NumListen · Japanese 万 and 億
Japanese 万 and 億: hear numbers grouped by 10,000, type them grouped by 1,000
English inserts a new word every three digits: thousand, million, billion. Japanese inserts one every four: 万 (まん) at 10,000 and 億 (おく) at 100,000,000. That means ひゃくまん is not "a hundred thousand" but 100 × 10,000 = 1,000,000, and there is no single word for a million at all. When you hear a large Japanese number you have to regroup it in your head before the digits will line up with the commas you are used to writing.
NumListen · Japanese 万 and 億
Where this is practised in NumListen
There is no separate 万 / 億 card in NumListen. Large numbers are practised inside Basic Numbers when Japanese is the number voice language, and they also turn up naturally in Money & Prices as yen amounts. Listen to the full number, regroup from four-digit blocks to three-digit blocks, and type only the Arabic digits — 1000000, not 百万 and not ひゃくまん. The related Japanese Irregular Hundreds & Thousands card is the one dedicated Japanese contrast card, and its readings appear inside these larger values too.
What you actually hear
A sample of the range from 10,000 upwards. The app plays the full spoken form; you only ever type digits.
| Number | What you hear | What you type | Why it trips people up |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10,000 | いちまん / ichiman | 10000 | The いち is required — unlike 100 (ひゃく) and 1,000 (せん), 万 never stands alone. |
| 100,000 | じゅうまん / jūman | 100000 | Literally "ten ten-thousands". Learners hear じゅう and write 10, then run out of zeros. |
| 1,000,000 | ひゃくまん / hyakuman | 1000000 | "Hundred ten-thousands" is a million — ひゃく does not mean 100,000 here. |
| 10,000,000 | いっせんまん / issenman | 10000000 | せん takes いっ when it sits directly before 万, so this sounds like a shortened いちせん. |
| 100,000,000 | いちおく / ichioku | 100000000 | The next group word, four digits above 万. Eight zeros, not six or nine. |
| 10,005 | いちまんご / ichiman go | 10005 | Nothing is said for the three empty places; you must supply the zeros yourself. |
| 33,000 | さんまんさんぜん / sanman sanzen | 33000 | Irregular さんぜん sits inside the 万 group; the 万 itself is a plain さんまん. |
| 250,000 yen | にじゅうごまんえん / nijūgoman en | 250000 | Salaries and rent are quoted this way. "Twenty-five 万" is 25 × 10,000. |
Japanese
The four-digit grouping, and how to regroup it
- 万 (まん) = 10,000 and 億 (おく) = 100,000,000. Everything below 万 is read with the familiar せん, ひゃく, じゅう, so 1万 = いちまん (10,000), 10万 = じゅうまん (100,000), 100万 = ひゃくまん (1,000,000), 1000万 = いっせんまん (10,000,000), and 1億 = いちおく (100,000,000).
- The mental trick: imagine a comma every four digits instead of every three. さんじゅうにまん ごせん is 32|0000 + 5000 = 32,5000, which you then rewrite in three-digit blocks as 325,000. Do the regrouping after you have the whole number, not while it is still being spoken.
- Zero runs are silent. いちまんご is 10,005, not 15 and not 1,005 — the 万 tells you the total length is five digits, and only the ones place is filled. Values like 10,050 (いちまんごじゅう) and 10,500 (いちまんごひゃく) sound very similar until the last word.
- The irregular hundreds and thousands survive inside large numbers: 3万3千 = さんまんさんぜん, 6万8千 = ろくまんはっせん, 8万3百 = はちまんさんびゃく. The 万 and 億 words themselves never change sound (はちまん, はちおく are regular). Those irregular readings have their own dedicated NumListen card.
Listen, regroup, type
01
Set Japanese as the number voice
Choose Japanese from the number-voice menu on the NumListen home screen. This is independent of your app interface language, so you can keep the menus in English.
02
Open Basic Numbers
Large 万 and 億 values are mixed into general Japanese Basic Numbers practice rather than living on a separate card. For yen amounts in the same range, use Money & Prices.
03
Hear the whole number, then regroup
Wait for the last word. Note the group word (万 or 億), count how many digits it implies, fill silent zeros, and convert from four-digit blocks to the three-digit blocks you will type.
04
Type digits, check, repeat
Enter the Arabic digits only, use Replay if you need to hear the number again, and use Show Answer when you want to see the answer and keep moving.
A dedicated Japanese voice, no silent fallback
Japanese has its own installed system-voice selection and preview in NumListen Settings. If no compatible Japanese voice is available on your device, the app tells you what to install rather than silently playing a different language. Replay repeats the same reading rather than switching variants, so you can listen for the group word as many times as you need.
Japanese 万 and 億 FAQ
Is there a separate 万 / 億 card in NumListen?
No. Japanese large numbers are practised inside Basic Numbers, where values above 10,000 appear alongside smaller ones, and they also come up as yen amounts in Money & Prices. The only dedicated Japanese contrast card is Japanese Irregular Hundreds & Thousands.
How many zeros does 万 have? What about 億?
万 is 10,000 (four zeros) and 億 is 100,000,000 (eight zeros). Each new group word is 10,000 times the previous one, so 1億 = 10,000 × 1万. In three-digit terms, 1万 is ten thousand, 100万 is one million, and 1億 is one hundred million.
Why does 10,000,000 sound like いっせんまん and not せんまん?
When 千 sits directly before 万 or 億, Japanese normally adds 一 and the reading geminates: 一千万 = いっせんまん. When something else follows the 千, the 一 becomes optional — 15,000,000 can be せんごひゃくまん or いっせんごひゃくまん. Either way the digits you type are the same.
How do I handle a number like 10,005 with a long run of zeros?
Use the group word to fix the length. いちまん tells you the number has exactly five digits; ご fills the last one; everything in between is zero. Write the group word first (1 followed by four blanks), then fill in what you actually heard.
Do I type kanji, kana, or digits?
Always Arabic digits, with no commas or kanji — 1000000 for ひゃくまん. The 万 and 億 grouping changes how the number is spoken, not how you enter the answer. NumListen is an iPhone app, and the interface language can be set independently of the Japanese number voice.
Make the four-digit regroup automatic
Repeated rounds of Japanese Basic Numbers and yen prices until ひゃくまん lands as 1,000,000 and いちまんご lands as 10,005 without counting zeros on your fingers.
Keep practising Japanese numbers
Japanese number listening practice for irregular readings and everyday formats
See every Japanese number format NumListen covers, not just this one.
Japanese hundreds and thousands: hear さんびゃく and はっせん, type the digits
Practice hearing Japanese irregular readings — さんびゃく (300), ろっぴゃく (600), はっぴゃく (800), さんぜん (3,000), はっせん (8,000) — and typing the digits. A focused drill for the sound changes that hide inside yen prices and larger numbers.