So, you know how to count in Japanese? Congratulations! But unfortunately, that doesn’t necessarily mean you know how to count things in Japanese…
The Japanese language has a concept called counters. These are words that you use for counting specific objects. There are counters for all kinds of categories of things you might want to count: people, various animals, small objects, large objects, flat objects, and so on.
At first glance, counting in Japanese can seem quite daunting. As an English speaker, you might think why are there so many different counters for different things in Japanese!? Can we not keep it simple?
However, when you think about it, we actually also use various counters in English too (although not to the same extent as Japanese). For instance, we would differentiate between 5 cakes and 5 slices of cake. Other examples include, a head of cabbage, a sheet of paper or a piece of the puzzle.
In this post, we’ll learn some of the most frequent Japanese counters you’re likely to come across.
But first, a quick note on pronunciation:
You see, like most kanji characters, numbers in Japanese have two readings: onyomi (Chinese pronunciation) and kunyomi (Japanese pronunciation). Words which use the Chinese pronunciation are referred to as kango, while the Japanese pronunciation is known as wago. The basic counting system is kango, though when numbers are used in conjunction with different counters, the wago pronunciation is sometimes used instead. It will make sense as we go on!
Common counters in Japanese
つ (tsu) – General counter
Tsu, つ, is a very versatile and forgiving counter! It can be used to count most things.
Even though there may be another counter to better suit the thing you are counting, it takes time to get familiar with the vast list of Japanese counters. Tsu is a great generic option which does not limit itself as the other counters do.
So, if you are unsure of which counter you ought to be using, don’t panic and just stick to the safety net that is: tsu!
| Kanji (hiragana) | Romaji | English |
| 一つ (ひとつ) | hitotsu | one |
| 二つ (ふたつ) | futatsu | two |
| 三つ (みっつ) | mittsu | three |
| 四つ (よっつ) | yottsu | four |
| 五つ (いつつ) | itsutsu | five |
| 六つ (むっつ) | muttsu | six |
| 七つ (ななつ) | nanatsu | seven |
| 八つ (やっつ) | yattsu | eight |
| 九つ (ここのつ) | kokonotsu | nine |
| 十 (とお) | too | ten |
Note: the つ counter employs the wago pronunciation, so your best bet is to learn these off!
There is a downside to the tsu counter. You may have noticed from the table above that we only counted up to 10 things. This is unfortunately the limit for tsu… So, if you need to count more than 10 things, you will need to opt for the suitable counter or simply just employ the number without affixing any counting term.
個 (ko) – Physical objects
Ko, 個 (こ), is another general object counter that can in fact be used to count beyond 10! If you look at the counter for eleven, it continues on as such for the construction of numbers past 10.
While tsu can be used to count anything from physical objects to abstract ideas, ko is normally used to count physical objects which are generally small (and often round). Such examples include fruit, eggs, sweets etc.
This counting method uses the kango pronunciation, though there are slight changes when used in conjunction with ko. This is for the simple fact that it rolls off the tongue easier to say ikko rather than ichiko.
| Kanji (hiragana) | Romaji | English |
| 一個 (いっこ) | ikko | one |
| 二個 (にこ) | niko | two |
| 三個 (さんこ) | sanko | three |
| 四個 (よんこ) | yonko | four |
| 五個 (ごこ) | goko | five |
| 六個 (ろっこ) | rokko | six |
| 七個 (ななこ / しちこ) | nanako / shichiko | seven |
| 八個 (はちこ / はっこ) | hachiko / hakko | eight |
| 九個 (きゅうこ) | kyuuko | nine |
| 十五 (じゅうこ) | juuko | ten |
| 十一個 (じゅういっこ) | juu ikko | eleven |
| 百個 (ひゃっこ) | hyakko | one hundred |
人 (nin)- People
You may recognise this character as the kanji for ‘people’, pronounced hito. When used as a counter, we combine the number of people with the alternative onyomi reading of 人, nin (except for 1 and 2).
