Counting in Japanese 1-100 for Beginners. Easy Lesson!

Hello Junkies!

Counting in Japanese 1-100. Is it hard? No! 

Here’s how you count in Japanese, from 1 to 100 in 5 minutes. If you want to just learn 1 to 10, don’t worry –  I break these down step-by-step so you’re not overloaded. You’ll learn how to count, read and say the numbers out loud in the following steps. Feel free to print this out for review too.

• Part 1: One to Ten
• Part 2: Eleven to Nineteen
• Part 3: Counting 20, 30, 40… to 100
• Part 4: Counting the in-betweeners, 21-29, 31-39, etc.
  
• Part 5: Useful phrases with numbers.

Part 1: Count from 1-10 in Japanese

By the way…

You should also listen and hear the numbers pronounced in native Japanese by real people. So…

Press play below on this Free Lesson on Numbers from JapanesePod101.com (click here to visit).

• Numbers Lesson #1 by JapanesePod101

Now…

Counting from 1 to 10 is fairly simple. There’s nothing to it but memorization. Or you can make up your own associations like “itchy, knee, sun.” You should not spend more than 1 minute remembering all of these.

Just read the romaji/english pronunciation out-loud and that’s it. If you’re interested in the hiragana and the kanji, it’s all  below as well.

A few of you might notice… “wait a minute, why are there 2 readings for 4, 7, and 9?”  Just remember both for now, so as not to overwhelm yourself. Later on, you’ll pick up that when saying 4 o’clock, it’s “yo-ji” and April (4th month) is shigatsu. There are variations here and there. But you’ll learn them and get used to them with time. I don’t think you should worry about them right now. Remember, rule of learning: don’t overwhelm yourself with complexities until you have a solid understanding of the basics first.

Oh, and if you’re wondering what “zero” is.. it’s zero – ゼロ – pronounced “zeh-roh.”

Part 2: Eleven to Nineteen

Great. Now you know that 10 is “juu” in Japanese. This will help you with counting 11 to 19. And there’s only one rule you need in order to count from 11 to 19.

• Rule: Take juu and add any number from 1 to 9 that you learned in Part 1 above.
  • Format: juu + (any number from 1 to 9)
  • For example, 11 is juu ichi and 19 is juu kyuu. All we’re doing is combining juu and the numbers from 1-9.

Here’s the full list of numbers from 11 to 19 in Japanese. The good news is that you don’t need to know the Kanji. For classes and schools, yes. For real life, no – the Japanese typically use numbers unless it’s a really old fashioned place.

Just read the Romaji/English pronunciation to know how to say each number.

Part 3: Counting the tens 20, 30, 40… to 100

Oh, this is going to be so easy. Counting 20, 30, 40, etc. is easy. And the only NEW thing you’ll have to learn is 100. Here’s why. There’s only 1 rule you need to count the tens – 20, 30, 40… 90.

• Rule: Add the number (1-9) from Part 1 to “juu.” That’s right, it’s the complete opposite from the rule you learned in Part 2.
  • Format:  (any number from 1 to 9) + juu
  • For example, 20 is ni juu and 90 is kyuu juu.

Here’s the full list of the tens – 20, 30, 40..90, 100. And yes, I included 100. This is the “count in Japanese from 1-100” tutorial after all. Just read the Romaji/English pronunciation to know how to say each number.

Okay, now you’re counting in Japanese 1-100.

Just one more step.

Part 4: Counting the in-betweeners, 21-29, 31-39, etc.

Alright! You’re almost ready to finish this easy tutorial.

Next up are the in-between numbers like 31, 29, 49, 99, 87, etc. Everything you learned so far will help you figure out and say these in Japanese. Seriously. One last rule to remember.

To count any of these numbers…

• Rule: Add the tens – 10, 20, etc. – that you learned in Part 3 to numbers 1 to 9 that you learned in Part 1
  
  • Format:  (any 10, 20, 30…90) + (any number from 1 to 9)
    

That’s right, very similar to part 2. It’s just like in English, you have “twenty, thirty, fourty, fifty…ninety” and you add a “one, two, three, four…. nine” to get twenty-one, thirty-nine, or forty-seven.

• Here are some examples for practice:
  • 21 becomes ni juu ichi
  • 22 becomes ni juu ni
  • 33 becomes san juu san
  • 44 becomes yon juu yon
  • 55 becomes go juu go
  • 69 becomes roku juu kyuu
  • 78 becomes nana juu hachi
  • 82 becomes hachi juu ni
  • 99 becomes kyuu juu kyuu

That’s it. It’s that simple.

As long as you know the numbers 1-9, and the tens like, “10, 20, 30… 90” you can easily count to 99.

And of course, again, 100 is “hyaku.”

Part 5: Useful phrases with numbers.

• How old are you?
  • Nan-sai desu ka?
  • 何歳ですか。
• I am ___ years old.
  • ___ sai desu.
  • ＿＿歳です。
    • I am 25 years old.
      • Ni juu go sai desu.
      • 25歳です。
    • I am 19 years old.
      • Juu kyuu sai desu.
      • １９歳です。
    • I am 27 years old.
      • Ni juu nana sai desu.
      • 27歳です。
    • I am 34 years old.
      • San juu yon sai desu.
      • 34歳です。

When it comes to writing your age, you don’t have to write numbers kanji or hiragana.

Writing the number + sai is enough.

• What’s your phone number/Please tell me your phone number.
  • Denwa bangou oshiete kudasai.
  • でんわばんごうおしえてください。
• My phone number is 2342-0011
  • Watashi no bangou wa: ni san yon ni, zero zero ichi chi
  • 私の電話番語は２３４２−００１１。

When giving out your number – it’s no different from English. You say each number separately. In English you could say “My number is two three four two, zero zero one one.” And you should do the same in Japanese.

And that’s it.

Conclusion — Back to You

Yes, you. Hey you!

Now, you know how to count from 1 to 100 in Japanese, right? Right? Answer me so that I know I’m just writing to myself! Just kidding. Anyways…

Feel free to print this tutorial out for later review. It’s always good to review things again and again until they’re stuck in your head. You might’ve gotten an understanding of how to count right now, but you might forget some things later.

And here’s the recap of the rules… one more time just to jog your memory.

1. Memorize numbers 1 to 10
   1. ichi
   2. ni
   3. san
   4. yon/shi,
   5. go
   6. roku,
   7. nana/shichi
   8. hachi
   9. kyuu/ku
   10. juu
   11. Tip: Don’t worry about the multiple readings for 4, 7 and 9 just yet. You’ll learn where and why they’re used later.
2. For the “tens” like 20, 30, 40, 50… 90, the rule is
   1. Rule: juu + (any number from 1 to 9)
3. For the in-betweeners, 21-29, 31-39, etc.
   1. Rule: (any 10, 20, 30…90) + (any number from 1 to 9)
4. And “100” is “hyaku.”

Here’s the next article on how to count in Japanese…

• Part 2: How to Count to 1 Thousand & 1 MILLION in Japanese.

Did this help? Leave a comment!

– The Main Junkie