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Large Numbers (Thousands, Millions, Billions) | Easy & Powerful Guide | Lesson 23

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Japanese Large Numbers – Complete Guide to Thousands, Millions, Billions

Japanese Large Numbers

Master Thousands, Millions, Billions & Beyond

Table of Contents

1. Overview of Large Number Systems

Key Difference: Japanese large numbers group by 10,000s (万), not 1,000s like English!

This changes everything about how you think about large numbers in Japanese.

English System

Groups of 3 digits

1,000 = thousand
1,000,000 = million
1,000,000,000 = billion

Japanese System

Groups of 4 digits

1,0000 = いちまん
100,0000 = ひゃくまん
1000,0000 = せんまん

Important: Japanese counting resets every 10,000 (万), creating a fundamentally different number grouping system than Western languages.

2. Thousands (千 – せん)

Thousand Pattern: [1-9] + せん

せん
千
sen
thousand
いっせん
一千
issen
1,000
にせん
二千
nisen
2,000
さんぜん
三千
sanzen
3,000
よんせん
四千
yonsen
4,000
ごせん
五千
gosen
5,000
ろくせん
六千
rokusen
6,000
ななせん
七千
nanasen
7,000
はっせん
八千
hassen
8,000
きゅうせん
九千
kyuusen
9,000
Sound Changes:

• 3千 = さんぜん (not さんせん)

• 8千 = はっせん (not はちせん)

• These follow Japanese phonetic rules

Complex Thousands

NumberBreakdownJapaneseKanjiReading
1,234いっせん + にひゃく + さんじゅう + よんいっせんにひゃくさんじゅうよん一千二百三十四issen nihyaku sanjuu yon
3,456さんぜん + よんひゃく + ごじゅう + ろくさんぜんよんひゃくごじゅうろく三千四百五十六sanzen yonhyaku gojuu roku
8,900はっせん + きゅうひゃくはっせんきゅうひゃく八千九百hassen kyuuhyaku

3. Ten Thousands (万 – まん)

Ten Thousand Pattern: [1-9999] + まん

いちまん
一万
ichiman
10,000
Revolutionary Concept: 万 (まん) is the fundamental building block of Japanese large numbers. Everything beyond 10,000 is expressed in multiples of 万.

Basic 万 Multiples

NumberJapaneseKanjiRomajiEnglish Equivalent
10,000いちまん一万ichimanten thousand
20,000にまん二万nimantwenty thousand
50,000ごまん五万gomanfifty thousand
100,000じゅうまん十万juumanone hundred thousand
500,000ごじゅうまん五十万gojuumanfive hundred thousand
1,000,000ひゃくまん百万hyakumanone million

Understanding Million in Japanese

1 Million = 100万 (ひゃくまん)

Think: “100 × 10,000 = 1,000,000”

100 × 万 = ひゃく × まん = ひゃくまん

4. Millions & Beyond

Large Number Units

UnitKanjiReadingValueEnglish
万万まん10,000ten thousand
億億おく100,000,000hundred million
兆兆ちょう1,000,000,000,000trillion
京京けい10,000,000,000,000,000quadrillion

Scale Visualization

万 (10,000): Small city population

億 (100 million): Large country population

兆 (1 trillion): National GDP

京 (10 quadrillion): Global economic scales

Complex Large Numbers

NumberJapaneseKanjiBreakdown
12,345,678いっせんにひゃくさんじゅうよんまんごせんろっぴゃくななじゅうはち一千二百三十四万五千六百七十八1234万 + 5678
250,000,000におくごせんまん二億五千万2億 + 5000万
3,500,000,000さんじゅうごおく三十五億35億

5. Japanese vs Western Number System

Western Grouping

1,000 | 1,000,000 | 1,000,000,000

Groups of 3 digits

Multiplies by 1,000

Japanese Grouping

1,0000 | 1,0000,0000 | 1,0000,0000,0000

Groups of 4 digits

Multiplies by 10,000

Translation Practice

EnglishNumberJapanese ThinkingJapanese
25,00025,0002万5000にまんごせん
1.5 million1,500,000150万ひゃくごじゅうまん
3.2 billion3,200,000,00032億さんじゅうにおく
Key Strategy: Always think in 万 (10,000) groups first!

