はじめまして! (Hajimemashite! – Nice to meet you!)
Welcome, future Nihongo master!
If you’ve taken the brave first step into learning Japanese, you’ve likely realized that the writing system is, well, a journey in itself. You’ve probably already started on your path to mastering the fundamental characters, guided by resources like The Definitive Guide to Hiragana: How to Read, Write, and Master the Japanese Phonetic Script – JLPT Samurai
But once you can read the sounds, what’s the next most practical thing to learn? Numbers and time!
Think about it: from ordering ramen to setting a meeting time, counting is essential. However, the Japanese counting system isn’t always a simple one-to-one translation. It’s rich with historical context, different reading styles, and specific counter words that can make a beginner’s head spin.
The goal of this comprehensive, human-friendly guide is to strip away the complexity. We’re going to focus entirely on how to express these crucial concepts using just Hiragana, making it incredibly accessible for those of you who are just finishing up learning the basic characters.
Ready to count like a native? Let’s dive into the fascinating world of kazu (数 – numbers) and jikan (時間 – time)!
Part 1: The Essential Foundations—Counting to Ten
Before we build skyscrapers, we need a strong foundation. In Japanese, the numbers 1 through 10 are your bedrock. What often confuses beginners is that many numbers have two common readings: the native Japanese reading (mostly used for counting objects) and the Sino-Japanese reading (mostly used for large numbers, dates, and money).
For now, we’ll focus on the readings you’ll use most often when simply counting or forming larger numbers.
| Number | Kanji | Sino-Japanese Reading (Common) | Hiragana |
| 1 | 一 | ichi | いち |
| 2 | 二 | ni | に |
| 3 | 三 | san | さん |
| 4 | 四 | shi / yon | し / よん |
| 5 | 五 | go | ご |
| 6 | 六 | roku | ろく |
| 7 | 七 | shichi / nana | しち / なな |
| 8 | 八 | hachi | はち |
| 9 | 九 | kyū / ku | きゅう / く |
| 10 | 十 | jū | じゅう |
A Quick Note on 4, 7, and 9
You’ll notice 4, 7, and 9 have two readings. This is a unique insight into Japanese culture!
- Four (し – shi): Sounds like shi (死 – death). Because of this inauspicious meaning, よん (yon) is heavily preferred, especially when counting or telling time.
- Seven (しち – shichi): While correct, it can be easily confused with ichi (1). Therefore, なな (nana) is often preferred for clarity, especially over the phone.
- Nine (く – ku): Sounds like ku (苦 – suffering/agony). きゅう (kyū) is the common choice.
So, if you’re trying to say 6 in japanese hiragana, you simply say ろく (roku). No fuss! This uses the ‘ro’ character from The R-Row Hiragana: Ra, Ri, Ru, Re, Ro – The Japanese ‘R’ Sound – JLPT Samurai and the ‘ku’ character from The K-Row Hiragana: Ka, Ki, Ku, Ke, Ko – Your First Consonants – JLPT Samurai. See? It all ties back together!
Part 2: Breaking the Tens, Hundreds, and Thousands Barrier
The moment you can count past ten, the Japanese number system becomes delightfully systematic. You’ll primarily use the Sino-Japanese readings from now on.
Counting to 99
Japanese numbers are additive. To say a number, you simply state the power of ten, and then add the remainder.
| Number | Composition | Hiragana | Pronunciation |
| 11 | 10 + 1 | じゅういち | jū ichi |
| 20 | 2 x 10 | にじゅう | ni jū |
| 45 | 4 x 10 + 5 | よんじゅうご | yon jū go |
| 99 | 9 x 10 + 9 | きゅうじゅうきゅう | kyū jū kyū |
The Hundreds: ひゃく (hyaku)
The word for 100 is ひゃく (hyaku). Again, this is a beautiful systematic build, but it has three important exceptions due to a phonetic phenomenon called rendaku (sequential voicing), which is a crucial concept when you look at Dakuten and Handakuten: How to Change Hiragana Sounds (G, Z, D, B, P) – JLPT Samurai
| Number | Kanji | Hiragana | Pronunciation |
| 100 | 百 | ひゃく | hyaku |
| 200 | 二百 | にひゃく | ni hyaku |
| 300 | 三百 | さんびゃく | san byaku (The ‘h’ becomes a ‘b’) |
| 400 | 四百 | よんひゃく | yon hyaku |
| 500 | 五百 | ごひゃく | go hyaku |
| 600 | 六百 | ろっぴゃく | roppyaku (Double consonant っ – see Mastering Compound Sounds: Yōon and the Tiny TSU (っ) for Double Consonants) |
| 700 | 七百 | ななひゃく | nana hyaku |
| 800 | 八百 | はっぴゃく | happyaku (Double consonant っ) |
| 900 | 九百 | きゅうひゃく | kyū hyaku |
Now we can confidently write 500 in hiragana: ごひゃく (go hyaku). Remember, even though the ‘fu’ sound in the H-Row can be tricky (see The H-Row Hiragana: Ha, Hi, Fu, He, Ho – Mastering the ‘Fu’ Sound – JLPT Samurai, the ‘h’ in hyaku is pronounced normally!
