JLPT N5
Japanese Numbers in Kanji: 1 to 10, 100, 1,000 and 万
Kanji Guide ·
Short answer: the Japanese numbers 1 to 10 in kanji are 一 二 三 四 五 六 七 八 九 十. Add 百 (100), 千 (1,000) and 万 (10,000) and you can write almost any number: put the multiplier before the unit, so 二十 is 20, 三百 is 300 and 2,026 is 二千二十六. Above 10,000, Japanese counts in blocks of four digits with 万, 億 and 兆. In everyday horizontal writing, though, Japanese mostly uses 1, 2, 3, so knowing when kanji numbers appear matters as much as knowing the kanji.
Readings below follow the official jōyō kanji table (常用漢字表, 2010), and the rules for kanji versus Arabic numerals come from the government writing guide 公用文作成の考え方 (Council for Cultural Affairs, 2022, section I-4, PDF on bunka.go.jp).
Japanese numbers 1 to 10 in kanji
| Number | Kanji | Sino-Japanese reading | Native count (things) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 零 | れい (also ゼロ) | (none) |
| 1 | 一 | いち | ひとつ |
| 2 | 二 | に | ふたつ |
| 3 | 三 | さん | みっつ |
| 4 | 四 | し, よん | よっつ |
| 5 | 五 | ご | いつつ |
| 6 | 六 | ろく | むっつ |
| 7 | 七 | しち, なな | ななつ |
| 8 | 八 | はち | やっつ |
| 9 | 九 | きゅう, く | ここのつ |
| 10 | 十 | じゅう | とお |
The first three are simply one, two and three bars, which makes them the easiest kanji you will ever learn. Each kanji page has a picture story, example words and animated stroke order; for the rules behind the strokes, see the kanji stroke order guide.
Strictly speaking, よん (4) and なな (7) are native Japanese readings rather than Sino-Japanese ones, but the jōyō table lists both, and they are how most people say the bare numbers today. The native column (ひとつ, ふたつ…) is a separate counting system for things, explained below.
4, 7 and 9: which reading to use
These three numbers have two common readings each, and the choice depends on the word:
| Kanji | Reading | Typical words |
|---|---|---|
| 四 | よん | 四回 (よんかい, four times), 四階 (よんかい, 4th floor), 四十 (よんじゅう, 40) |
| 四 | よ | 四人 (よにん, four people), 四時 (よじ, 4 o’clock), 四日 (よっか, the 4th) |
| 四 | し | 四月 (しがつ, April), 四季 (しき, the four seasons) |
| 七 | なな | 七十 (ななじゅう, 70), 七つ (ななつ) |
| 七 | しち | 七時 (しちじ, 7 o’clock), 七月 (しちがつ, July), 七五三 (しちごさん) |
| 九 | きゅう | 九十 (きゅうじゅう, 90), 九百 (きゅうひゃく, 900) |
| 九 | く | 九時 (くじ, 9 o’clock), 九月 (くがつ, September) |
A practical rule: when you count or say a number on its own, よん, なな and きゅう are the safe choice. Months and o’clock times are the main places where し, しち and く stay, and those are words you learn once. The table’s examples for 四 include 四人 and 四日 (read よっか), and it lists よん with 四回 and 四階. Why one kanji has several readings at all is covered in onyomi vs kunyomi explained.
11 to 99: tens and units
Numbers up to 99 are built like a sum: tens first, then units.
- 11 = 十一 (じゅういち), 15 = 十五 (じゅうご)
- 20 = 二十 (にじゅう), 21 = 二十一 (にじゅういち)
- 40 = 四十 (よんじゅう), 70 = 七十 (ななじゅう), 99 = 九十九 (きゅうじゅうきゅう)
There is no 一 before 十: ten is just 十, never 一十.
100 and 1,000: 百 and 千, with sound changes
百 (ひゃく) and 千 (せん) work the same way, and again there is no 一 in front: 100 is 百 and 1,000 is 千. The catch is a few sound changes that you simply memorise:
| Hundreds | Reading | Thousands | Reading |
|---|---|---|---|
| 百 (100) | ひゃく | 千 (1,000) | せん |
| 三百 (300) | さんびゃく | 三千 (3,000) | さんぜん |
| 六百 (600) | ろっぴゃく | 六千 (6,000) | ろくせん |
| 八百 (800) | はっぴゃく | 八千 (8,000) | はっせん |
So 365 is 三百六十五 (さんびゃくろくじゅうご) and 2,026 is 二千二十六 (にせんにじゅうろく). The jōyō table also notes that 十 can be read ジッ or ジュッ before some counters, as in 十回 (じっかい or じゅっかい).
10,000 and up: 万, 億 and 兆 count in fours
This is where Japanese differs most from English. English groups digits in threes (thousand, million, billion); Japanese groups them in fours:
| Number | Kanji | Reading |
|---|---|---|
| 10,000 | 一万 | いちまん |
| 100,000 | 十万 | じゅうまん |
| 1,000,000 | 百万 | ひゃくまん |
| 10,000,000 | 千万 | せんまん |
| 100,000,000 | 一億 | いちおく |
| 1,000,000,000,000 | 一兆 | いっちょう |
Unlike 十, 百 and 千, the big units take 一 in front: 一万, 一億. To read a long number, split it into blocks of four digits from the right. The government guide gives this example: 126,443,000 people is written 1億2644万3000人, which in full kanji is 一億二千六百四十四万三千人. The kanji are 万, 億 and 兆 (the same character also means “sign, omen”, as in 兆し).
