Japanese Number Kanji: Memory Aids

If you want to find an easy way to remember just about anything, whether it's your shopping list or the names of all those people you were just introduced to, then a great way to go about it is to get into the habit of inventing memory aids for yourself. These are things that will make the new piece of information meaningful to you, by connecting it with something familiar. When it comes to learning Japanese kanji, or Japanese vocabulary, or for that matter learning vocabulary in any language, this approach is especially valuable. Below are some thoughts about learning Japanese numbers kanji, and the memory aids I use for them.

Below are the kanji, or Japanese characters, for the numbers 1 to 10. The memory aids I have worked out for these help you to remember what number each of the kanji represents, not the Japanese words for each of the numbers. That's a different set of memory aids! I might come back to those in another hub. My Japanese numbers kanji memory aids are:-

一 1 Easy - just one line!

二 2 Easy - just two lines!

三 3 Easy - just three lines!

四 4 This kanji reminds me of a window with curtains. Remember that the window has four sides, and four corners; or think of a simple drawing of a house, with a door and four windows

五 5 If you look carefully at this kanji, you should be able to see the shape of a number 5 (like the 5 on a digital clock)

六 6 This looks a bit like a person, doesn't it. So imagine that it's a 6 year old, on his birthday, doing a star jump & shouting "I'm six!"

七 7 If you turn this one upside down, it looks like a number 7 with a line through it, like the French do.

八 8 The Japanese word for 8 is 'hachi' (hutchy). Think 'eight rabbits in a rabbit hutchy'. Some rabbit hutches are a triangular shape, and this kanji looks like the roof of one of those.

九 9 Look closely at this kanji, and you can see the resemblance to the letter n. N for nine.

十 10 If you tilt this kanji slightly to one side, it looks like an X, which is the Roman numeral for 10.

Good luck with remembering the Japanese kanji for numbers. If you think of other memory aids than these, that's great, because the memory aids that work best are the ones that mean something to you. If your memory aid is a really great one, feel free to share it!

Below are a couple of videos and some links to other places on the internet where you can practise these Japanese kanji numbers. Gambatte ne! (Good luck!)