Beyond 1,000
- 1,000 (千 – sen): せん
- 3,000: さんぜん (san zen – ‘s’ becomes ‘z’)
- 8,000: はっせん (hassen – Double consonant)
- 10,000 (万 – man): まん (This is the most critical difference! Japanese counts in units of four zeros, not three. 10,000 is ichi-man, not jū-sen.)
If you can read all the numbers up to this point, it means your journey through The M-Row Hiragana: Ma, Mi, Mu, Me, Mo – JLPT Samuraihas been a success!
Part 3: Telling Time—The Most Practical Application
Knowing numbers is great, but knowing how to use them to schedule your life is even better. Telling time in Japanese follows a very specific pattern: [Number] + ji (時 – hour) + fun/pun (分 – minute).
Hours: ～じ (ji)
The hours are simple: just take the number and add じ (ji) to it.
| Hour | Number | Hiragana | Pronunciation |
| 1 o’clock | いち | いちじ | ichi ji |
| 2 o’clock | に | にじ | ni ji |
| 6 o’clock | ろく | ろくじ | roku ji |
| 7 o’clock | なな | ななじ | nana ji |
| 9 o’clock | く | くじ | ku ji (Note: Uses ku, not kyū) |
| 10 o’clock | じゅう | じゅうじ | jū ji |
To form the phrase 7 o clock in japanese hiragana, you would say ななじ (nana ji).
💡 Practical Insight: The Japanese language often uses the 24-hour clock (military time), especially in formal settings like train schedules (e.g., jū-shichi-ji – 17:00 / 5 PM). If you’re using the 12-hour clock, you add ごぜん (gozen – AM) or ごご (gogo – PM) at the beginning.
- ごぜんななじ (gozen nana ji) – 7 AM
- ごごしちじ (gogo shichi ji) – 7 PM (Note the common use of shichi here for PM!)
Minutes: ～ふん (fun) or ～ぷん (pun)
This is where things get tricky, but don’t panic! The word for “minute” is fun (ふん), but due to those pesky phonetic changes, it often becomes pun (ぷん).
It primarily depends on the number that precedes it.
| Minutes | Hiragana | Pronunciation |
| ～ぷん (pun) | いっぷん (1), はっぷん (8), じゅっぷん/じっぷん (10) | Double consonant っ and ぷ (Handakuten) |
| ～ふん (fun) | にふん (2), ごふん (5), ななふん (7), くふん (9) | The ふ from The H-Row Hiragana: Ha, Hi, Fu, He, Ho – Mastering the ‘Fu’ Sound |
| ～ぷん (pun) (Dakuten) | さんぷん (3) | Uses ぷ (Handakuten) |
| ～ぷん (pun) (Dakuten) | よんぷん (4) | Uses ぷ (Handakuten) |
| ～ぷん (pun) | ろっぷん (6) | Double consonant っ and ぷ (Handakuten) |
To ask “What time is it?” you say: いま なんじ ですか? (Ima nanji desu ka? – Now what hour is it?)
And to master 60 minutes in japanese hiragana, you would combine the number 60 (ろくじゅう – roku jū) with the minute counter: ろくじゅっぷん (roku jup-pun or roku jū pun is also understood)
Half-Past: ～はん (han)
To make life easier, you can say “half” after the hour instead of counting out 30 minutes.
- 7:30 – ななじ はん (nana ji han)
- 1:30 – いちじ はん (ichi ji han)
Part 4: Counting Objects—The Dreaded Counters (But Only the Hiragana Part!)
I can hear you groaning! Japanese is famous (or infamous) for its jou-suushi (助数詞 – counter words). You don’t just say “two apples”; you say “apple ko two.”
While counters are a huge topic—we’re talking about dozens of them—the good news is that they all use the same basic counting numbers we just learned!
