Say a price: 〜円

Mental Model: The 10,000-Based Currency Shift

To state the price of items in Japan, append 〜円(〜えん) (-en) (literally “circle/yen”) directly to the number.

The biggest hurdle for English speakers is not the counter itself, but the scale of counting. While Western languages group numbers in thousands (1,000, 1,000,000), Japanese groups large numbers in blocks of four zeros (万(まん) (10,000)):

• ¥1,000: 千円(せんえん) (sen-en) (one thousand yen, roughly \$7).
• ¥10,000: 一万円(いちまんえん) (ichiman-en) (NOT *じゅうせんえん!).
• ¥50,000: 五万円(ごまんえん) (goman-en) (5 units of 10,000 yen).
• ¥100,000: 十万円(じゅうまんえん) (juuman-en) (10 units of 10,000 yen).
• ¥1,000,000: 百万円(ひゃくまんえん) (hyakuman-en) (one hundred units of 10,000 yen).

When shopping, train your brain to slide the comma four digits from the right!

Tricky Digits Before 円

Most single digits attach smoothly to えん, but watch these three:

• ¥4: 四円(よんえん) (yon-en) (never *しえん, as し evokes death).
• ¥7: 七円(ななえん) (nana-en) (far more common in retail pricing than しちえん to avoid audio confusion with 1 / いち).
• ¥9: 九円(きゅうえん) (kyuu-en) (never *くえん, which evokes suffering 苦).

Phonetic Shifts in Hundreds (百) and Thousands (千)

Prices in Japan frequently involve hundreds and thousands. Beware of standard sound changes:

• 300: 三百(さんびゃく) (sanbyaku) (voice shift to びゃく).
• 600: 六百(ろっぴゃく) (roppyaku) (geminate contraction to ぴゃく).
• 800: 八百(はっぴゃく) (happyaku) (geminate contraction to ぴゃく).
• 3,000: 三千(さんぜん) (sanzen) (voice shift to ぜん).
• 8,000: 八千(はっせん) (hassen) (geminate contraction to せん).

Real-World Shopping Phrases

• Asking the price: これはいくらですか？ (“How much is this?”)
• Total price: 全部でいくらですか？ (“How much for everything in total?”)
• Tax labels: Look closely at shelf tags:
• 税込(ぜいこみ) (zeikomi): Tax included (the actual amount you pay at the register).
• 税抜(ぜいぬき) (zeinuki): Pre-tax price (typically printed in larger font to look cheaper).