7 in Japanese
七
Updated May 2026
Nana or shichi: the lucky number
NUMERAL
7
KANJI
七
HIRAGANA
なな
or しち
ROMAJI
nana
or shichi
Counter-attached forms
How 7 attaches to common counters. Each links to the per-counter deep-dive.
Cultural context
Lucky 7: the 七福神 (shichi-fuku-jin) are the seven gods of fortune in Japanese folklore. 7-5-3 (shichi-go-san) is a traditional festival on 15 November where children aged 7, 5, and 3 visit shrines in traditional dress. Tanabata, the star festival, falls on the 7th day of the 7th month. Source: Wikipedia "Seven Lucky Gods" and the NINJAL cultural-context corpus.
Daiji formal form (for cheques and contracts)
Real sentence examples
七福神を祀る神社は日本中にあります (shichi-fuku-jin wo matsuru jinja wa nihon-juu ni arimasu): shrines that enshrine the Seven Lucky Gods exist throughout Japan.
七時に駅で会いましょう (shichi-ji ni eki de aimashou): let's meet at the station at 7 o'clock.
Pronunciation and morphology notes
Seven has two readings. Nana is preferred in counting and most counter attachments (nana-hon, nana-mai, nana-ko, nana-sai, nana-en). Shichi survives in time (shichi-ji = 7 o'clock), months (shichi-gatsu = July), and the people counter (where shichi-nin and nana-nin are both standard). Phone numbers always use nana to avoid mishearing shichi as ichi (1). The daiji form 漆 (also the kanji for “lacquer”) appears on formal contracts and old cheques.
Related numbers
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