In this guide
I like practising Japanese numbers with prices. A row of number words is useful, but a price gives me something to do with them: work out how to say an amount I might actually need. I can take my time over the digits, try the number aloud, and come back to any part that trips me up.
A longer amount, such as 53,206 yen, does ask more of you than counting to ten. You need to know how the smaller number words fit together, and where Japanese groups them differently from English. We'll build up to that price a piece at a time, with tables for the readings that change along the way.
We'll also use the numbers in complete sentences to say what something costs and ask its price. That way, you'll have both a method for reading a new amount and a way to use it. The first step is a small set of number words, from zero to ten.
Start with the Japanese numbers from 0 to 10
Here are the words to build with. Japanese uses familiar digits such as 3 as well as kanji such as 三; both represent the same number. Use よん for four, なな for seven and きゅう for nine when building numbers in this guide. The alternatives in the table are there to help you recognize other expressions.
| Number | Kanji | Kana | Romanization |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | — | ゼロ | zero |
| 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 / く | kyū / ku |
| 10 | 十 | じゅう | jū |
The line above ū marks a long vowel: hold the vowel in kyū and jū longer than a short u. The kana show this as きゅう and じゅう. I'll keep giving kana readings as we go, so you can gradually leave the romanization behind.
Use a small amount in a price sentence
円（えん） means yen, so 十円（じゅうえん） is ten yen. To state a price, point to an item and start with これ, 'this':
これは十円です。
これは じゅうえんです。
This costs ten yen.
は introduces the thing you're talking about and is pronounced わ. 十円 gives its price, and です is the polite ending. Using これ lets you state or ask the price even before you know the item's Japanese name.
To ask the price, replace 十円—the amount and 円 together—with いくら, 'how much'. Then put か after です to mark the question.
これはいくらですか。
これは いくらですか。
How much is this?
Ask the price
You are pointing to an item and want to ask its price. Use the polite question pattern you just learned.
Which sentence asks “How much is this”?
Build tens, hundreds and thousands
Now return to the ordinary number words from the first table. Beyond ten, Japanese builds numbers in an order you can follow: larger places first, then smaller ones. Start with 十（じゅう）, ten. A number after 十 adds the units, so 十二 is ten plus two: じゅうに, twelve. A number before 十 tells you how many tens: 二十 is two tens, にじゅう, twenty.
二十七
にじゅうなな
27 = two tens + seven
Twenty-seven combines both operations: 二十 gives you twenty, then 七 adds seven. The same pattern makes 四十八（よんじゅうはち）, forty-eight. You don't need a separate word for each number from eleven to ninety-nine.
| Tens | Kanji | Reading |
|---|---|---|
| 10 | 十 | じゅう |
| 20 | 二十 | にじゅう |
| 30 | 三十 | さんじゅう |
| 40 | 四十 | よんじゅう |
| 50 | 五十 | ごじゅう |
| 60 | 六十 | ろくじゅう |
| 70 | 七十 | ななじゅう |
| 80 | 八十 | はちじゅう |
| 90 | 九十 | きゅうじゅう |
Add the hundreds and thousands
百（ひゃく） means a hundred and 千（せん） means a thousand. Put the larger place first: 二千四百 is two thousand plus four hundred, read にせんよんひゃく. Then add any tens and units. For the basic values 10, 100 and 1,000, use 十, 百 and 千 on their own: you don't need to put 一 in front of them.
Some joined readings change. For example, 三百 is さんびゃく rather than さんひゃく. The bold entries below show the established forms to use. Keep this table nearby; you don't need to memorize the whole table before trying a number.
| Hundreds | Reading | Thousands | Reading |
|---|---|---|---|
| 百 · 100 | ひゃく | 千 · 1,000 | せん |
| 二百 · 200 | にひゃく | 二千 · 2,000 | にせん |
| 三百 · 300 | さんびゃく | 三千 · 3,000 | さんぜん |
| 四百 · 400 | よんひゃく | 四千 · 4,000 | よんせん |
| 五百 · 500 | ごひゃく | 五千 · 5,000 | ごせん |
| 六百 · 600 | ろっぴゃく | 六千 · 6,000 | ろくせん |
| 七百 · 700 | ななひゃく | 七千 · 7,000 | ななせん |
| 八百 · 800 | はっぴゃく | 八千 · 8,000 | はっせん |
| 九百 · 900 | きゅうひゃく | 九千 · 9,000 | きゅうせん |
For 684, work from 600 + 80 + 4: 六百 + 八十 + 四. The table gives ろっぴゃく for 600; add はちじゅう for eighty and よん for four. Together, 六百八十四 is ろっぴゃくはちじゅうよん.
三千二百七
さんぜんにひゃくなな
3,207 = 3,000 + 200 + 7
三千 uses さんぜん, followed by 二百（にひゃく） and 七（なな）. There's no tens part, so skip it: the zero just holds the empty place on the page. For 305, the same idea gives 三百五（さんびゃくご）, three hundred plus five.
