Japanese Counting

(Note:  This page covers Japanese counting of objects and people, which is different than pure numbers.  Click here for a lesson on Japanese numbers)

Japanese counting is different than simple Japanese numbers.  This seems very confusing and complicated to most people when they first start to learn Japanese.  However, we do something similar to this in English.  We don’t say “one pants” or “three wines.”  Instead we say “one pair of pants” or “three glasses of wine.”

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Generic Japanese Counting:

With Japanese counting, we refer to the general size and shape of an object to determine how to count it.  However, the following list will show you the generic counters that you can use with just about any sort of object.

Japanese	Romaji	Counter
一つ or ひとつ	hitotsu	1
二つ or ふたつ	futatsu	2
三つ or みっつ	mittsu	3
四つ or よっつ	yottsu	4
五つ or いつつ	itsutsu	5
六つ or むっつ	muttsu	6
七つ or ななつ	nanatsu	7
八つ or やっつ	yattsu	8
九つ or ここのつ	kokonotsu	9
十 or とお	tou	10

Japanese Counting of People:

In Japanese, you can use the following terms to count people.

Japanese	Romaji	Counter
一人 or ひとり	hitori	1
二人 or ふたり	futari	2
三人 or さんにん	sannin	3
四人 or よんに ん	yonnin	4
五人 or ごに ん	gonin	5
六人 or ろくに ん	rokunin	6
七人 or しちに ん	shichinin	7
八人 or はちに ん	hachinin	8
九人 or きゅうに ん	kyuunin	9
十人 or じゅう	juunin	10

Japanese Counting of Object Types:

Additionally, you can use the following common counters for specific types of objects.

Japanese	Romaji	Used for Counting
本 or ほん	hon	long, narrow things like pencils, rope, neckties, etc.
階 or かい	kai	the floors in a building
枚 or まい	mai	flat objects such as paper or a sheet
足 or そく	soku	pairs of shoes, sandals or socks
個 or こ	ko	generic counter for small and compact things
冊 or さつ	satsu	bound objects like books or magazines
杯 or はい	hai	fluids in cups, glasses, bowls, etc.
台 or だい	dai	used for cars, trucks, and other machines

For Japanese counting, these counter terms can be used like so:

#	Hon	Kai	Mai	Soku	Ko	Satsu	Hai	Dai
1	ippon	ikkai	ichimai	issoku	ikko	issatsu	ippai	ichidai
2	nihon	nikai	nimai	nisoku	niko	nisatsu	nihai	nidai
3	sanbon	sankai	sanmai	sanzoku	sanko	sansatsu	sanbai	sandai
4	yonhon	yonkai	yonmai	yonsoku	yonko	yonsatsu	yonhai	yondai
5	gohon	gokai	gomai	gosoku	goko	gosatsu	gohai	godai
6	roppon	rokkai	rokumai	rokusoku	rokko	rokusatsu	roppai	rokudai
7	nanahon	nanakai	nanamai	nanasoku	nanako	nanasatsu	nanahai	nanadai
8	happon	hakkai	hachimai	hassoku	hakko	hassatsu	happai	hachidai
9	kyuuhon	kyuukai	kyuumai	kyuusoku	kyuuko	kyuusatsu	kyuuhai	kyuudai
10	juppon	jukkai	juumai	jussoku	jukko	jussatsu	juppai	juudai

Though this may seem extremely complicated, take this one bit at a time and you’ll find that you will eventually have all this memorized and it will come naturally like your English does.  If you haven’t already, check out the lesson on simple Japanese numbers.

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