Prices use the same system with 円 (yen): 30万円 is 300,000 yen, and 二万円 is 20,000 yen.
Counting things: ひとつ, ふたつ and special readings
Next to the numbers above, Japanese keeps a native counting system written with the same kanji plus okurigana: 一つ (ひとつ), 二つ (ふたつ), 三つ (みっつ) up to 十 (とお). It is used to count objects without a specific counter.
The same native roots give some readings you must learn as words. The jōyō table lists them in its appendix of special readings:
- 一人 (ひとり), 二人 (ふたり): one person, two people. From three on: 三人 (さんにん).
- 一日 (ついたち): the 1st of the month; 二日 (ふつか), 三日 (みっか) and so on; 二十日 (はつか): the 20th.
- 二十歳 (はたち): 20 years old.
- 七日 is read なのか, and the table adds なぬか as an alternative.
For more on finding the reading of a word written in kanji, see kanji to hiragana. For 人, 匹, 本, 枚 and other counters with their sound changes, see Japanese counters.
Kanji numbers or 1, 2, 3? When Japanese use each
Modern Japanese uses Arabic numerals a lot. The government writing guide 公用文作成の考え方 sets these rules for official documents, and they match what you see in newspapers and on screens:
- Horizontal text uses Arabic numerals: 令和2年11月26日, 午後2時37分, 72%.
- 万, 億 and 兆 stay in kanji even with Arabic numerals (5兆, 100億, 30万円), but 千 and 百 do not: write 5,000 and 300, not 5千 or 3百.
- Rough numbers use kanji: 二十余人 (twenty-odd people), 数十人 (dozens of people), 四、五十人 (forty or fifty people).
- Numbers that are part of a word use kanji: 一つ, 一人, 二者択一, 六法全書, 七五三, 三日坊主.
- Vertical text uses kanji numbers, which is why novels and some signs show them.
The guide also notes that 1つ, 2つ, 3つ in Arabic numerals are widely used in everyday horizontal writing, even though schools teach 一つ, 二つ, 三つ.
When numbers are written digit by digit in vertical text, you will also see the round 〇 for zero, as in 二〇二六年 (2026). It is a symbol, not one of the 2,136 jōyō kanji; the jōyō kanji for zero is 零, as in 零下 (below zero).
Formal numerals: 壱, 弐, 参, 拾
Because 一, 二 and 三 are just bars, a stroke added later can turn one into another. For money and formal documents, Japanese therefore has formal numerals (大字, daiji), and four of them are in the jōyō table, each with a yen amount as its example word:
| Formal | Plain | Table example |
|---|---|---|
| 壱 | 一 | 壱万円 (10,000 yen) |
| 弐 | 二 | 弐万円 (20,000 yen) |
| 参 | 三 | 参万円 (30,000 yen) |
| 拾 | 十 | 拾万円 (100,000 yen) |
You are unlikely to write these yourself, but you will meet them on gift envelopes, contracts and receipts. 参 and 拾 are everyday kanji in other words too: 参加 (participation), 拾う (to pick up).
Practice the numbers
The number kanji are all JLPT N5 and appear in almost every sentence with a date, time or price, so they are the natural place to start. Try round 4 of the N5 kanji quiz, which tests readings like 六百 and 二万円, then move on through the JLPT N5 kanji list. Dates also need the seven weekday kanji, covered in days of the week in kanji. Kanji Guide teaches every kanji with a picture story, readings and stroke order: open the study app in your browser or get the Kanji Guide iPhone app on the App Store.
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Частые вопросы
How do you write numbers in kanji?
Learn 一 二 三 四 五 六 七 八 九 十 (1 to 10), then 百 (100), 千 (1,000) and 万 (10,000). Larger numbers are built by putting a multiplier before a unit: 二十 is 20, 三百 is 300, 五千 is 5,000, and 2,026 is 二千二十六.
Why does 4 have two readings, し and よん?
Both are official readings in the jōyō kanji table. し is the Sino-Japanese reading and よん is a native reading. In practice よん is the usual way to say the number on its own and in most counts (四回, 四階), while し survives in fixed words such as 四月 (しがつ, April) and 四季 (seasons). 7 (しち, なな) and 9 (きゅう, く) work the same way.
How do you write 10,000 and bigger numbers in kanji?
Japanese groups large numbers by four digits, not three. 10,000 is 一万, 100,000 is 十万, 1,000,000 is 百万, 100,000,000 is 一億, and a trillion is 一兆. So 126,443,000 is 1億2644万3000, or 一億二千六百四十四万三千 in full kanji.
Do Japanese people write numbers in kanji or with Arabic numerals?
Both. In horizontal text, which covers most screens and modern documents, Arabic numerals are the norm, often mixed with 万, 億 and 兆 (30万円). Kanji numbers are used in vertical writing, in rough numbers like 数十人, and in words where the number is part of the vocabulary, such as 一つ, 一人 or 七五三. This is also the rule in the government writing guide 公用文作成の考え方 (2022).
What is zero in kanji?
The kanji for zero is 零 (れい). In speech ゼロ is just as common. When numbers are written digit by digit in vertical text, as in 二〇二六年, the round symbol 〇 is used; 〇 is not one of the 2,136 jōyō kanji.