Build a number from its places
Use the number tables if you like. Break 8,305 into thousands, hundreds and units; it has no tens.
Which reading matches 8,305?
To make 684 a price, add 円 in the same sentence frame. The conventional reading of 四円, four yen, is よえん. Use that よえん ending here: the bare number 六百八十四 ends in よん, while the yen amount 六百八十四円 ends in よえん.
これは六百八十四円です。
これは ろっぴゃくはちじゅうよえんです。
This costs 684 yen.
Read 10,000 and a longer price
The next new unit is 万（まん）, a bundle of ten thousand. Unlike ten, a hundred and a thousand on their own, 10,000 is 一万（いちまん）: one bundle of ten thousand. Twenty thousand is 二万（にまん）, two such bundles.
This is where an English comma can lead your eyes astray. In 53,206, the comma groups thousands, but Japanese needs to know how many whole ten-thousands there are. Separate the final four digits: 5 | 3206. That's five ten-thousands plus 3,206, which you can already build.
五万三千二百六
ごまん さんぜんにひゃくろく
53,206 = 5 × 10,000 + 3,206
Read the left part, 五万（ごまん）, then the remainder, 三千二百六（さんぜんにひゃくろく）. The remainder has no tens, so it ends with 六, just as 305 skipped its empty tens place. I find the four-digit split much easier than trying to translate 'fifty-three thousand' word by word.
The number before 万 can itself be larger than nine. A hundred thousand is ten bundles of ten thousand: 十万（じゅうまん）. A million is a hundred bundles of ten thousand: 百万（ひゃくまん）. Count the bundles first, say 万, then read any remaining thousands, hundreds, tens and units.
| Value | Build it as | Japanese | Reading |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10,000 | 1 × 10,000 | 一万 | いちまん |
| 20,000 | 2 × 10,000 | 二万 | にまん |
| 100,000 | 10 × 10,000 | 十万 | じゅうまん |
| 1,000,000 | 100 × 10,000 | 百万 | ひゃくまん |
Let's use the longer amount as a price too. かばん means 'bag', so replace これ with かばん to say which item costs 53,206 yen. The number reading is longer, but the sentence still uses the same familiar pattern.
かばんは五万三千二百六円です。
かばんは ごまんさんぜんにひゃくろくえんです。
The bag costs 53,206 yen.
For a short written exchange, ask the price of the bag and give a different amount in the reply:
かばんはいくらですか。
かばんは いくらですか。
How much is the bag?
かばんは二万八千円です。
かばんは にまんはっせんえんです。
The bag costs 28,000 yen.
The reply has two ten-thousands and eight thousand: 二万 + 八千. That 八千 still reads はっせん inside the larger amount. The question asks for the whole price with いくら; the answer supplies the amount and its currency with 二万八千円.
For object quantities, use the counters lesson
Reading a number and counting objects are related jobs, but an object quantity usually needs a counting form as well. For example, 三個（さんこ） combines the さん you know with 個（こ）, a counter used for individual compact items. It can count three apples. This keeps the value three while making it an object count.
For choosing counters, learning their readings and using quantities in complete sentences, continue with Japanese Counters: From Two Coffees to Full Sentences. That lesson covers the counting forms and sentence patterns; the number-building methods here will help you read the numbers you bring to it.
Write a price statement and a question
For a fresh amount, build the number first, attach 円, then place the whole price between は and です. To ask instead, use いくらですか after the item and は. Those two choices let you do something with a number beyond reading it from a list.
Bunpo Check's grammar checker offers AI grammar and spelling suggestions for complete Japanese sentences. Draft below, then copy your sentence into the linked checker if you'd like feedback. A daily character allowance applies, and suggestions can be wrong.
State a new price
Write a complete Japanese sentence saying 'This costs 2,406 yen.' Use これ and the price-statement pattern. You may write the amount with digits or kanji. Build its reading separately, then check that your written amount matches the intended price.
Copy your Japanese text, then paste it into the checker. This writing space does not assess or save your text.
Ask for the price
You want to know how much a bag costs. Write a complete polite question using かばん and the price-question pattern. Check what replaces the amount and 円, and what goes after です.
Copy your Japanese text, then paste it into the checker. This writing space does not assess or save your text.
For another round, pick a price you haven't used here and read it in pieces, checking the hundreds, thousands and 万 boundary. Then put it in a sentence about an item. Read it aloud too: typed checking doesn't assess pronunciation.
About the author
B. Rungswell
B. Rungswell is the editor of the Bunpo Check blog and a native English speaker who has passed JLPT N1. Drawing on many years of life in Japan and experience working at Japanese companies, Rungswell writes practical guides to Japanese grammar for English-speaking learners.