Japanese word for a thousand

Hello Junkies!

Want to count to a thousand and a million in Japanese? Good! You’ll learn it all in the next 3 minutes. And if you know how to count in big Japanese numbers, you can…

• Get rich (or die trying)
• Talk about big money
• Count the number of people in Japan
• and much more…

If you don’t know how to count from 1-100, check out this lesson first: “Counting in Japanese 1-100 for Beginners.” 

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Okay, let’s get to it! Don’t worry, it’s easy. We will take you step-by-step, so you go through all the basic numbers. You can also print out this article out and use it as reference material. Sound good? Good!

• Part 1: How to count from 100 to 1,000
• Part 2: How to count from 1,000 to 10,000
• Part 3: How to count from 100,000 to 1 Million in Japanese
• Part 4: Useful phrases with numbers

Part 1: How to count from 100 to 1,000 in Japanese

By the way…

You should also listen and hear the numbers pronounced in native Japanese.

Press play below. Try this Free Lesson on Numbers from JapanesePod101.com (click here for more awesome lessons).

• Numbers Lesson #1 by JapanesePod101.
• This 9-minute lesson covers how to say thousand and million in Japanese.

Now…

If you already know how to say 1-10 in Japanese, then this will be very easy.

One hundred or hundreds is “hyaku” and “thousands” is “sen” in Japanese.

These are the only two things you need to remember, and follow the rules below:

• Rule: Add the number (1-9) from our previous lesson to “hyaku”.
• Format: (any number from 1 to 9) + hyaku
• Examples: 400 is yon hyaku, 700 is nana hyaku

Number	Romaji/English	Hiragana	Kanji
100	hyaku	ひゃく	百
200	ni hyaku	にひゃく	二百
300	san byaku	さんびゃく	三百
400	yon hyaku	よんひゃく	四百
500	go hyaku	ごひゃく	五百
600	ro ppyaku	ろっぴゃく	六百
700	nana hyaku	ななひゃく	七百
800	ha ppyaku	はっぴゃく	八百
900	kyuu hyaku	きゅうひゃく	九百
1000	sen	せん	千

Wait! If you’re smart enough, you might have noticed that there are some numbers that do not use “hyaku.” They use the same kanji but have different sounds: “byaku” and “ppyaku.” So, there are a few exceptions to remember.

The numbers that use these sounds are 300, 600, and 800.

• 300 becomes san byaku
• 600 becomes ro ppyaku – ro comes from the number 6 roku
• 800 becomes ha ppyaku – ha comes from the number 8 hachi

These are the only extra things you need to memorize when counting to a thousand in Japanese.

Counting from 101 to 999

Now, that you know the basic hundreds, let’s try counting the in-between numbers. This is easy if you know how to count from 10 to 100. Just follow this rule.

• Rule: Add any number from (1-9) with hyaku, then add any number from (1-9) with juu, then any number from (1-9).
• Format: ((any number from 100 to 900) + hyaku) + ((any number from 1-9) + juu) + (any number from 1-9)
• Examples: 111 is hyaku juu ichi, and 368 is san byaku roku juu hachi

Part 2: How to count from 1,000 to 10,000 in Japanese

Ready to count to a thousand in Japanese? Yes?

Good.

Counting from 1,000 to 10,000 gets a little longer, but as simple as what you learned in Part 1. Just follow this rule for counting thousands in Japanese.

• Rule: Add the number (1-9) to sen. It’s just the same rule we had in part 1, but instead of hundred or hyaku, we use thousand or sen.
• Format: (any number from 1 to 9) + sen
• Examples: 4,000 is yon sen and 9,000 is kyuu sen.

That wasn’t so hard!

Here is the full list on how to count from 1,000 to 10,000.

Number	Romaji/English	Hiragana	Kanji
1000	sen	せん	千
2000	ni sen	にせん	二千
3000	san zen	さんぜん	三千
4000	yon sen	よんせん	四千
5000	go sen	ごせん	五千
6000	roku sen	ろくせん	六千
7000	nana sen	ななせん	七千
8000	ha ssen	はっせん	八千
9000	kyuu sen	きゅうせん	九千
10000	ichi man	いちまん	一万

As you can see, similar to Part 1, there also some exceptions that stand out. In this case, 3000 becomes san zen, instead of sen.

