
62ろくじゅうにロクジュウニ五十二rokujuuni
63ろくじゅうさんロクジュウサン五十三rokujuusan
64ろくじゅうよんロクジュウヨン五十四rokujuuyon
65ろくじゅうごロクジュウゴ五十五rokujuugo
66ろくじゅうろくロクジュウロク五十六rokujuuroku
67ろくじゅうななロクジュウナナ五十七rokujuunana
68ろくじゅうはちロクジュウハチ五十八rokujuuhachi
69ろくじゅうきゅうロクジュウキュウ五十九rokujuukyuu
70ななじゅうナナジュウ七十nanajuu
71ななじゅういちナナジュウイチ七十一nanajuuichi
72ななじゅうにナナジュウニ七十二nanajuuni
73ななじゅうさんナナジュウサン七十三nanajuusan
74ななじゅうよんナナジュウヨン七十四nanajuuyon
75ななじゅうごナナジュウゴ七十五nanajuugo
76ななじゅうろくナナジュウロク七十六nanajuuroku
77ななじゅうななナナジュウナナ七十七nanajuunana
78ななじゅうはちナナジュウハチ七十八nanajuuhachi
79ななじゅうきゅうナナジュウキュウ七十九nanajuukyuu
80はちじゅうハチジュウ八十hachijuu
81はちじゅういちハチジュウイチ八十一hachijuuichi
82はちじゅうにハチジュウニ八十二hachijuuni
83はちじゅうさんハチジュウサン八十三hachijuusan
84はちじゅうよんハチジュウヨン八十四hachijuuyon
85はちじゅうごハチジュウゴ八十五hachijuugo
86はちじゅうろくハチジュウロク八十六hachijuuroku
87はちじゅうななハチジュウナナ八十七hachijuunana
88はちじゅうはちハチジュウハチ八十八hachijuuhachi
89はちじゅうきゅうハチジュウキュウ八十九hachijuukyuu
90きゅうじゅうキュウジュウ九十kyuujuu
91きゅうじゅういちキュウジュウイチ九十一kyuujuuichi
92きゅうじゅうにキュウジュウニ九十二kyuujuuni
93きゅうじゅうさんキュウジュウサン九十三kyuujuusan
94きゅうじゅうよんキュウジュウヨン九十四kyuujuuyon
95きゅうじゅうごキュウジュウゴ九十五kyuujuugo
96きゅうじゅうろくキュウジュウロク九十六kyuujuuroku
97きゅうじゅうななキュウジュウナナ九十七kyuujuunana
98きゅうじゅうはちキュウジュウハチ九十八kyuujuuhachi
99きゅうじゅうきゅうキュウジュウキュウ九十九kyuu juu kyuu
100ひゃくヒャクhyaku

Once you reach the Japanese number 100, you can continue counting upwards using the same rules applied to the multiples of 10! For example, writing out 538 would be 5 + 100 + 30 + 9. In hiragana that would be ごひゃくさんじゅうきゅう. In katakana it would be ゴヒャクサンジュウキュウ. In kanji it would be 五百参拾九, all of which pronounced as gohyaku sanjuukyuu.

While the Japanese numbers can seem overwhelming and intense at first, once you understand their basic building blocks it all makes sense! To help you practice speaking like a native, download Tandem today. Tandem offers a unique language learning experience that will help you deepen your understanding and improve your Japanese numbers while learning to apply them in real conversations. All you need to do is download the app, sign up, and find a native speaker of your target language. Once you match, you’ll begin communicating through language exchange and one-on-one teaching. To join our worldwide community, sign up for Tandem today!

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