Japan uses dozens of counters quantify
different classes of inanimate and animate countable objects.
For example, in Japanese the counter "head" is used to
quantify cattle: "ni hiki no ushi" (two head of cattle).
Below, the counter and quantities 1-5 are listed for different
classes of objects.
| Class | Counter | One | Two | Three | Four | Five |
| animals | -hiki | ippiki | ni-hiki | san-biki | yon-hiki | go-hiki |
| birds | -wa | ichi-wa | ni-wa | san-wa | yon-wa | go-wa |
| bound objects * | -satsu | issatsu | ni-satsu | san-satsu | yon-satsu | go-satsu |
| boxes & cases | -hako | hito-hako | futa-hako | mi-hako | yon-hako (or yo-hako) | go-hako |
| buildings & houses | -ken | ikken | ni-ken | san-ken | yon-ken | go-ken |
| copies | -bu | ichi-bu | ni-bu | san-bu | yon-bu | go-bu |
| cups or glassfuls ** | -hai | ippai | ni-hai | san-bai | yon-hai | go-hai |
| fish | -hiki | ippiki | ni-hiki | san-biki | yon-hiki | go-hiki |
| flat, thin objects *** | -mai | ichi-mai | ni-mai | san-mai | yon-mai | go-mai |
| floors of a building | -kai | ikkai | ni-kai | san-gai | yon-kai | go-kai |
| insects | -hiki | ippiki | ni-hiki | san-biki | yon-hiki | go-hiki |
| long objects **** | -hon | ippon | ni-hon | san-bon | yon-hon | go-hon |
| slices | -kire | hito-kire | futa-kire | mi-kire | yon-kire (or yo-kire) | go-kire (or itsu-kire) |
| machines | -dai | ichi-dai | ni-dai | san-dai | yon-dai | go-dai |
| people | -nin | hitori | futari | san-nin | yo-nin | go-nin |
| vehicles | -dai | ichi-dai | ni-dai | san-dai | yon-dai | go-dai |
| other small objects | -ko | ikko | ni-ko | san-ko | yon-ko | go-ko |
| * | Such as books and magazines |
| ** | Liquid & dry measures |
| *** | Such as paper, tickets, sheets, dishes, cloth, boards |
| **** | Long, cylindrical objects, such as bottles, chopsticks, fingers, legs, pencils, trees |
When counting objects of indefinite shape (or if you are unsure which
counter to use for an object), use the following native Japanese numbers:
| 1 | hitotsu |
| 2 | futatsu |
| 3 | mittsu |
| 4 | yottsu |
| 5 | itsutsu |
| 6 | muttsu |
| 7 | nanatsu |
| 8 | yattsu |
| 9 | kokonotsu |
| 10 | to |
