by Devon McNeely
If you are a student in a Japanese martial art whether it is karate, judo, aikido, Ninjutsu, kendo, or one of the many other styles it is helpful if you have some knowledge about the language and at the very least the numbers 1 – 10. This will come into play when practicing warmups, drills, Kihon, Kata, or stretching.
It’s important that students are able to count to ten and sometimes up to twenty. Luckily once you Learn one through ten you will not need to learn any other numbers until you get up to one hundred.
If you want to learn about the Japanese language as a whole you can study more at www.guidetojapanese.org.
One (1) – Ichi (Ee-Chee)
Two (2) – Ni (Nee)
Three (3) – San (Sahn)
Four (4) – Shi (Shee)
Five (5) – Go (Goh)
Six (6) – Roku (Roh-Koo)
Seven (7) – Shichi (Shee-Chee)
Eight (8) – Hachi (Hah-Chee)
Nine (9) – Kyu (Kyoo)
Ten (10) – Juu (Joo)
For 11 through 19, add the Japanese word for 10 (juu) in front of the last number. Eleven, For example, is Juu Ichi (joo Ee-Chee) – the Japanese words for 10 and 1.
Eleven (11) – Juu Ichi (Joo Ee-Chee)
Twelve (12) – Juu Ni (Joo Nee)
Thirteen (13) – Juu San (Joo Sahn)
Fourteen (14) – Juu Shi (Joo Shee)
Fifteen (15) – Juu Go (Joo Goh)
Sixteen (16) – Juu Roku (Joo Roh-Koo)
Seventeen (17) – Juu Shichi (Joo Shee-Chee)
Eighteen (18) – Juu Hachi (Joo Hah-Chee)
Nineteen (19) – Juu Kyu (Joo Kyoo)
Twenty (20) – Ni-Juu (Nee-Joo)
For 20 and likewise for 30, 40, 50, and so on, you would put the number of tens, then Juu, and finally the last digit. In English, this would sound like two-ten-two for twenty-two (22). In Japanese, it would be Ni Juu Ni (Nee-Joo Nee).