Two pronunciations are used: the Sino-Japanese (on'yomi) readings of the Chinese characters and the Japanese yamato kotoba (native words, kun'yomi readings).
| Number | Kanji | Hiragana | On reading | Kun reading | Jukujikun |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 零 | れい | りょう | れい | |
| 1 | 一 | いち | いち | いつ | ひと |
| 2 | 二 | に | に | じ | ふた |
| 3 | 三 | さん | さん | さん | み |
| 4 | 四 | よん（し） | し | し | よ |
| 5 | 五 | ご | ご | ご | いつ、い |
| 6 | 六 | ろく | ろく | りく | む |
| 7 | 七 | なな（しち） | しち | しつ | なな |
| 8 | 八 | はち | はち | はつ | や |
| 9 | 九 | きゅう（く） | く | きゅう（きう） | ここの |
| Number | Kanji | Hiragana | On reading | Kun reading | Jukujikun |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | 十 | じゅう | じゅう | しゅう | とお、そ |
| 100 | 百 | ひゃく | ひゃく | はく | もも、お |
| 1000 | 千 | せん | せん | せん | ち |
| 10000 | 万 | まん | まん | ばん | よろず |
In writing, they are the same as the Chinese numerals, and the grouping of large numbers follows the Chinese tradition of grouping by 10,000.
Starting at 万 (10,000), numbers begin with 一 (ichi) if no digit would otherwise precede. That is, 100 is just 百 hyaku, and 1000 is just 千 sen, but 10,000 is 一万 ichiman, not just *man.
| Number | Kanji | Hiragana |
|---|---|---|
| 11 | 十一 | じゅういち |
| 59 | 五十九 | ごじゅうきゅう |
| 125 | 百二十五 | ひゃくにじゅうご |
| 370 | 三百七十 | さんびゃくななじゅう |
| 1234 | （一）千二百三十四 | （一）せんにひゃくさんじゅうよん |
The numbers 4 and 9 are considered unlucky in Japanese: 4, pronounced shi, is a homophone for death (死); 9, when pronounced ku, is a homophone for suffering (苦).
In modern Japanese, cardinal numbers are given the on readings except 4 and 7, which are called yon and nana respectively.