🇯🇵 Japanese for beginners (N5) · Chapter 6

Numbers, counting and telling the time

Japanese counts in units of 10,000 — so 1 lakh is じゅうまん, '10 man' — and an Indian who already thinks in lakhs and crores has a head start on prices, salaries and train times.

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The basics

Japanese numbers are built from ten digits and a few big units — じゅう (10), ひゃく (100), せん (1,000), まん (10,000) — combined like Lego: 23 = に-じゅう-さん, 'two-ten-three'.

The problem it solves: prices, phone numbers, train times, meeting times, ages and dates all depend on numbers, and the JLPT N5 listening section is full of them. Japanese numbers are logical, but they have three traps: two readings for 4, 7 and 9; sound changes in some hundreds and thousands; and counting in ten-thousands, not thousands.

The mental model: like Hindi or English, but grouped by four digits instead of three. Where English says '100 thousand', Japanese says じゅうまん, 'ten ten-thousands' — exactly like an Indian 'one lakh' is a separate unit, not '100 thousand'.

For time, add じ (o'clock) and ふん / ぷん (minutes): 7:30 = しちじ はん.

Explained

A ramen shop in Tokyo: ¥1,200 — せんにひゃくえん. An entry-level IT salary in Tokyo: around ¥250,000 a month — にじゅうごまんえん.

Notice the second one: Japanese doesn't say 'two hundred fifty thousand'. It says 25 man — 25 units of 10,000. If you think in lakhs, that already feels familiar.

1 to 99

1 いち      6 ろく
2 に        7 なな / しち
3 さん      8 はち
4 よん / し  9 きゅう / く
5 ご       10 じゅう

Build up: 11 = じゅういち (ten-one) · 20 = にじゅう (two-ten) · 47 = よんじゅうなな · 99 = きゅうじゅうきゅう.

Which reading? When counting things, prefer よん, なな, きゅう. し sounds like 死 (death) and く like 苦 (suffering), so they're avoided in many contexts — hospitals skip room 4 just as some Indian buildings skip 13. But fixed words lock in a reading: よじ (4 o'clock), しちじ (7), くじ (9).

Big numbers — Japan groups by four digits

        100  ひゃく
      1,000  せん
     10,000  いちまん          (1 man)
    100,000  じゅうまん        = 1 lakh
  1,000,000  ひゃくまん        = 10 lakh
 10,000,000  せんまん          = 1 crore
100,000,000  いちおく          = 10 crore

The trick for reading a big number: put a comma every four digits from the right.

2,500,000 → 250,0000 → にひゃくごじゅうまん (250 man)

¥120,000 rent → 12,0000 → じゅうにまんえん

India breaks numbers after 3, then every 2 digits; Japan every 4. Both are just a grouping rule.

Sound changes in the hundreds and thousands

100 ひゃく      1,000 せん
200 にひゃく    2,000 にせん
300 さんびゃく  3,000 さんぜん    ← ん softens h→b, s→z
400 よんひゃく  4,000 よんせん
600 ろっぴゃく  6,000 ろくせん    ← small っ + p
800 はっぴゃく  8,000 はっせん    ← small っ

They happen for the same reason Hindi says pacchis not panch-bees: a fast mouth smooths the join. Only five forms change — learn them as words: さんびゃく, ろっぴゃく, はっぴゃく, さんぜん, はっせん.

And 1,000 is just せん, but 10,000 is always いちまん — never bare まん.

Telling the time

Hours: number + じ

1 いちじ   4 よじ    7 しちじ   10 じゅうじ
2 にじ     5 ごじ    8 はちじ   11 じゅういちじ
3 さんじ   6 ろくじ  9 くじ     12 じゅうにじ

Minutes: ふん or ぷん

1 いっぷん   2 にふん   3 さんぷん   4 よんぷん   5 ごふん
6 ろっぷん   7 ななふん  8 はっぷん   9 きゅうふん 10 じゅっぷん

15 = じゅうごふん · 20 = にじゅっぷん · 30 = はん (half)

a.m. / p.m. come first: ごご さんじ はん = 3:30 p.m.

Q: いま なんじ です か。 — What time is it now?

A: ごぜん くじ じゅっぷん です。 — 9:10 a.m.

Counting things and people

Japanese uses counters — like 'two cups of tea' — after numbers. Two you need now:

General things (native numbers, up to 10):

ひとつ  ふたつ  みっつ  よっつ  いつつ
むっつ  ななつ  やっつ  ここのつ  とお

コーヒー を ふたつ ください。 — Two coffees, please.

People (～にん), with two irregulars:

1 ひとり   2 ふたり   3 さんにん   4 よにん   5 ごにん

なんにん です か。 — How many people? (at a restaurant door)

Money: ～えん. 4 yen is よえん. Ask いくら です か — how much is it?

At a konbini in Shinjuku

Rohan buys an onigiri and a bottle of tea.

Staff: いらっしゃいませ。

Rohan: すみません、これ は いくら です か。

Staff: ひゃくろくじゅうえん です。 (¥160)

Rohan: じゃあ、これ と おちゃ を ください。

Staff: ぜんぶ で さんびゃくにじゅうえん です。 (¥320 in total)

Rohan: (hands ¥1,000)

Staff: ろっぴゃくはちじゅうえん の おかえし です。 (¥680 change)

On the way out, a colleague texts: meeting is at ごご にじ はん. That's 2:30 p.m. ¥320 is roughly ₹180–190 at recent rates — about the price of two cups of café coffee back home.

Remember it

• Ichi, ni, san — 'itchy knee, sun' — then yon (4), go (5, go!), roku (6, rock), nana (7, Nana-ji's seven grandkids), hachi (8, 'a-choo' — eight sneezes), kyū (9, queue), jū (10, juice)
• Avoid し and く — death and suffering — except in しちじ and くじ
• まん = lakh's cousin: 1 lakh = 10 man; 1 crore = 1,000 man
• ぷん after 1, 3, 4, 6, 8, 10 — the 'pop' numbers; ふん after 2, 5, 7, 9
• Ten-thousand is いちまん, always with いち

One line: comma every four digits, and say man.

Words to know

In two minutes

• 1–10: いち に さん よん ご ろく なな はち きゅう じゅう; 4, 7, 9 also have し, しち, く.
• Build bigger numbers like Lego: 35 = さんじゅうご, 'three-ten-five'.
• Units: じゅう 10, ひゃく 100, せん 1,000, まん 10,000 — so 1 lakh = じゅうまん, 1 crore = せんまん.
• Sound changes: さんびゃく, ろっぴゃく, はっぴゃく, さんぜん, はっせん.
• Time: number + じ; 4, 7, 9 o'clock are よじ, しちじ, くじ.
• Minutes are ふん or ぷん depending on the number: いっぷん, さんぷん, じゅっぷん; ごふん, ななふん.
• Ask いま なんじ です か (what time is it?) and いくら です か (how much?).
• Small objects use ひとつ, ふたつ, みっつ…; people use ひとり, ふたり, then さんにん.

Test yourself

There are 9 questions, 3 puzzles and 5 recall cards for this lesson in the app — the recall cards come back on later days, just before you would forget.