Counting from 1,001 to 9,999

This should be quite simple. Let’s take a look how to count in-between numbers!

The rules and format are pretty much the same. All you need to do is count from top to bottom or bigger digits to small.

• Rule: Add a number (1-9) to sen, follow with any number (1-9) with hyaku, then any number (1-9) with juu, and finally followed by any number from (1-9).
• Format: ((any number from 1 to 9) + sen) + ((any number from 1 to 9) + hyaku) + ((any number from 1 to 9) + juu) + (any number from 1 to 9)
• Examples: 4,345 is yon sen san byaku yon juu go, and 7,777 is na na sen na na hyaku na na juu na na

How to count 10,000

We also need to take a closer look at this number as the counting changes.

In English, 1,000 and 10,000 both still have thousand in them, but in Japanese, 10,000 is where you start to count in “man” or the direct translation would be “million”.

This may get a bit confusing at first, but trust me, it’s just about getting used to. One trick I remember using is associating “man” and 10,000 as the biggest note in Japanese Yen. So, you can always take a mental note that once it is the biggest note, then it’s time to say “man.”

Now you can count over a thousand in Japanese.

You are more than half way through!

Let’s get right into the last segment, so you get ready to counting big!

Part 3: How to count from 100,000 to 1 Million in Japanese

Almost there. You are at the last part of this “count to 1 Million in Japanese” lesson.

This will be as easy as the previous parts. The same rules apply, but are just longer.

• Rule: Add the number (10-100) to man, then add the number (1-9) to sen, follow with any number (1-9) with hyaku, then any number (1-9) with juu, and finally followed by any number (1-9).
• Format: ((any number from 10 to 100) + man) + ((any number from 1 to 9) + sen) + ((any number from 1 to 9) + hyaku) + ((any number from 1 to 9) + juu) + (any number from 1 to 9)
• Examples: 789,600 is na na juu hachi man kyuu sen ro ppyaku, and 1,234,546 is hyaku ni juu san man yon sen go hyaku yon juu roku

Take a look at the list below to count from 100,000 to 1,000,000 for easier reference.

Number	Romaji/English	Hiragana	Kanji
100,000	juu man	じゅうまん	十万
200,000	ni juu man	にじゅうまん	二十万
300,000	san juu man	さんじゅうまん	三十万
400,000	yon juu man	よんじゅうまん	四十万
500,000	go juu man	ごじゅうまん	五十万
600,000	roku juu man	ろくじゅうまん	六十万
700,000	nana juu man	ななじゅうまん	七十万
800,000	hachi juu man	はちじゅうまん	八十万
900,000	kyuu juu man	きゅうじゅうまん	九十万
1,000,000	hyaku man	ひゃくまん	百万

Counting from 100,001 to 999,999

You’re almost done! Let’s count the in-between numbers. As long as you follow the rules from the previous parts you’ll do just fine!

• Rule: Add the number (10-99) to man, follow with any number (1-9) with sen, then any number (1-9) with hyaku, followed by any number (1-9) with juu, then finally any number (1-9).
• Format: ((any number from 10 to 99) + man) + ((any number from 1 to 9) + sen) + ((any number from 1 to 9) + hyaku) + ((any number from 1 to 9) + juu) + (any number from 1 to 9).
• Examples: 876,900 is hachi juu nana man roku sen kyuu hyaku, and 608,009 is roku juu man hassen kyuu.

Now you know how to count up to a million in Japanese. That completes your lesson of counting from 100 to 1 Million. It wasn’t as hard as you thought was it! Now that you know how to count big numbers, let’s try to see how we can use them in conversations.

Part 4: Useful Phrases with Big Japanese Numbers.

How much is this item?

• Kono aitemu wa ikura desuka?
• このアイテムはいくらですか。

This item is 1,999 Yen.

• Kochira no aitemu wa sen kyuu hyaku kyuu juu kyuu en ni narimasu.
• こちらのアイテムは、1,999円になります。

Quick tip: You can try practicing by reading out prices to yourself every time you see one.

How much is the discount for the promo today?

• Kyou no puromo de ikura makete moraemasuka?
• 今日のプロモでいくらまけてもらえますか。

Today is 50% off, so that would be a total of 230,030 Yen.