Here is one critical counter that has its own unique, native-Japanese reading entirely in hiragana that you must learn for counting things like boxes, food, and small objects (up to ten).
| Number | Sino-Japanese Reading | Native Japanese Reading (Counter) | Hiragana |
| 1 | ichi | hitotsu | ひとつ |
| 2 | ni | futatsu | ふたつ |
| 3 | san | mittsu | みっつ |
| 4 | yon | yottsu | よっつ |
| 5 | go | itsutsu | いつつ |
| 6 | roku | muttsu | むっつ |
| 7 | nana | nanatsu | ななつ |
| 8 | hachi | yattsu | やっつ |
| 9 | kyū | kokonotsu | ここのつ |
| 10 | jū | tō | とお |
🌟 Unique Insight: The Tsu Trick
If you look closely at this list, you’ll see the character つ (tsu) from The T-Row Hiragana: Ta, Chi, Tsu, Te, To – Avoiding Common Mistakes appears in nearly every one of these native counters! Memorizing these 10 counters is non-negotiable for N5-level Japanese. They are simple, elegant, and purely in Hiragana!
Practical Application: Ordering Coffee
Imagine you are ordering two cups of coffee (kōhī). You don’t use ni. You use futatsu:
- コーヒーを ふたつ おねがいします。
- (Kōhī o futatsu onegaishimasu.)
- Translation: Two coffees, please.
Part 5: Mastering the Sounds and Characters
The main challenge in learning Japanese numbers in Hiragana is ensuring you have the correct stroke order and pronunciation for the base characters. A mispronounced vowel or consonant can make a number unintelligible.
To truly excel here, make sure you revisit the fundamental rows of the Hiragana chart:
- Mastering the 5 Hiragana Vowels: Mnemonics, Stroke Order, and Pronunciation: The ‘i’ in ichi (いち) and the ‘o’ in roku (ろく) are your starting point.
- The S-Row Hiragana: Sa, Shi, Su, Se, So (and Why ‘Shi’ is Special): Critical for shichi (しち).
- The N-Row Hiragana: Na, Ni, Nu, Ne, No – When to Use the Particle ‘No’: Absolutely essential for ni (に) and nana (なな).
- The Y-Row Hiragana: Ya, Yu, Yo and How They Combine: Used in hyaku (ひゃく) and kyū (きゅう) through yōon (small y characters).
Practicing your From Pen to Page: A Guide to Proper Hiragana Stroke Order and Handwriting will directly translate into correct spelling and memorization of numbers. If you’re struggling to memorize the characters themselves, utilizing The 7 Best Hiragana Mnemonics and Anki Decks for Rapid Memorization – JLPT Samurai is an excellent strategy!
Part 6: An Important Look at Money and Dates (Quick Hiragana Overview)
As you progress toward the JLPT N5 and N4 levels, you’ll need to count money and use dates. The number system we’ve already covered is the foundation.
Money (おかね – okane)
Japanese currency is the Yen (えん – en). When stating an amount, you simply add en to the number:
- 100 Yen: ひゃくえん (hyaku en)
- 1,000 Yen: せんえん (sen en)
- 5,000 Yen: ごせんえん (go sen en)
Dates (ひづけ – hizuke)
Dates are formed using numbers + がつ (gatsu – month) and にち (nichi – day).
| Month | Number + がつ | Hiragana | Pronunciation |
| January | 1 + がつ | いちがつ | ichi gatsu |
| April | 4 + がつ | しがつ | shi gatsu (Note: Uses shi, not yon!) |
| September | 9 + がつ | くがつ | ku gatsu (Note: Uses ku, not kyū!) |
And you can easily learn a few key 50 Must-Know Basic Japanese Words Written Only in Hiragana – JLPT Samurai to complete your foundational vocabulary.
Conclusion: Your Hiragana Counting Journey Starts Now
Congratulations! You now have a comprehensive guide to understanding and using numbers and time, all written entirely in the beautiful script of Hiragana.
From knowing how to say 6 in japanese hiragana (ろく) to calculating 60 minutes in japanese hiragana (ろくじゅっぷん), you have unlocked a vital part of basic Japanese communication. This knowledge is not just theoretical; it’s the gateway to real-world interactions.
Keep practicing your Hiragana, and the numbers will follow easily! Don’t forget to download the Download the Ultimate Hiragana Chart PDF (Printable & Interactive Converter) – JLPT Samurai to keep all these characters handy!