6. Pronunciation Rules & Sound Changes

Major Sound Changes

BaseChanges ToExampleReadingRule
さん + せんさんぜん三千sanzenん + s = nz
はち + せんはっせん八千hassenち + s = っs
ろく + ひゃくろっぴゃく六百roppyakuく + h = っp
はち + ひゃくはっぴゃく八百happyakuち + h = っp
Important Sound Rules:

• ん + s sounds → nz (sanzen, not sansen)

• ち/く + h sounds → っp (happyaku, roppyaku)

• These changes make pronunciation flow more naturally

7. Real-World Applications

Money & Prices

ItemPrice (¥)JapaneseReading
Coffee¥500ごひゃくえんgohyaku en
Laptop¥150,000じゅうごまんえんjuugoman en
Car¥3,500,000さんびゃくごじゅうまんえんsanbyaku gojuuman en
House¥50,000,000ごせんまんえんgosen man en

Population & Statistics

Tokyo Population: いっせんよんひゃくまんにん (14 million people)

Japan Population: いちおくにせんごひゃくまんにん (125 million people)

World Population: ななじゅうはちおくにん (7.8 billion people)

Business & Economics

ContextAmountJapaneseReading
Company Revenue¥500億ごひゃくおくえんgohyaku oku en
National Budget¥100兆ひゃくちょうえんhyaku chou en
GDP¥500兆ごひゃくちょうえんgohyaku chou en

8. Practice & Examples

Building Large Numbers Step by Step

Example: 2,750,000 (2.75 million)

Step 1: Think in 万 groups: 275万

Step 2: Break down 275: にひゃくななじゅうご

Step 3: Add 万: にひゃくななじゅうごまん

Result: にひゃくななじゅうごまん

Practice Numbers

NumberThink in 万JapaneseChallenge Level
45,0004万5000よんまんごせんEasy
230,00023万にじゅうさんまんEasy
1,680,000168万ひゃくろくじゅうはちまんMedium
25,000,0002500万にせんごひゃくまんMedium
340,000,0003億4000万さんおくよんせんまんHard

Common Mistake Prevention

❌ Wrong: Thinking “1 million” as いちみりおん

✅ Correct: Think “100万” as ひゃくまん


❌ Wrong: 50,000 as ごじゅうせん

✅ Correct: 50,000 as ごまん

9. Advanced Patterns & Shortcuts

Quick Conversion Tricks

Million Shortcut: Divide by 10, add まん

Example: 5 million = 500万 = ごひゃくまん

Billion Shortcut: Divide by 100, add おく

Example: 3 billion = 30億 = さんじゅうおく

Reading Large Numbers Quickly

Pattern: [Big Unit] + [Medium Unit] + [Small Unit]
NumberBig UnitMedium UnitSmall UnitReading
123,456,7891億2345万6789いちおくにせんさんびゃくよんじゅうごまんろくせんななひゃくはちじゅうきゅう
5,670,000,00056億7000万–ごじゅうろくおくななせんまん

Scientific & Technical Numbers

Computer Memory: 8GB = はちギガバイト

Internet Speed: 100Mbps = ひゃくメガビット

Distance: 1,000km = せんキロメートル

Light Speed: 300,000,000 m/s = さんおくメートル毎秒

10. Quick Reference Guide

Core Units

千 (せん) = 1,000

万 (まん) = 10,000

億 (おく) = 100,000,000

兆 (ちょう) = 1,000,000,000,000

Sound Changes

3千 = さんぜん

8千 = はっせん

6百 = ろっぴゃく

8百 = はっぴゃく

Conversion Tips

Million: ÷10 + 万

Billion: ÷100 + 億

Always group by 4 digits

Think 万 first!

Common Large Numbers in Daily Life

ContextTypical RangeExampleJapanese
Salary3-10万/month¥500万/yearごひゃくまんえん
House Price3000-8000万¥5000万ごせんまんえん
Company Value10億-1兆¥500億ごひゃくおくえん
Population100万-1億1200万人いっせんにひゃくまんにん

Memory Aid

万 = 10,000 = Family savings

億 = 100,000,000 = Big company budget

兆 = 1,000,000,000,000 = National economy

🌟 Mastery Achieved!

You’ve conquered the Japanese large number system! You now understand how to think in 万 groups and build numbers up to trillions using the Japanese mindset.

Key Takeaway: Always think in groups of 10,000 (万) rather than 1,000!
Practice Daily: Convert prices, populations, and statistics between English and Japanese number systems!
Japanese Large Numbers – Interactive Quiz

Large Numbers Quiz

Test Your Knowledge of Thousands, Millions & Billions

Exercise 1: Basic Thousands Easy

What is 3,000 in Japanese?

