Basic animal counters in Japanese
How should I count this animal in Japanese...?
You might feel it’s difficult to count animals in Japanese because the counter changes with the type of animal.
However, there is a simple rule for counting animals in Japanese.
We’ll share the basic counters: 匹(hiki), 頭(tou), 羽(wa) in this article.
With these counters, you can learn how to count animals from mise to whales. Let’s begin!
～匹（hiki/piki/biki）
The most common and useful Japanese counter for animals is the 匹(hiki) counter.
It is used for small animals like dogs, cats, mice, sheep, fish, and insects. The animals used with the 匹(hiki) counter are smaller than a human.
It is said that the 匹(hiki) counter was used for livestock in the old times because 匹(hiki) character looks like the back of a horse with reins on it.
But actually, the 匹(hiki) counter is not used for big animals like horses but for small animals nowadays.
One thing that you should be careful of when using the 匹(hiki) counter is that you need to change the pronunciation with each number. The numbers that change are numbers that end with 1, 3, 6, 8, 10.
| 1匹 | いっぴき | ippiki/ichihiki | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2匹 | にひき | nihiki | |
| 3匹 | さんびき/さんひき | sanbiki/sanhiki | |
| 4匹 | よんひき | yonhiki | |
| 5匹 | ごひき | gohiki | |
| 6匹 | ろっぴき/ろくひき | roppiki/rokuhiki | |
| 7匹 | ななひき/しちひき | nanahiki/shichihiki | |
| 8匹 | はっぴき/はちひき | happiki/hachihiki | |
| 9匹 | きゅうひき | kyuuhiki | |
| 10匹 | じゅっぴき | juppiki | |
| 100匹 | ひゃっぴき/ひゃくひき | hyappiki/hyakuhiki | |
| 1000匹 | せんびき/せんひき | senbiki/senhiki | |
| 10000匹 | いちまんびき/いちまんひき | ichimanbiki/ichimanhiki |
Fun facts!
The 匹 counter is not just for animals, fish, and insects. Japanese people sometimes count their kids with the匹 counter. You probably can guess why! Kids are sometimes little animals!
うちにはちびっこが２匹いるよ。We have 2 kids (little ones).
Animals with 匹 counter
Dogs, cats, mice, hamsters, squirrels, hedgehogs, ferrets, raccoons, foxes, snakes, frogs, bats, fish, and insects.
～頭(tou)
Big animals are counted with the 頭(tou) counter. 頭(tou) means head in Japanese.
Cows, horses, camels, kangaroos and gorillas can be counted using this.
Not just land animals, but sea animals like dolphins, orcas, and whales are also counted with the 頭 counter.
It’s also okay to count alligators and crocodiles with the 頭 counter.
| Sound | Number | Japanese | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|---|
| １頭 | いっとう | ittou | |
| ２頭 | にとう | nitou | |
| ３頭 | さんとう | santou | |
| ４頭 | よんとう | yontou | |
| ５頭 | ごとう | gotou | |
| ６頭 | ろくとう | lokutou | |
| ７頭 | ななとう/しちとう | nanatou/shichitou | |
| ８頭 | はちとう/はっとう | hachitou/hattou | |
| ９頭 | きゅうとう | kyutou | |
| １０頭 | じゅっとう | juttou | |
| １００頭 | ひゃくとう/ひゃっとう | hyakutou/hyattou | |
| １０００頭 | せんとう | sentou | |
| １００００頭 | いちまんとう | ichimantou |
Tip!
The 頭 counter is actually based on the English meaning of ‘head’ that’s used to count cattle.
Eg: Three heads of cattle. Before, Japanese people used the 匹 counter for big animals like horses.
However, the head counter was introduced into Japan and Japanese people started to use the頭 counter for horses and cows.
Animals with 頭 counter
Cows, horses, ponies, alpacas, zebras, elephants, lions, tigers, cheetahs, bison, camels, giraffes, hippopotamuses, orcas, dolphins, seals, walruses, whales.
～羽(wa)
All birds are counted with the 羽(wa) counter. 羽(wa) means wing in Japanese.
How about birds that cannot fly, like kiwis or penguins? They are also counted with the 羽(wa) counter because they still have wings!
Big birds like emus and ostriches can be counted with both the 羽(wa) counter and the 頭(tou) counter.
| Sound | Number | Japanese | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|---|
| １羽 | いちわ | ichiwa | |
| ２羽 | にわ | niwa | |
| ３羽 | さんわ | sanwa | |
| ４羽 | よんわ | yonwa | |
| ５羽 | ごわ | gowa | |
| ６羽 | ろくわ | lokuwa | |
| ７羽 | ななわ/しちわ | nanawa/shichiwa | |
| ８羽 | はちわ/はっぱ | hachiwa/happa | |
| ９羽 | きゅうわ/くわ | kyuwa | |
| １０羽 | じゅうわ/じゅっぱ | juwa/juppa | |
| １００羽 | ひゃくわ/ひゃっぱ | hyakuwa/hyappa | |
| １０００羽 | せんば | senba | |
| １００００羽 | いちまんば | ichimanba |
Fun fact!
Within the category of small animals, rabbits are the only animal counted with the 羽(wa) counter, even though they don’t have wings.
There are many theories about the origin. One is that in the edo period the fifth Tokugawa shogun ordered the people not to eat four-legged animals.
So, Japanese people counted rabbits as birds because they could eat two-legged animals such as chickens.
Fourr-legged animals were counted with 匹, and chickens and other birds were counted with 羽, so to get around this rule, they counted rabbits as 羽.
Don't need to overthink animal counters!
Did you enjoy learning about the basic counters for animals?
It makes it easier to memorize the counters when you understand that the counters are categorized with animal size or whether they have wings.
There are some special animals that you can’t count with the basic animal counters. Please check it out in our new article, if you are interested! (Currently in progress)