As you will see from the table, the counters for one person and two people use the wago pronunciation and rather than nin, 人 is pronounced as ri, which is an alternative kunyomi reading. The rest of the people counters follow kango so you only really have the first two to pay more careful attention to.
| Kanji (hiragana) | Romaji | English |
| 一人 (ひとり) | hitori | one person |
| 二人 (ふたり) | futari | two people |
| 三人 (さんにん) | sannin | three people |
| 四人 (よにん) | yonin | four people |
| 五人 (ごにん) | gonin | five people |
| 六人 (ろくにん) | rokunin | six people |
| 七人 (ななにん / しちにん) | nananin / shichinin | seven people |
| 八人 (はちにん) | hachinin | eight people |
| 九人 (きゅうにん) | kyuunin | nine people |
| 十人 (じゅうにん) | juunin | ten people |
| 十一人 (じゅういちにん) | juu ichinin | eleven people |
| 百人 (ひゃくにん) | hyakunin | one hundred people |
回 (kai) – Occurences
We can use kai, 回 (かい), to count repetitive actions or events. Simply put, it can be used to count how many times you go somewhere, eat something etc, so this is a pretty useful one to know!
| Kanji (hiragana) | Romaji | English |
| 一回 (いっかい) | ikkai | one time |
| 二回 (にかい) | nikai | two times |
| 三回 (さんかい) | sankai | three times |
| 四回 (よんかい) | yonkai | four times |
| 五回 (ごかい) | gokai | five times |
| 六回 (ろっかい) | rokkai | six times |
| 七回 (ななかい / しちかい) | nanakai / shichikai | seven times |
| 八回 (はちかい / はっかい) | hachikai / hakkai | eight timed |
| 九回 (きゅうかい) | kyuukai | nine times |
| 十回 (じゅっかい / じっかい) | jukkai | ten times |
| 十一回 (じゅういっかい) | juuikkai | eleven times |
| 百回 (ひゃっかい) | hyakkai | one hundred times |
本 (hon) – Long cylindrical objects
Hon, written 本 (ほん), is the counter used to count long cylindrical objects, ranging from pencils to bottles to trees!
The basic reading of the kanji character 本 is hon, but for ease of pronunciation, this can change to pon or bon depending on the preceding figure.
| Kanji (hiragana) | Romaji | English |
| 一本 (いっぽん) | ippon | one (long cylindrical object) |
| ニ本 (にほん) | nihon | two |
| 三本 (さんぼん) | sanbon | three |
| 四本 (よんほん) | yonhon | four |
| 五本 (ごほん) | gohon | five |
| 六本 (ろっぽん) | roppon | six |
| 七本 (ななほん) | nanahon | seven |
| 八本 (はちほん) | hachihon | eight |
| 九本 (きゅうほん) | kyuuhon | nine |
| 十本 (じゅっぽん) | juuppon | ten |
| 十一個 (じゅういっぽん / じっぽん) | juu ippon / jippon | eleven |
| 百個 (ひゃっぽん / ひゃくほん) | hyappon / hyaku pon | one hundred |
枚 (mai) – Flat, thin objects
Mai, 枚 (まい) is the counter for flat, thin objects. Examples of such objects include sheets of paper, tickets and CDs.
This counter is quite straightforward as it uses the kango pronunciation and does not differ depending on the compound. It is pretty much just the basic numbers as we know them with –mai tagged on at the end.
| Kanji (hiragana) | Romaji | English |
| 一枚 (いちまい) | ichimai | one (flat/thin object) |
| 二枚 (にまい) | nimai | two |
| 三枚 (さんまい) | sanmai | three |
| 四枚 (よんまい) | yonmai | four |
| 五枚 (ごまい) | gomai | five |
| 六枚 (ろくまい) | rokumai | six |
| 七枚 (ななまい / しちまい) | nanamai / shichimai | seven |
| 八枚 (はちまい) | hachimai | eight |
| 九枚 (きゅうまい) | kyuumai | nine |
| 十枚 (じゅうまい) | juumai | ten |
| 十一枚 (じゅういちまい) | juuichimai | eleven |
| 百枚 (ひゃくまい) | hyakumai | one hundred |
匹 (hiki) – Small animals
Hiki, 匹 (ひき) is the counter for small to medium sized animals. This includes cats, dogs and even insects.
