Counting in Japanese is much harder than counting in English. First of all there are 2 counting system. Most of you have probably heard
1) ichi
2) ni
3) san
4) shi
5) go
6) roku
7) shichi 
hachi
9) kyuu
10) juu
etc… but there is another,
1) hito(tsu)
2) futa(tsu)
3) mi(tsu)
4) yo(ttsu),
5) itsu(tsu),
6) mui(tsu),
7) nana(tsu), yo(tsu)
9) kokono(tsu)
10) tou
The second counting method is a prefix which is why I put the tsu in parenthesis. It also only goes to 10. After that you switch back to the 1st but it is used quite often. Then to make it more compliated there are exceptions
First of all, in the first counting system, 4 can be yon or shi and 7 can be nana or shichi. I depends on what you are using them for.
So for example July or the 7th month is Shichi-gatsu. But 7 yen is nana en.
Another exception is in counting people, 1 person is hitori, 2 people are futari using the second counting system. After that though it’s back to the first. 3 people are san-nin, 4 people are yon-nin.
There are more special exceptions too. Days are counted using the second system except for day 1. ichi-nichi, futsuka, mikka, yokka,
But, if it’s days of the month then the 1st day is tsutachi and the 14th, 20th and 24th are also exceptions. The 12th is juu-ni nichi (12th day), the 13th is juu-san nichi (13th day) the 14th is juu-yokka. The 20th instead of being ni-juu nichi is hatsuka. 20 years old is hatachi, another exception, not ni-juu sai (20 years old)
But, it gets even worse. When counting in Japanese there are counters. An English example would be cattle. Although it’s perfectly reasonable to say “there are 12 cattle” it’s not uncommon to say “there are 12 head of cattle”. In this case “head” is the counter for cattle. Well, in Japanese EVERYTHING uses counters and there are literally hundreds.
Paper and other thin objects use mai. ichi-mai, ni-mai. Small objects use ko, ni-ko, san-ko. Small animals are hiki, yon-hiki, go-hiki. Birds and rabbits are wa. ichi-wa, ni-wa. Big animals use tou. ni-tou, san-tou. Cars are dai. ni-dai, san-dan. Books are satsu. ni-satsu, san-satsu. Here’s a list of a bunch of them.
On top of that, depending on the counter there are more exceptions. For example even though the counter for small animals is hiki they get counted like this
1) ip-piki
2) ni-hiki
3) san-biki
4) yon-hiki
5) go-hiki
6) rok-piki
7) nana-hiki hap-piki
9) kyuu-hiki
10) jup-piki
To English eyes that looks more strange than it does to Japanese eyes because in Japanese, hi,bi,pi are all the same letter, just with different accents. Think about it, as you say hee, bee, pee your mouth is pretty much doing the same actions so you can see that it’s reasonable to think of them as basically the same thing.
Of course to the foreigner learning Japanese this system is hard to get used to and it’s mostly through memorization and usage that you eventually learn some of it. But, take heart, even the Japanese have trouble with it. So much trouble that there is a comedy skit / game show where people count in chant. Each person has to count the last thing the previous person said. So for example the first person will chant, “start ban-ban person ban-ban” (ban-ban is just part of the chant). The next person in rythym has to say “2 people” since the last person said “person” last so he might say something like “futari ban-ban rabbit ban-ban”. He’s free to chose any word to pass to the next person. Person 3 might says “ni-wa ban-ban book ban-ban” and so on. The first person to mess up get’s punished. 
To those who read this article:
Please note that I’ve read some of the essays Gregg has written in Japanese that are posted to this site. So, I know his skill level is way beyond the limits of just knowing how to count.
This article makes me wonder if he might make a great Japanese teacher. (or at least a TA in a top university
)
Please note I have not read the Japanese essays (due to lack of brain cells plus I only gots one eye).
To cut it short…
Look, I can tell you also love Gregg’s site but there is no need to kiss *ss. (okay :) )
Or perhaps I should say, “Chu!~”.?
mbarbar – Thanks for the good laugh this afternoon!
Gregg – I hope you have time to update your blog with what’s been going on in your personal life, esp. post about the search for a significant other. I enjoy it due to the fact that we share some of the same thoughts and ideas.
Thank you….
hi Gregg,
the title here must be 「日本語での数え方」 instead of 「日本語で数え方」。
「日本語の数え方」is correct as well.
じゃあね。
Thanks for pointing that out. I’m terrible at proof-reading. Even in English there are mistakes all over my site.
hi umm im 13 and im studying japanese at school and 4 part of my homework i have to find out how u would say ‘ i am 20 years old’ if you could help me i would appreciate it
is
20 years old is special. 21 would be “ni juu issai”, 22 is “ni juu ni sai”, 23 is “ni juu san sai”.
Note: the “issai” in 21 is pronounced “ee sai” with a pause or hiccup between “ee” and “sai”
hey greg, hey i was wondering if you could give me a couple pointers in the japanese language and help me get a job and residence b4 i move over there , just email me back please i’d greatly apprieciate it
thank you
kyle
Ok…so….
I’m learning Japanese just because I find the language VERY interesting. I don’t know much…and I already have a friend teaching me bits and pieces. I’ve also managed to pick of little things from songs and Mangas and such.
I already have pronunciation down from watching videos. I was wondering though, if you could teach me…like..really teach me. I’m a quick learner…E-mail me. oxkonnichiwaxo@yahoo.com
Ja Ne~
Ashurii aka. Ashley
I was doing a project for my Japanese class and I forgot how to say “four lemurs” and I stumbled across this while trying to find the counter. So, thanks a bunch for the post!
i had to do a projcet on japanese nad this helped me out loads…….
thank you
xxxxx
charlotte
howdy
i am from japan and i speak chinese
nihow is hello in chinese
you are excelent in nothing
loving
viki
What if you were counting things such as classes?
I want to tell my friends how many classes I am taking this semester.
I would use the first counter or the second? If I was saying two classes… futakoma jugyou? or Nikoma jugyou?
Thanks in advance.
i have learnt 15 different counting systems in japanese. and this website (http://www.trussel.com/jcount.htm) shows 508 counting systems so.. i think you need to learn more japanese.
davard: actually if you look at that list it says there are 2 systems (set), just like he said there were.
ichi and hito. Just because he only listed a few for example doesnt mean he needs to learn more japanese. 
More exactly, it should be:
Hitotsu, futatsu, mittsu, yottsu, itsutsu, muttsu, nanatsu, yattsu, kokonotsu, too(written with characters for too instead of tou, but pronounced the same way).
The above counter system is used for round-ish objects and unclassified objects. I have also heard it can be used for chunky objects and as a general counter for food and drink, but I am not positive on that.
First, to Kahverityn, “too” is just another way of writing “tou.” So saying “more exactly, it should be this way” is not entirely correct.
To others reading this page, Greggman points out that for the first (and more common) set of numbers, 4 can be read as “yon” instead of “shi”, and 7 can be read as “nana” instead of shichi. However, yon and nana are actually the preferred readings; “shi” is the same sound as the word for “death.” It is good to know both; as he points out, April is still “Shigatsu,” not “Yongatsu” and July is “Shichigatsu.”
I just wanted to clarify that, because a lot of websites don’t even MENTION yon and nana, and if you’re trying to learn Japanese, you might learn the less-preferred counting system and then get confused later on, when it’s harder to un-learn something.
There’s a very good article going into more detail on wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_numbers
Good luck to all in your studies!
I’m working on a language & culture project and have to look into the numbering system in English, Chinese, Japanese and French….wonder if anybody could help me with this:
I know Japanese have two sets of numbering depending on the counters it’s used with…and many more exceptions, then I came across the following as well:
11 = tou amari hitotsu
21 = hatachi amari hitotsu
31 = misoji amari hitotsu
some say it’s old fashioned Japanese, but some say it’s still in use….
Gregg said that it only goes to 10, after that you switch back to the 1st set….is it like…. 11= juu ichi (tsu)…but that sounds a bit odd…..
so I’m confused…..anybody?
much appreciated if you could send me the answer: akiha_ri@yahoo.com.hk
great thanks