counters - Are there native Japanese numbers greater than 10? What use are they?

Most people who've taken a Japanese 101 class know the 10 native Japanese numbers (一つ、二つ・・・十). It's always seemed odd that a system would stop at 10 when so many things in life need larger numbers. Are there in fact native Japanese numbers greater than 10?

Answer

As it turns out, there are Japanese numbers greater than 10!

Getting started, let's review the basics:

1 through 9:

[一つ]{ひとつ}、[二つ]{ふたつ}、[三つ]{みっつ}、[四つ]{よっつ}、[五つ]{いつつ}、[六つ]{むっつ}、[七つ]{ななつ}、[八つ]{やっつ}、[九つ]{ここのつ}

Going above 20, つ changes into そ. Here are the 10s through 90:

[十]{とお}、[二十]{はた}、[三十]{みそ}、[四十]{よそ}、[五十]{いそ}、[六十]{むそ}、[七十]{ななそ}、[八十]{やそ}、[九十]{ここのそ}

Similarly, at the 100s it changes into ほ (which, due to the 1946 simplifications, would be pronounced as お). Here's 100-900:

[百]{もも}、[二百]{ふたほ}、[三百]{みほ}、[四百]{よほ}、[五百]{いほ}、[六百]{むほ}、[七百]{ななほ}、[八百]{やほ}、[九百]{ここのほ}

At the 1000s it changes into ち. Here's 1,000 through 9,000:

[千]{ち}、[二千]{ふたち}、[三千]{みち}、[四千]{よち}、[五千]{いち}、[六千]{むち}、[七千]{ななち}、[八千]{やち}、[九千]{ここのち}

Finally, as with the Chinese number system, Japanese stops adding new units every level at the 10,000 mark, where it becomes よろづ (which, as with ほ above, becomes よろず in modern Japanese). Here's 10,000 through 90,000:

[万]{よろづ}、[二万]{ふたよろづ}、[三万]{みよろづ}、[四万]{よよろづ}、[五万]{いよろづ}、[六万]{むよろづ}、[七万]{ななよろづ}、[八万]{やよろづ}、[九万]{ここのよろづ}

Larger numbers recombine in a similar manner as [十万]{じゅうまん}, [百万]{ひゃくまん}, etc., but more on that in a moment. As it is, we still haven't figured out how to combine what we've already got into something more useful (e.g. 24 or 365).

Combining numbers in the Japanese system involves choosing the appropriate word for each place's value and putting the word あまり (remainder, often shortened to まり) in between each. So, for example:

• 24 = 20 + 4 = [二十]{はた}まり[四つ]{よっつ}


• 365 = 300 + 60 + 5 = [三百]{みほ}まり[六十]{むそ}まり[五つ]{いつつ}


• 1024 = 1000 + 20 + 4 = [千]{ち}まり[二十]{はた}まり[四つ]{よっつ}


• 12,345 = 10,000 + 2,000 + 300 + 40 + 5 = [万]{よろづ}まり[二千]{ふたち}まり[三百]{みほ}まり[四十]{よそ}まり[五つ]{いつつ}

As you can see, this can get old rather quickly if you're trying to count things. On that level, it's pretty plain to see why it's not in common use above [十]{とお}. Having to say "[hundreds] with a remainder of [tens] with a remainder of [ones]" and so on can get tiresome. Thankfully, you get a slight reprieve from this once you hit 10,000 based on the few examples I've seen of numbers this high:

• [百万]{ももよろづ} 1,000,000


• [八百万]{やおよろづ} 8,000,000

As to their uses in modern Japanese, they mostly appear in set phrases or poetry. For example:

• [二十歳]{はたち} - 20 years of age


• [二十日]{はつか} - 20th of the month


• [三十日]{みそか} - 30th of the month (c.f. last day of the month)


• [大晦日]{おおみそか} - New Year's Eve (by extension of the above, last day of the year)


• [八十島]{やそしま} - 80 islands (poetic way of referring to the entirety of Japan)


• [八百屋]{やおや} - Grocery store


• [万代]{よろづよ} - 10,000 years (poetic way of saying "an eternity")


• [八百万]{やほよろづ} - 8,000,000 (used to refer to "everything" in a manner similar to 全ての)