Answer: さんぜん
Explanation: 3,000 = さん + せん, but ん + s becomes んz, so it’s pronounced “sanzen” not “sansen”.

Exercise 2: Ten Thousands Concept Easy

What does 万 represent?

Answer: 10,000 (ten thousand)
Explanation: 万 (man) is the fundamental unit for 10,000. This is the key to understanding Japanese large numbers.

Exercise 3: Basic 万 Usage Easy

How do you say 50,000?

Answer: ごまん
Explanation: 50,000 = 5万. Think 5 × 10,000 = ご × まん = ごまん.
Hint: 50,000 ÷ 10,000 = 5万

Exercise 4: Million Conversion Medium

What is 1 million in Japanese?

Answer: ひゃくまん
Explanation: 1,000,000 = 100万. Think: 1 million ÷ 10,000 = 100, so it’s 100万 = ひゃくまん.
Quick trick: Million ÷ 10 + 万 = ひゃくまん

Exercise 5: Sound Changes Medium

How do you pronounce 八千?

Answer: hassen
Explanation: はち + せん = はっせん. The ち + s sound changes to っs for easier pronunciation.

Exercise 6: Complex 万 Numbers Medium

What is 250,000 in Japanese?

Answer: にじゅうごまん
Explanation: 250,000 = 25万. Break it down: 25 = にじゅうご, so 25万 = にじゅうごまん.
Pattern: 250,000 ÷ 10,000 = 25万

Exercise 7:億 Understanding Medium

What does 億 (おく) represent?

Answer: 100 million
Explanation: 億 (oku) = 100,000,000. It’s 10,000 times larger than 万.

Exercise 8: Price Context Hard

A house costs ¥35,000,000. How do you say this?

Answer: さんぜんごひゃくまんえん
Explanation: ¥35,000,000 = 3500万円. Break down: 3500 = さんぜんごひゃく, so 3500万円 = さんぜんごひゃくまんえん.
Think: 35,000,000 ÷ 10,000 = 3,500万

Exercise 9: Billion Challenge Hard

How do you say 2.5 billion?

Answer: にじゅうごおく
Explanation: 2.5 billion = 2,500,000,000 = 25億. Think: 2.5 billion ÷ 100 million = 25億.
Billion trick: Divide by 100, add 億

Exercise 10: Mixed Units Hard

What is 123,456,789?

Answer: いちおくにせんさんびゃくよんじゅうごまんろくせんななひゃくはちじゅうきゅう
Explanation: Break into groups: 1億|2345万|6789 = いちおく + にせんさんびゃくよんじゅうごまん + ろくせんななひゃくはちじゅうきゅう.
Group by 4 digits: 1,2345,6789

Exercise 11: Reverse Translation Hard

What number is ごひゃくまん?

Answer: 5,000,000
Explanation: ごひゃくまん = 500万 = 500 × 10,000 = 5,000,000 (5 million).

Exercise 12: Trillion Territory Expert

What does 兆 (ちょう) represent?

Answer: 1 trillion
Explanation: 兆 (chou) = 1,000,000,000,000 (1 trillion). It’s 10,000 times larger than 億.

Exercise 13: Real World Population Expert

Tokyo has about 14 million people. How do you say this?

Answer: いっせんよんひゃくまんにん
Explanation: 14 million = 14,000,000 = 1400万人. Break down: 1400 = いっせんよんひゃく, so 1400万人 = いっせんよんひゃくまんにん.

Exercise 14: System Comparison Expert

What’s the key difference between Japanese and Western number grouping?

Answer: Japanese groups by 4 digits (万), Western by 3 (thousand)
Explanation: This is the fundamental difference. Japanese thinks in 10,000s (万) while Western thinks in 1,000s.

Exercise 15: Master Challenge Expert

Convert ¥750,000,000,000 (national budget level)

Answer: ななせんごひゃくおくえん
Explanation: ¥750,000,000,000 = 7500億円. Break down: 7500 = ななせんごひゃく, so 7500億円 = ななせんごひゃくおくえん.
Think: 750 billion ÷ 100 million = 7,500億

How did you do?

Check your answers by selecting options above. Each correct answer will show in red!

Difficulty Levels: Easy Medium Hard Expert

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