Ken Counter (軒) - Buildings, Houses, Shops
The Japanese counter 軒 (ken) attaches to free-standing buildings: houses, shops, restaurants, izakaya, cafes. Gemination at 1, 6, 8, 10. Rendaku at 3 (san-gen).
Buildings, houses, shops. Used for free-standing structures rather than apartments. Sound-changes at 1, 3, 6, 8, 10.
| # | Kanji | Romaji | Notes | Audio |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 一軒 | ik-ken | gemination | |
| 2 | 二軒 | ni-ken | ||
| 3 | 三軒 | san-gen | rendaku | |
| 4 | 四軒 | yon-ken | ||
| 5 | 五軒 | go-ken | ||
| 6 | 六軒 | rok-ken | gemination | |
| 7 | 七軒 | nana-ken | ||
| 8 | 八軒 | hak-ken / hachi-ken | gemination optional | |
| 9 | 九軒 | kyu-ken | ||
| 10 | 十軒 | juk-ken / jik-ken | either accepted |
What counts as a ken-unit
- Free-standing houses: single-family detached homes (一戸建て ikkodate), traditional Japanese houses, country cottages.
- Shops: shop-fronts (店 mise), specialty stores, boutiques, convenience stores when standalone.
- Restaurants and bars: izakaya (居酒屋), ramen shops, sushi shops, cafes, kissaten.
- Small businesses: barbershops, hair salons, bookshops, small offices when in a dedicated building.
- Workshops: small factories (工場 koujou), craft workshops, repair shops.
Ken versus other building counters
- 軒 ken: free-standing buildings, shops, houses. The everyday counter.
- 戸 ko: residential units / households (one front door = one ko). Used in apartment building counts (30 households).
- 棟 mune / too: large building structures (apartment blocks, office towers).
- 階 kai: floors of a building (1-kai, 2-kai = ground floor, first floor / second floor depending on Japanese vs Western conventions).
- 室 shitsu: rooms within a building (3-shitsu = three rooms).
Sound-change pattern
Gemination at 1, 6, 10: ik-ken, rok-ken, juk-ken.
Rendaku at 3: san-gen. The only rendaku position.
Optional gemination at 8: hak-ken or hachi-ken both attested in dictionaries.
Regular at 2, 4, 5, 7, 9: ni-ken, yon-ken, go-ken, nana-ken, kyu-ken.
Frequently asked questions
What does ken count?
Free-standing structures: houses (家 ie), shops (店 mise), small businesses, restaurants, free-standing buildings, izakaya, ramen shops, cafes. Pattern: each unit must be a discrete building or shop-front. Apartments inside a single building take different counters (戸 ko for residential units, or 部屋 heya for rooms).
Why is san-gen with a g?
Rendaku, sequential voicing. The /k/ in ken voices to /g/ after san. The pattern is the same as san-byaku (300, 百 hyaku to byaku) and san-bon (3 long objects). Source: Tofugu rendaku guide; Daijirin entry for 軒.
What is the difference between ken and ko (戸)?
Ken (軒) counts free-standing buildings as wholes. Ko (戸) counts residential units (front doors / households) regardless of whether they share a building. So an apartment building of 30 flats is 1-ken (one building) but contains 30-ko (thirty households).
Can ken count chains like Starbucks shops?
Yes. Ken is the right counter for chain stores when counting individual shop locations: スターバックスが三軒あります (Sutaabakkusu ga san-gen arimasu, “there are three Starbucks shops”). When counting the chain as a single corporate entity, no counter is used.
Continue: counters hub · addresses.