Language 101
Counters
The Japanese have a unique way of counting objects. They have an identifier for each type of object. For example, "mai" identifies thin or flat objects such as train tickets. So, one ticket is ichi-mai, two tickets are ni-mai, three tickets are san-mai, etc. "Dai" identifies machines such as a car. One car is ichi-dai, two cars are ni-dai, three cars are san-dai, etc. Any good Japanese grammar book will include some of the more commonly used counters.
There are over 200 different types of counters identified, making it very complicated. Sometimes even the Japanese don't know which counter to use. When you're not sure which counter is the correct one, there are generic counters that you can use. They are listed below.
| One | Hitotsu |
| Two | Futatsu |
| Three | Mittsu |
| Four | Yottsu |
| Five | Itsutsu |
| Six | Muttsu |
| Seven | Nanatsu |
| Eight | Yattsu |
| Nine | Kokonotsu |
From 10 and above, you use the ordinal number, such as Juu for 10, Juu-ichi for 11, etc. If you have trouble remembering these, you can always revert to using the ordinal number instead which the Japanese will have no trouble understanding.