こんにちは (Konnichiwa) Everyone!

Welcome back to my Japanese Learning Journey. This week has been particularly exciting and challenging as I delved into the intricate world of Japanese numbers and time expressions. Here's a detailed update on my progress and what I’ve accomplished this week.

Exploring the Japanese Number { 数字 } System

Japanese numbers are fascinating and come with their own set of rules and kanji. In Japanese, numbers are represented by specific kanji characters and have unique readings. Let's break down the basic numbers, larger numbers, and how to read and write complex numbers.

For 0, we call it - ゼロ/零 (ゼロ)

Then, we connect 10 + 1 ( 十一 ) - this will give us 11 { じゅういち }. And so on upto 19. But for 20 we have to do 2 * 10 i.e. ( 二十 ) we will read this as にじゅう. This can be followed upto 99 i.e. 9*10 + 9 { 九十九 }. Then we are having a different term for 100.

Kanji for Larger Numbers

• 100: 百 (ひゃく)
• 1,000: 千 (せん)
• 10,000: 万 (まん)
• 100,000,000: 億 (おく)
• 1,000,000,000,000: 兆 (ちょう)

• Learning these kanji was a bit challenging, but practice makes perfect! I found it helpful to write them repeatedly while saying the numbers aloud.
• Japanese numbers are grouped with sets of 4 digit. Basically they have a comma in every four digit. Below is a comparison between different number system.

Let’s have some examples on how to read large numbers. Before moving forward, I would like to let you know that, for writing the basic numeric digits Arabic system is used in japan as well i.e. {0, 1, 2, …. } unless it is some official document. Below is the representation of how it is written in Japanese.

2,3456

• 2万 (にまん, 20,000)
• 3千 (さんぜん, 3,000)
• 4百 (よんひゃく, 400)
• 5十 (ごじゅう, 50)
• 6 (ろく, 6)
• Combined: 二万三千四百五十六 This is read as the following (にまんさんぜんよんひゃくごじゅうろく) ni man sanzen yon hyaku gojyuu roku

123,4567

• 1百 (ひゃく, 100) 万 (まん, 10,000) → 100 ten-thousands
• 2十 (じゅう, 10) 万 (まん, 10,000) → 20 ten-thousands
• 3万 (さんまん, 30,000)
• 4千 (よんせん, 4,000)
• 5百 (ごひゃく, 500)
• 6十 (ろくじゅう, 60)
• 7 (なな, 7)
• Combined: 百二十三万四千五百六十七 . This is read as the following (ひゃくにじゅうさんまんよんせんごひゃくろくじゅうなな) hyaku nijyuu san man yonsen gohyaku rokujyuu nana

Telling Time { 時間 } in Japanese

Understanding how to tell time in Japanese is crucial, and this week I made significant strides in this area.

Terminologies used in speaking about time in Japan

So, most of the times people use the arabic numbers for hours and minutes but also adding 時 { ji } after the number of hours and 分 { fun/pun } after the number of minutes. And for the AM and PM, in Japanese it is said before speaking the time unlike in english where we say the am or pm after the time.

Hours:

Hours is represented by this kanji 時 { called じ in Hiragana and Ji in Romaji }

Minutes:

Minutes is represented by this kanji 分 { called ふん / ぷん in Hiragana and fun / pun in Romaji }. The chart below shows how we write minutes while writing time with its Kanji Representation, Hiragana Representation and the Romaji as well.

AM and PM

For AM, we use 午前 (ごぜん - gozen ) and for PM, we use 午後 (ごご - gogo ).

Now, Let’s take some examples

3:15 AM

• AM { 午前 } 3 { 三 } Hours { 時 } 15 { 十五 } minutes { 分 }
• 午前三時十五分 ( This is how we write the time in formal )
• 午前3時15五分 ( People also use this writing as well )
• This is read as gozen sanji jyū gofun

8:30 PM

• PM { 午後 } 8 { 八 } Hours { 時 } 30 { 三十 } minutes { 分 }
• 午後八時三十分 (This is how we write the time in formal)
• 午後8時30分 (People also use this writing as well)
• This is read as gogo hachiji sanjuppun

Specific Times of Day

There are some terms for the specific times of the day as well. Some of them are below. The meanings are written in Kanji and Hiragana. If you need a chart with Romji as well, ask me in the comments below.

Finally, I also looked at some of the common sentences related to asking time and telling time. Here is a small portion of my notes, you can notice that I am not wiriting romaji anymore. Because I am confident with the Hiragana, so I try to use Hiragana as much as possible and also Katakana as well.

• 何時ですか？ (なんじですか？) - What time is it?
• 今は午前七時です (いまはごぜんしちじです) - It is 7 AM now.

Looking Ahead

This week I really felt comfortable with Hiragana and Katakana. And I felt I don’t need any Romaji for any Japanese characters. This felt rewarding and I want to take this motivation to the next week. Here is what I have planned to do.

• Focus on は, が, を, に, へ, で, と particles, and their proper usage in sentences.
• Study the days of the week, months, and how to ask and state dates in Japanese.
• Incorporate more common nouns, adjectives, and verbs into my daily practice.
• Engage in simple conversations to build confidence and fluency.

Learning Japanese is a rewarding journey that unveils a rich and beautiful culture. This week’s focus on numbers and time has equipped me with essential skills for everyday communication. Stay tuned for more updates as I continue this exciting adventure.

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ありがとう (Arigatou)! Thank you for following my progress. See you next week!

Previous Blogs

• Week 3: Getting Started with Everyday Vocabulary & Grammar
• Week 2: The Struggle to Memorize the Japanese Kana Characters
• Week 1: My First Steps into Learning Japanese

Previous Articles

• Japan’s Fascinating Education System
• Let’s Know Japan

Feel free to share your thoughts or any tips you have for learning Japanese in the comments below.