The Number System of Japanese

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The Number System of Japanese

Japanese gave up its original number system more than one thosand years ago and imported the number system of Chinese. The modern Japanese number system up to 100 is essentially the same as Chinese except for pronunciation.

Number	Reading	Meaning
0	rei	0
1	ichi	1
2	ni	2
3	san	3
4	yon	4
5	go	5
6	roku	6
7	nana	7
8	hachi	8
9	kyû	9
10	jû	10
11	jû ichi	10 + 1
12	jû ni	10 + 2
13	jû san	10 + 3
14	jû yon	10 + 4
15	jû go	10 + 5
16	jû roku	10 + 6
17	jû nana	10 + 7
18	jû hachi	10 + 8
19	jû kyû	10 + 9
20	nijû	2 × 10
21	nijû ichi	2 × 10 + 1
22	nijû ni	2 × 10 + 2
23	nijû san	2 × 10 + 3
24	nijû yon	2 × 10 + 4
25	nijû go	2 × 10 + 5
26	nijû roku	2 × 10 + 6
27	nijû nana	2 × 10 + 7
28	nijû hachi	2 × 10 + 8
29	nijû kyû	2 × 10 + 9
30	sanjû	3 × 10
31	sanjû ichi	3 × 10 + 1
32	sanjû ni	3 × 10 + 2
33	sanjû san	3 × 10 + 3
34	sanjû yon	3 × 10 + 4
35	sanjû go	3 × 10 + 5
36	sanjû roku	3 × 10 + 6
37	sanjû nana	3 × 10 + 7
38	sanjû hachi	3 × 10 + 8
39	sanjû kyû	3 × 10 + 9
40	yonjû	4 × 10
41	yonjû ichi	4 × 10 + 1
42	yonjû ni	4 × 10 + 2
43	yonjû san	4 × 10 + 3
44	yonjû yon	4 × 10 + 4
45	yonjû go	4 × 10 + 5
46	yonjû roku	4 × 10 + 6
47	yonjû nana	4 × 10 + 7
48	yonjû hachi	4 × 10 + 8
49	yonjû kyû	4 × 10 + 9
50	gojû	5 × 10
51	gojû ichi	5 × 10 + 1
52	gojû ni	5 × 10 + 2
53	gojû san	5 × 10 + 3
54	gojû yon	5 × 10 + 4
55	gojû go	5 × 10 + 5
56	gojû roku	5 × 10 + 6
57	gojû nana	5 × 10 + 7
58	gojû hachi	5 × 10 + 8
59	gojû kyû	5 × 10 + 9
60	rokujû	6 × 10
61	rokujû ichi	6 × 10 + 1
62	rokujû ni	6 × 10 + 2
63	rokujû san	6 × 10 + 3
64	rokujû yon	6 × 10 + 4
65	rokujû go	6 × 10 + 5
66	rokujû roku	6 × 10 + 6
67	rokujû nana	6 × 10 + 7
68	rokujû hachi	6 × 10 + 8
69	rokujû kyû	6 × 10 + 9
70	nanajû	7 × 10
71	nanajû ichi	7 × 10 + 1
72	nanajû ni	7 × 10 + 2
73	nanajû san	7 × 10 + 3
74	nanajû yon	7 × 10 + 4
75	nanajû go	7 × 10 + 5
76	nanajû roku	7 × 10 + 6
77	nanajû nana	7 × 10 + 7
78	nanajû hachi	7 × 10 + 8
79	nanajû kyû	7 × 10 + 9
80	hachijû	8 × 10
81	hachijû ichi	8 × 10 + 1
82	hachijû ni	8 × 10 + 2
83	hachijû san	8 × 10 + 3
84	hachijû yon	8 × 10 + 4
85	hachijû go	8 × 10 + 5
86	hachijû roku	8 × 10 + 6
87	hachijû nana	8 × 10 + 7
88	hachijû hachi	8 × 10 + 8
89	hachijû kyû	8 × 10 + 9
90	kyûjû	9 × 10
91	kyûjû ichi	9 × 10 + 1
92	kyûjû ni	9 × 10 + 2
93	kyûjû san	9 × 10 + 3
94	kyûjû yon	9 × 10 + 4
95	kyûjû go	9 × 10 + 5
96	kyûjû roku	9 × 10 + 6
97	kyûjû nana	9 × 10 + 7
98	kyûjû hachi	9 × 10 + 8
99	kyûjû kyû	9 × 10 + 9
100	hyaku	100

Note:

All the number names came from ancient Wu, but the digits 4, 7, and 9 were later renamed. Their original names are used only in compound words and fixed phrases now.

Number	Character	Reading		Source of standard name
Number	Character	Wu-Origin	Standard	Source of standard name
4		shi	yon	native Japanese
7		shichi	nana	native Japanese
9		ku	kyû	ancient northern Chinese

ex.

Month	English	Japanese
1	January	ichi-gatsu
2	February	ni-gatsu
3	March	san-gatsu
4	April	shi-gatsu
5	May	go-gatsu
6	June	roku-gatsu
7	July	shichi-gatsu
8	August	hachi-gatsu
9	September	ku-gatsu
10	October	jû-gatsu
11	November	jûichi-gatsu
12	December	jûni-gatsu

The digits 4 and 9 were renamed because shi and ku were homonyms of "death" and "agony" respectively, and the digit 7 was renamed because shichi sounds like ichi.

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