Counting in Japanese Is a Boss Battle! Here's How to Conquer Japanese Numbers...

Textbooks usually teach counting in Lesson 1. Seems logical enough, until you realize that in Japanese, counting is a high-stakes boss battle! 🎮🐲

You can’t just memorize one word for “one.” You’re entering a linguistic maze that keeps even advanced learners on their toes. Here are four reasons Japanese counting can be so tricky!

① Dual Systems

To get around in Japan day to day, you have to master not one, but two counting systems:

1. The Sino-Japanese set of “ichi” (いち), “ni” (に), “san” (さん), etc.).

2. The native Japanese set of “hitotsu” (ひとつ), “futatsu” (ふたつ), “mittsu” (みっつ), etc.).

The first is for general counting, while the latter is for counting generic objects.

② Counter Chaos

And speaking of counting things, Japanese uses tons of so-called “counters” or “measure words” for specific classes.

For example, flat things, cylindrical objects, machinery, small animals, large animals, etc. all get their own unique counter word:

• mai (まい, 枚) for flat objects like paper, sheets, photos, shirts, etc.

• hon (ほん, 本) for long, cylindrical objects like bottles, pencils, etc.

• dai (だい, 台) for vehicles and large machinery.

• hiki (ひき, 匹) for small and medium-sized animals like cats, dogs, etc.

• tō (とう, 頭) for large animals like cows, horses, whales, etc.

There are HUNDREDS of them!

③ Sound Shifts

And not only do you have to learn which counter to use, but you also have to remember how to pronounce each specific counter-number combo correctly. Sounds often change in a linguistic phenomenon called ren-daku (れんだく, 連濁, “sequential voicing”).

For example, the counter hon (本) morphs depending on the number preceding it:

• one bottle: H → P 👉 ip-pon (いっぽん, 一本)

• two bottles: no change 👉 ni-hon (にほん, 二本)

• three bottles: H → B 👉 san-bon (さんぼん, 三本)

⚠️ Make sure not to confuse ni-hon (にほん, 二本, "2 bottles" with ni-hon (にほん, 日本, “Japan”)!

④ Identity Crisis

And finally, some numbers simply can’t decide who they are!

Depending on the context or speaker’s preference:

• the number 4 (四) can pronounced either yon (よん) or shi (し).

• the number 7 (七) can be either “nana” (なな) or “shichi” (しち).

Sometimes, you can use either. But in some cases, you have to use one or the other.

For example:

• April is always shi-gatsu (しがつ, 四月, literally “Month 4”). Saying *yon-gatsu (よんがつ) is a common beginner mistake.

• The word for “the four seasons” is always shi-ki (しき, 四季), and never *yon-ki (よんき).

• For most counters (e.g. hundreds, thousands, etc.), you use yon (よん), not shi (し). So “400” (四百) is yon-hyaku (よんひゃく) and “4,000” (四千) is yon-sen (よんせん).

• However, you use yo (よ) instead of the full yon (よん) for people, minutes, hours, etc. So it’s yo-nin (よにん), not *yon-nin (よんにん) for “4 people” (四人).

• And for the 14th and 24th of the month, you replace the final -n (ん) with a double consonant. So “the 14th” (十四日) is jū-yok-ka (じゅうよっか), not *jū-yon-ka (じゅうよんか).

I don’t share all of this to scare you away from learning Japanese. On the contrary! But I do want to spare you undue frustration and help you anticipate some of the common stumbling blocks that almost all learners go through.

And a bit of advice: don’t try to memorize or “math” your way through this. 🛑🤓 If you try to calculate the rendaku rules in the middle of a sentence, your brain will short-circuit. The key (as with ALL language learning), is extensive exposure and active practice. 🤿 💬

When you immerse yourself in tons of native audio, you stop thinking about the "rules for 4" and start intuitively feeling when yon sounds right and shi sounds wrong.

Mastery isn't about memorizing the table; it's about training your ears to recognize the patterns and training your mouth to make the right sounds in real time. 👂👄

But if you want a map for the maze, 🗺️ check out my book How Japanese Works: The Words and Patterns That Make Japanese Tick. The intuitive explanations and examples will help prime your brain for immersion.

To be clear: no book or course can ever get a language into your head (this isn’t The Matrix, Neo-san!). Always remember that the real magic happens in the immersion. So get out there and start listening! 🪄✨