Prices in Japanese - Yen, Big Numbers, and Reading Price Tags
Yen amounts use the 円 (en) counter together with the man, oku, chō system. Almost no sound-changes apply to 円 itself; the work goes into reading the number that precedes it.
The 〜円 (en) counter
The English spelling "yen" reflects an older romanisation. Modern Hepburn standard writes en. Either is widely understood.
| Amount | Kanji | Romaji | Audio |
|---|---|---|---|
| ¥1 | 一円 | ichi-en | |
| ¥10 | 十円 | jū-en | |
| ¥100 | 百円 | hyaku-en | |
| ¥500 | 五百円 | go-hyaku-en | |
| ¥1,000 | 千円 | sen-en | |
| ¥5,000 | 五千円 | go-sen-en | |
| ¥10,000 | 一万円 | ichi-man-en | |
| ¥100,000 | 十万円 | jū-man-en | |
| ¥1,000,000 | 百万円 | hyaku-man-en |
Reading real price tags
Practising on common price points:
| Price | Kanji | Romaji | Audio |
|---|---|---|---|
| ¥1,500 | 千五百円 | sen-go-hyaku-en | |
| ¥2,980 | 二千九百八十円 | nisen-kyū-hyaku-hachi-jū-en | |
| ¥10,800 | 一万八百円 | ichi-man-hap-pyaku-en | |
| ¥23,456 | 二万三千四百五十六円 | ni-man-san-zen-yon-hyaku-go-jū-roku-en | |
| ¥100,000 | 十万円 | jū-man-en |
Asking the price
- いくらですか (ikura desu ka) - "how much is it?"
- これはいくらですか (kore wa ikura desu ka) - "how much is this?"
- Polite reply format: [amount]円です ([amount]-en desu).
Tax-inclusive versus tax-exclusive
Modern Japanese price tags often show two prices: 税抜 (zei-nuki, before tax) and 税込 (zei-komi, after tax). The standard consumption tax rate is 10%; groceries and non-alcoholic drinks use a reduced 8%. Final price = displayed price × 1.10 (or × 1.08).
Other currencies
- ドル (doru) - dollars
- ユーロ (yūro) - euros
- ポンド (pondo) - pounds
- 元 (gen) - yuan / RMB
Frequently asked questions
How do you say "how much" in Japanese?
いくらですか (ikura desu ka), "how much is it?" Or これはいくらですか (kore wa ikura desu ka), "how much is this?" The reply is just the number plus 円です: 千円です (sen-en desu, "it is 1,000 yen").
Is it ichi-en or just en for 1 yen?
一円 (ichi-en). For 1 yen, the leading ichi- is kept. Above multiples of ten, the ichi- is dropped before hyaku, sen but kept before man: 100 yen = hyaku-en (not ichi-hyaku-en), 1000 yen = sen-en (not ichi-sen-en), 10,000 yen = ichi-man-en.
What about consumption tax?
Standard rate is 10%. The reduced rate of 8% applies to most groceries and non-alcoholic drinks (since 2019). Price tags often show two prices: 税抜 (zei-nuki, before-tax) and 税込 (zei-komi, after-tax). Final price = displayed price × 1.10 (or × 1.08 for the reduced rate).
Are there special sound-changes for 円?
Almost none. 円 stays en across the board: ichi-en, ni-en, san-en, yon-en, go-en, roku-en, nana-en, hachi-en, kyū-en, jū-en. The variation is in the number that precedes it, not the counter itself. Reading 4-en as yon-en (not shi-en) is the standard convention for clarity.
Continue: big numbers · 1 to 100 · counters hub.