Japanese Language/Numbers

Numbers and Characters
The Japanese number system developed away from the Indo-Arabic system, and thus had no place-holder in the form of a 0 to make it any more simple to a western mind. Things are counted without need of the zero due to the use of their words for factors of 10.

1		一：いち：ichi

2		二：に：ni

3		三：さん：san

4		四：よん／し：yon/shi

5		五：ご：go

6		六：ろく：roku

7		七：なな／しち：nana/shichi

8		八：はち：hachi

9		九：きゅう：kyuu

10		十：じゅう：juu

11		十一：じゅういち：juu-ichi

12		十二：じゅうに：juu-ni

21		廿一：にじゅういち：ni-juu-ichi

35		三十五：さんじゅうご：san-juu-go

78		七十八：ななじゅうはち：nana-juu-hachi

100		百：ひゃく：hyaku

1,000		千：せん：sen

10,000		一万：いちまん：ichi-man

100,000		十万：じゅうまん：juu-man

1,000,000　	百万：ひゃくまん：hyaku-man

10,000,000	千万：せんまん：sen-man

100,000,000 　  一億：いちおく：ichi-oku

The Japanese language also employs a system of "counters," which may pose a unique challenge for those unfamiliar with it. Unlike some languages, such as Cantonese, where counters are primarily used for specific groups of items, Japanese incorporates counters in a broader range of contexts.

The Universal Counter
A useful counter is in existence, though, and it can be used for pretty much everything except people and other living things. The downside to this "universal counter" is that it is irregular and must be memorized!

1：	一つ　hitotsu - ひとつ

2：	二つ　futatsu - ふたつ

3：	三つ　mittsu - みっつ

4：	四つ　yottsu - よっつ

5：	五つ　itsutsu - いつつ

6：	六つ　muttsu - むっつ

7：	七つ　nanatsu - ななつ

8：	八つ　yattsu - やっつ

9：	九つ　kokonotsu - ここのつ

10：	十　too - とお

People
People are semi-irregular counters. One person is hitori, two people are futari, then begins a more regular sequence: sannin (3), yonin (4), gonin (5), etc.

Others
Other counters are rather regular and are simply applied as suffixes to the normal Chinese-descended numbers at the top of the page. These are:

ippon	roppon
 * Mai: (flat things) shirts, paper, monetary bills
 * Tou: (large animals) from St. Bernard up (cows, etc.)
 * Zen: pairs of chopsticks and ricebowls only
 * Satsu: books only
 * Dai: (machines) a blender, a T.V., a car
 * Wa: slightly irregular, for birds, bats and rabbits: 1wa, 2wa, sanba, 4wa, 5wa, roppa, 7wa, 8wa, 9wa, juppa
 * Hon: irregular, for long, slender objects such as pens, batons and swords:

nihon	nanahon

sanbon	hachihon

yohon	kyuhon

gohon	juppon
 * Hiki: (small animals) follows the same consonant-changing scheme as above, ippiki, nihiki, etc.