How to Count in Japanese (2024)

FAQs

How to Count in Japanese? ›

The number four (4) is called either “yon” or “shi” in Japanese. In the case of four you can say any of those. But for other words, like “death” (死）that is also pronounced “shi”, you can't change it for “yon”. In other words, “shi” and “yon” are both words that represents the number four.

The number four (4) is called either “yon” or “shi” in Japanese. In the case of four you can say any of those. But for other words, like “death” (死）that is also pronounced “shi”, you can't change it for “yon”. In other words, “shi” and “yon” are both words that represents the number four.

One (1) is 一 (ichi, pronounced "ee-chee"). Two (2) is 二 (ni, pronounced "nee"). Three (3) is 三 (san, pronounced "sahn"). Four (4) is 四 (shi, pronounced "shee").

The kanji character “零,” which is pronounced as “rei,” also represents “0.” In some instances, “まる” (“maru”) is also used to express zero. “Maru” in Japanese also means “circle.”

It is known that Japanese tend to be superstitious. There are certain things or circ*mstances that are uniquely explained sometimes through superstitious beliefs. One of those things are the concept about Lucky Numbers! Did you know that the number 3 is considered as one of the lucky numbers in Japan?

零 means 'zero'

As noted above, yon (4) and nana (7) are preferred to shi and shichi. It is purported that this is because shi is also the reading of the word death (死), which makes it an unlucky reading (see tetraphobia); while shichi may sound too similar to ichi (1), shi or hachi (8).

How to learn Japanese counting? ›

Traditionally, 4 is unlucky because it is sometimes pronounced shi, which is the word for death. Sometimes levels or rooms with 4 do not exist in hospitals or hotels. Particularly in the maternity section of a hospital, the room number 43 is avoided because it can literally mean "stillbirth".

Oh, yeah...Japanese has multiple words for the same number! Seven can be either "nana" or "shichi", for example. So how do you know which word to use? Sometimes, either is fine – like when you count 1-10, for example.

There are two ways to say numbers. A big simplification is that the native Japanese system is used to count to ten and the Chinese system used to count higher. It's true that 'shi', or four in the Chinese system, is avoided because of superstition because it sounds identical to the word for death.

“Ichi, ni, san, yon... (or is it shi?), go, roku, nana (or shichi), hachi, kyuu (but sometimes ku)...” Oh, yeah...Japanese has multiple words for the same number! Seven can be either "nana" or "shichi", for example.

Its the counting system in Japanese , ichi is one, ni is two and san is three in the Japanese counting system.

Fun Fact: The Names "Ichi, Ni, San" Are Simple Japanese Terms Meaning the Numbers 1,2, and 3.