Digits

#	kanji	kun-yomi			on-yomi
1	一	ひとつ	一つ	one, only	いち	一	one, best, first
					どういつ	どう一	unity
2	二	ふたつ	二つ	two	に	二	two
					じたん	二男	second son
3	三	みっつ	三つ	three, tri-	さん	三	three, tri-
4	四	よっつ	四つ	four	し	四	four
		よん	四	four
		よ	四人	four persons
5	五	いつつ	五つ	five	ご	五	five
6	六	むっつ	六つ	six	ろく	六	six
7	七	ななつ	七つ	seven	しち	七	seven
		なな	七	seven
8	八	やっつ	八つ	eight	はち	八	eight
9	九	ここのつ	九つ	nine	く	九	nine
					きゅう	九	nine

comments: suggestions to memorize some of these kanjis.

• 六 (6) looks like a combination of the digits of the roman number 6, i.e., VI
• 七 (7) is an upside-down 7 crossed out the European way

Numerology

We count with on-yomis: いち, に, さん, し, …. Unfortunately, the on-yomi of 4, し, means ‘dead’ in Cantonese, so it is considered an unlucky number, which is why Chinese families dislike buying houses whose number includes a 4 [WP]. Thus, the Japanese modified the kun-yomi よつ into よん, to have an alternate way to count 4 without the unlucky implication: いち, に, さん, よん, ….

Likewise, the on-yomis of 7 and 9 – しち and く, sound like ‘near-certain death’ and ‘pain and suffering’ in Japanese, so they were given the alternate names なな (a modification of ななつ) and きゅう (a modification of く that sounds as ‘relief’) [WP].

What version of the number to use is sometimes a personal choice but sometimes it isn’t, e.g., 7:00 is always しちじ, while 7000 is always ななせん.

Going Shopping

#	kanji	kun-yomi			on-yomi
10	十	とお	十	ten	じゅう	十	ten
11	百	もも	百	hundred	ひゃく	百	hundred
12	千	ち	千	thousand	せん	千	thousand
13	金	おかね	お金	money, metal	きん	金	gold
	金	かなづち	金づち	hammer
14	円	まる	円	circle, round	えん	円	yen

comments: suggestions to memorize some of these kanjis.

• 十 (10) is the roman number 10, i.e., X, standing on a leg.
• 百 (100) looks like ‘100’ rolled 90° to the right

All the multiples of 10, 100 and 1,000 are the first digit followed by the multiplier, e.g., 20 is にじゅう, 200 is にひゃく, and 2,000 is にせん; the following are the only exceptions:

八百や (やおや, ya-o-ya)

The suffix や (ya) indicates a store of some kind, or a person that works at that store. For example, さかなや is either a store that sells fish, or the person that works at that store. The same goes for パンや (bread store, a.k.a. bakery), 本や (book store), にくや (meat shop), 花や (flower shop), and many others. Well… with this background we would be at a loss with a store called 八百や (the 800-store) that is pronounced, of all things, やおや. What does it sell?

It turns out that in English we use the word ‘zillion’ to describe a large number, while Japanese used to use the number ‘800’, so the 800-store is a store that sells a large number of ‘things’, and it turns out to be… a produce shop; yeap… a store that sells vegetables. The pronunciation appears to be a combination of the abbreviation of やさい (vegetable), and おや (respectable shop), i.e., やさいおや, reduced to やおや. What throws us off is that the pronunciation and the writing have nothing to do with each other.

Vocabulary

These are basic words that use only kanken-10 kanjis: