60 in Japanese
六十
Updated May 2026
Sixty (kanreki, the calendar-return year)
NUMERAL
60
KANJI
六十
HIRAGANA
ろくじゅう
ROMAJI
roku-jū
Counter-attached forms
How 60 attaches to common counters. Each links to the per-counter deep-dive.
Cultural context
Kanreki (還暦) is the 60th-birthday celebration marking the completion of one full 60-year sexagenary cycle (the combination of the 10 heavenly stems and 12 earthly branches that repeats every 60 years). The celebrant traditionally wears a red vest (chanchanko) symbolising rebirth and the start of a new cycle.
Real sentence examples
父は六十歳で還暦のお祝いをしました (chichi wa roku-jus-sai de kanreki no o-iwai o shimashita): my father celebrated his kanreki (60th birthday).
六十年の歴史がある会社です (roku-jū-nen no rekishi ga aru kaisha desu): the company has a 60-year history.
Pronunciation and morphology notes
Sixty in standard counting is roku-jū. The age 60 (roku-jus-sai) carries cultural weight as kanreki, the year of completing one full Chinese-Japanese zodiac cycle. The chanchanko (ちゃんちゃんこ, the red vest) is the traditional gift.
Related numbers
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