• Honjitsu wa go ju ppa-sento ofu to narimasunode, goukei ni juu san man san juu en to narimasu.
• 本日は、50%オフとなっておりますので、合計230,030円となります。

Another way you can practice is by doing math in Japanese. Here are some math terms you can use to practice.

　・Plus – tasu – たす

　・Minus – hiku – ひく

　・Times – kakeru – かける

　・Divided by – waru – わる

That’s it! You’ve counted to 1 Million in Japanese! The counting gets longer as the numbers get bigger, but as long as you practice, you’ll be able to master in no time! Was that helpful? Don’t forget to leave a comment!

– The Main Junkie

P.S. Highly recommended for learners. If you REALLY want to learn Japanese, I suggest JapanesePod101. Why? You get 2,000+ fun audio/video lessons, tons of study tools, PDF eBooks, Apps and more. Sign up for free at JapanesePod101 (click here) and start learning!

Click here to get your free lifetime account at JapanesePod101

Whether you start out learning Japanese, one of the first things you’ll probably learn is how to count. Counting and using numbers is important for your day to day life. But in Japanese, counting is considerably different than it is in English.

In fact, you may have to think about counting and numbers in an entirely different way, because Japanese operates on the principle of fours instead of threes. In English, when you break a number like 10,000,000 into sets, you do it by threes, hence the comma every three numbers.

But, in Japanese, however, this number is represented as 1000,0000. Thankfully for you, you can (and should) still write it as 10,000,000. However, verbally, it is pronounced as issen man, or one thousand ten thousands, instead of English’s ten million.

This difference is what causes some confusion when learning Japanese numbers and counting. However, the Japanese number system is actually very consistent, and you can predict how to count if you know the basics.

By the way, if you want to learn Japanese fast and have fun while doing it, my top recommendation is Japanese Uncovered which teaches you through StoryLearning®. 

With Japanese Uncovered you’ll use my unique StoryLearning® method to learn Japanese naturally through story… not rules. It’s as fun as it is effective.

If you’re ready to get started, click here for a 7-day FREE trial.

The Base Numbers

To start, it will be best to master numbers 1 through 10. These form the basis for all other numbers, and once you understand the patterns, you can make any number that you’d like.

Most Japanese writing will use the kanji for the numbers instead of spelling out their hiragana, so if you haven’t begun learning kanji yet, the numbers are a great place to start!

You are also allowed to use numerals (like 1, 9, and so on) instead of kanji if you like.

1. ichi 一
2. ni 二
3. san 三
4. shi 四
5. go 五
6. roku 六
7. shichi 七
8. hachi 八
9. kyuu 九
10. jyuu 十

It is important to note that 4 and 7 have special readings. Shi 四 shares the same sound as shi 死, meaning “death,” so the sound yon is more often used for 4. This means that you’ll need to keep in mind that 4 can be either yon or shi. Similarly, 7 can be shichi or nana depending on what comes next.

In English, you have special words like twenty and forty that you have to memorize separately of individual numbers. In Japanese, this is not true; you can simply put number words together.

For example:

• 1: ichi
• 11: jyuu ichi (10 and 1)
• 41: yon jyuu ichi (4 10s and a 1)
• 91: kyuu jyuu ichi (9 10s and a 1)

Japanese Numbers After 99

This strategy will allow you to count all the way to 99. After that, the same principles apply, but you’ll need a couple more vocabulary words in order to make the system work.

They are:

• 100 hyaku 百
• 1,000 sen 千
• 10,000 man 万

The same principles work here:

• 296: ni hyaku kyuu jyuu roku (2 hundreds, 9 10s and a 6)
• 1570: issen go hyaku nana jyuu (1 thousand, 5 hundreds and 7 10s)

Of note here are a few words that change from their standard form.

These words are:

• 300 sanbyaku (not sanhyaku)
• 600 roppyaku (not rokuhyaku)
• 800 happyaku (not hachihyaku)
• 3,000 sanzen (not sansen)
• 8,000 hassen (not hachisen)

As you can see, these particular words don’t behave like all the others. You will need to memorize these individual pronunciations separately.

