万

• Reading: まん
• Romaji: man
• Kanji breakdown: 万 (man/ban) — ten thousand
• Pronunciation: /maɴ/

Meaning

Ten thousand; 10,000. A fundamental large number unit unique to the Japanese counting system.

Read as まん. Unlike English which groups numbers by thousands, Japanese groups by ten-thousands (万). This means 100,000 is 十万 (juu-man) and 1,000,000 is 百万 (hyaku-man). Essential for understanding prices, populations, and statistics in Japanese. Also used in expressions like 万一 (man-ichi, by any chance) and 万歳 (banzai, hooray).

Examples

1. この自転車は二万円です。 This bicycle is twenty thousand yen.
2. 東京の人口は千四百万人です。 Tokyo's population is fourteen million.
3. 一万円札を両替してください。 Please break this ten-thousand-yen bill.

Usage Guide

Context: counting, prices, statistics

Tone: neutral

Origin & History

The kanji 万 is a simplification of the ancient character 萬, which depicted a scorpion — its large number meaning was assigned phonetically in Chinese and inherited by Japanese.

Cultural Context

Era: Ancient

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal