Japanese large numbers are grouped around 万, a unit of ten thousand.

The idea

百 is 100, 千 is 1,000 and 一万 is 10,000. Say each nonzero group from largest to smallest: 12,300 is 一万二千三百. 百 and 千 stand alone for one hundred and one thousand, but one ten-thousand is 一万. 三百 is さんびゃく, 六百 ろっぴゃく, 八百 はっぴゃく; 三千 is さんぜん and 八千 はっせん.

Patterns to compare
NumberReading
百ひゃく
二百にひゃく
三百さんびゃく
六百ろっぴゃく
八百はっぴゃく
千せん
三千さんぜん
八千はっせん
一万いちまん
一万二千三百いちまんにせんさんびゃく

Examples

  • この地図ちずは三百円さんびゃくえんです。This map costs 300 yen.
  • 六百円ろっぴゃくえんの切符きっぷを買かいます。I buy a 600-yen ticket.
  • 全部ぜんぶで八百円はっぴゃくえんです。The total is 800 yen.
  • 本ほんが三千冊さんぜんさつあります。There are 3,000 books.
  • この町まちには八千人はっせんにんが住すんでいます。Eight thousand people live in this town.
  • このかばんは一万円いちまんえんです。This bag costs 10,000 yen.
  • 値段ねだんは一万二千三百円いちまんにせんさんびゃくえんです。The price is 12,300 yen.

Read-aloud uses a synthetic Japanese voice available on your device. Voice quality and availability vary; it does not assess your pronunciation.

Watch out

Do not treat 万 as one thousand: it is ten thousand. Not every combination is regular, so learn the changed readings together with the number.

Try it yourself

  1. Write the reading in hiragana: 三百

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    さんびゃく

    三百 is さんびゃく: 百 becomes びゃく after 三.

  2. Write the reading in hiragana: 三千

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    さんぜん

    三千 is さんぜん: 千 becomes ぜん after 三.

  3. Write the reading in hiragana: 一万二千三百

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    いちまんにせんさんびゃく

    一万二千三百 is いちまんにせんさんびゃく: one ten-thousand, two thousands and three hundreds.

Use it today

Read the table aloud, then say the price of an imagined purchase in yen using 万, 千 and 百.