Above The Thousands

Once you get above the thousands, you will need to carefully consider how to describe man based upon the principle that Japanese goes by sets of fours.

So in English, we might say ten thousand, describing the fact that 10,000 is 10 sets of 1,000. But in Japanese, 10,000 is merely man. Unlike English, Japanese speakers have a specific word for 10,000.

In turn, this means that 30,000 is not thirty sets of one thousand (thirty thousand), but rather three sets of man (or three man, sanman).

Japanese Counters

Japanese differs from English when you begin to count things. In Japanese, you cannot simply say “I see three people.” Instead, Japanese has a number (no pun intended!) of counters, or words that follow the number that help to describe exactly what that number is counting.

Take the example of people. The counter for people, conveniently, is nin 人, which also means “person.” So instead of simply saying three, you say three[person].

There are counters for a wide variety of things. Here are some of the most common that you can expect to use:

Counter	Use	Exceptions	Examples
本 hon/pon/bon	For long objects. Think of chopsticks or bottles.	1 = ippon 3 =sanbon 6 =roppon 10=juppon	Enpitsu ha ippon arimasu. えんぴつは一本あります。(I have one pencil.)
枚 mai	For thin objects. Most often for paper, but also for shirts and other things like cutting boards.		Shatsu ha sanmai aru yo. シャツは三枚あるよ。(I have three shirts.)
匹 hiki/biki/piki	For counting small animals like dogs and cats.	1 = ippiki 3 =sanbiki 6 =roppiki 8 =happiki 10=juppiki
歳 sai	For counting someone’s age.	1 = issai 8 = hassai 10 =jussai
個 ko	For counting small objects. They are usually round, like marbles.	1 = ikko 6 = rokko 8 =hakko 10=jukko
回 kai	For counting how often something happens.	1 = ikkai 6 =rokkai 10=jukkai	Kyonen nihon ni gokai ikimashita. 去年日本に五回行きました。(I went to Japan 5 times last year.)

Generic Japanese Counters

You may find that the thing you are trying to count doesn’t fall into common categories that have their own counter words. If this is the case, Japanese has some generic counter words that you can use for many situations. These are:

1. hitotsu 一つ
2. futatsu 二つ
3. mittsu 三つ
4. yottsu 四つ
5. itsutsu 五つ
6. muttsu 三つ
7. nanatsu 七つ
8. yatsu 八つ
9. kokonotsu 九つ
10. too とお

At this point, you may have noticed that some particular numbers tend to create irregular words. Numbers 1, 3, 6, and 10 are the most common, but 8 can sometimes do it too.

As you continue to practice, you will begin to notice by sound when a word doesn’t feel right, and you’ll gradually be able to guess what the word might be instead. And because these numbers are consistently inconsistent, you’ll likely already be primed to pay attention to possible differences when you use them.

Ordering With Japanese Numbers

Sometimes, you might have a need to put things in order using numbers. In English, this is usually done through the use of a couple special words created just for this purpose: first, second, third, and so on.

In Japanese, much like many other types of words also have special kanji that come after them to influence what the number means, there is also a counter to put things in order.

This counter is 目, read as me. The number 1, when followed by me, becomes “first.” This also works if you have already used a counter on the number.

For example:

• 二回目nikaime, the second time (“two times” plus the me counter for ordering)
• 四人目yoninme, the fourth person (“four people” plus the me counter for ordering)

Counters that come after numbers may seem cumbersome to use at first, but with practice, you will begin to see that they can add detail and ease to your sentences so that people can understand you faster. That being said, they certainly require practice, since English doesn’t have a structure that behaves in the same way.

Continuing On With Japanese Numbers

Don’t give up if you feel like you can’t keep track of the numerous counters that pop up in the Japanese language. That’s just the fear villain talking!

Think about what you talk about most often and make sure you know what counters will be most helpful to you. From there, you may continue to pick them up as you listen to others speak or as you read more in Japanese. Reading, especially reading stories is at the heart of the StoryLearning® method.

The best way to figure out what you might be missing is to fully immerse yourself in the language. Actively speaking with native Japanese speakers will alert you of any areas where you might wish you could count better, and it can provide a valuable opportunity for more practice.

After a little while, you likely won’t even notice the counters anymore!