This is the first of a series of posts on karate terms.
This series will give you an extensive list of karate terms that is sufficient to get you from a beginner to a very advanced level.
Karate instructors use karate terms in Japanese everywhere around the world so that there is consistency across dojos. If you move from one dojo to another or if you have the opportunity to train in Japan one day, you’ll be able to blend in straight away even with a very limited understanding of the language.
In a dojo, you will usually hear numbers being counted in Japanese, most commonly just from 1 to 10.
Below are the Japanese numbers from 1 to 100.
Content
- Counting 1 to 10 in Japanese
- Counting 11 to 20 in Japanese
- Counting 21 to 100 in Japanese
- Japanese counting video
Counting 1 to 10 in Japanese
These will be the hardest to remember. Thereafter, the numbers become easier to memorize because they all follow a pattern.
| Japanese | English |
|---|---|
| ichi | 1 |
| ni | 2 |
| san | 3 |
| shi, yon | 4 |
| go | 5 |
| roku | 6 |
| shichi, nana | 7 |
| hachi | 8 |
| ku, kyuu | 9 |
| juu | 10 |
Counting 11 to 20 in Japanese
Eleven is ten one (juu ichi).
Twelve is ten two (juu ni).
And so on.
| Japanese | English |
|---|---|
| juu ichi | 11 |
| juu ni | 12 |
| juu san | 13 |
| juu yon | 14 |
| juu go | 15 |
| juu roku | 16 |
| juu naa (juu sichi) | 17 |
| juu hachi | 18 |
| juu kyuu (juu ku) | 19 |
| ni juu | 20 |
Counting 21 to 100 in Japanese
Twenty one is two ten one (ni juu ichi).
Twenty two is two ten two (ni juu ni).
And so on.
The same rule applies for numbers beyond 30, 40, 50 etc.
| Japanese | English |
|---|---|
| ni juu ichi | 21 |
| ni juu ni | 22 |
| … | … |
| san juu | 30 |
| yon juu | 40 |
| go juu | 50 |
| roku juu | 60 |
| nana juu | 70 |
| hachi juu | 80 |
| kyuu juu | 90 |
| hyaku | 100 |
Japanese counting video
Below is an excellent video by Yuko sensei that can help you pronounce these numbers correctly if you are interested.