As shown below, the kango counting system is used and similarly to 本, the pronunciation changes to help the better articulate the terms.
| Kanji (hiragana) | Romaji | English |
| 一匹 (いっぱき) | ippiki | one (small animal) |
| 二匹 (にひき) | nihiki | two |
| 三匹 (さんびき) | sanbiki | three |
| 四匹 (よんひき) | yonhiki | four |
| 五匹 (ごひき) | gohiki | five |
| 六匹 (ろっぴき) | roppiki | six |
| 七匹 (ななひき / しちひき) | nanahiki / shichihiki | seven |
| 八匹 (はちひき / はっぴき) | hachihiki / happiki | eight |
| 九匹 (きゅうひき) | kyuuhiki | nine |
| 十匹 (じゅっぴき / じっぴき) | juppiki / jippiki | ten |
| 十一匹 (じゅういっぴき) | juuippiki | eleven |
| 百匹 (ひゃっぴき) | hyappiki | one hundred |
頭 (tou) – Large animals
Tou, 頭 (とう), is the counter for bigger animals.This would be animals such as horses, elephants and large sea creatures like sharks and whales. Any animal that a human may have difficulty lifting up would likely be put into this counting category!
| Kanji (hiragana) | Romaji | English |
| 一頭 (いっとう) | ittou | one (large animal) |
| 二頭 (にとう) | nitou | two |
| 三頭 (さんとう) | santou | three |
| 四頭 (よんとう) | yontou | four |
| 五頭 (ごとう) | gotou | five |
| 六頭 (ろくとう) | rokutou | six |
| 七頭 (ななとう / しちとう) | nanatou / shichitou | seven |
| 八頭 (はちとう / はっとう) | hachitou / hattou | eight |
| 九頭 (きゅうとう) | kyuutou | nine |
| 十頭 (じゅっとう / じっとう) | juuttou / jittou | ten |
| 十一頭 (じゅういっとう) | juuittou | eleven |
| 百頭 (ひゃくとう) | hyakutou | one hundred |
How to use counters in a sentence
Now that we have some of the most common counters down, it’s time to see how we can put them to use!
Taking hiki (匹) for example, the counter for small animals. You will need to affix the noun (ie the small animal in question) in order to make it clear what it is that you are counting.
There are actually a few different ways you can add counters into your sentences. Japanese grammar can be quite flexible with sentence structure. So, as long as you have the particles in the right place, the utterance is likely to make sense.
Examples:
noun + number + counter:
watashi wa inu sanbiki wo katteimasu
私は犬三匹を飼っています
わたしはいぬさんびきをかっています
I have 3 dogs
or
number + counter + の + noun:
watashi wa sanbiki no inu wo katteimasu
私は三匹の犬を飼っています
わたしはさんびきのいぬをかっています
I have 3 dogs
or
As an adverb:
watashi wa inu wo sanbiki katteimasu
私は犬を三匹飼っています
わたしはいぬをさんびきかっています
I have 3 dogs
Related posts
- Learn the Numbers in Japanese: How to Count from 1 to 100
- 14+ Basic Japanese Greetings You’ll Use Every Day
- 30+ Basic Japanese Phrases for Travelers to Japan
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Hannah is a half Irish/half Japanese girl living in Ireland. Her love for Japan and the Japanese language led her to studying languages and translation in university where she specialised in Japanese. She spent a year studying abroad at Rikkyo University in Tokyo. In her free time, Hannah enjoys using her sewing machine to upcycle clothes and create new pieces!