Numeric substitution in Japanese


In Japanese, numeric substitution is a common form of by which numbers are substituted for homophonous words and phrases. Numeric substitution may be done as wordplay, but it is also used to produce abbreviations, and mnemonic devices for memorizing information, such as telephone numbers and years in the study of history.

Readings

In Japanese, each digit/number has at least one native Japanese, Sino-Japanese, and English-origin reading. Furthermore, variants of readings may be produced through abbreviation, consonant voicing and devoicing, gemination, vowel lengthening, reading multiple digits as a single number, or the insertion or deletion of the nasal mora n.
#Kun'yomiOn'yomiEnglishDerivative
0ma, maru, ware, reio, ze, zerou, e, ō, mu, no, nashi, ra, wo
1hi, hito, hitotsui, ichi, itsuwa, wana, hi, bi, fi, kazu
2fu, futa, futatsuni, jitsū, tūbu, pu, tsu, zu, nu, ne, ju, nyu
3mi, mittsusa, sansurīsu, zu, ta, da, so, zo, za, zan, myu
4yo, yon, yottsushifōho, bo, ji, fa
5itsu, itsutsuko, gofaibu, faivuka, ke, ga, ge
6mu, mutsuro, rokushikkusume, mo, ra, ri, ru, ryu, ryū
7na, nana, nanatsuchi, shichise, ze, sebun, sevunte, de, yu
8ya, yatsuha, hachi, ba, pae, ei, eitohe, be
9ko, kokonotsuku, gu, kyu, kyūnainki, gi, chu, chū
10to, do, tō, dō, taji, jūte, tende, den

Numeric substitutions may contain multiple types of readings and variations; for example, 0348, read as "o-su-shi-ya" uses abbreviated English readings for zero and three, an on'yomi reading for four, and ends with a kun'yomi reading for eight.

Examples

  • 11 can be read as "wan-wan", which is commonly used in Japan as an onomatopoeia for a dog barking.
  • 16 can be read as "hi-ro", Hiro being a common Japanese given name, as well as sounding like the English word "hero".
  • 26 can be read as "fu-ro", meaning "bath". Public baths in Japan have reduced entry fees on the 26th day of every month.
  • 29 can be read as "ni-ku", meaning "meat". Restaurants and grocery stores have special offers on the 29th day of every month.
  • 39 can be read as "san-kyū", referring to "thank you" in English.
  • *It can also be read as the common girls' name "Miku", as seen in Hatsune Miku example, below.
  • 44 can be read as "yo-yo" and is thus a common slang term in the international competitive yo-yo community, which has a strong Japanese presence.
  • 56, read as "ko-ro", is used in, an alternate spelling of the verb "korosu" used as algospeak on the internet to avoid wordfilters.
  • 89 can be read as "ha-gu", which refers to "hug" in English. August 9 is National Hug Day in Japan.
  • 109 can be read as "tō-kyū". The 109 department store in Shibuya, Tokyo is often read as "ichi-maru-kyū", but the number 109 was selected as the alternative reading "tō-kyū" is a reference to Tokyu Corporation, the group that owns the building.
  • 428 can be read as "shi-bu-ya", referring to the Shibuya area of Tokyo, and "yo-tsu-ba" meaning four-leaf clover.
  • 526 can be read as "ko-ji-ro" in reference to Sasaki Kojiro, a samurai from the Edo period.
  • 634 can be read as "mu-sa-shi". The Tokyo Skytree's height was intentionally set at 634 meters so it would sound like Musashi Province, an old name for the area in which the building stands.
  • 801 can be read as "ya-o-i" or yaoi, a genre of homoerotic manga typically aimed at women.
  • 893 can be read as "ya-ku-za" or "yakuza". It is traditionally a bad omen for a student to receive this candidate number for an exam.
  • 4649 can be read as "yo-ro-shi-ku", meaning "best regards".

    Mnemonics

  • 1492, the year of Columbus' first voyage to America, can be read as "i-yo-ku-ni" and appended with "ga mieta" to form the phrase "Alright! I can see land!". Additionally, "i-yo-ku-ni" itself could simply be interpreted as "It's a good country". The alternative reading "i-shi-ku-ni" is also used to memorize the year, though it is not typically associated with a particular meaning.
  • 23564, the length of a sidereal day, can be read as "ni-san-go-ro-shi", which sounds similar to "nii-san koroshi" or in English, "killing one's older brother".
  • 3.14159265, the first nine digits of pi, can be read as "san-i-shi-i-ko-ku-ni-mu-kou", meaning "an obstetrician faces towards a foreign country".
  • 42.195, the length of a marathon course in kilometres, can be read as "shi-ni-i-ku-go", meaning "go to die, go".

    Popular culture examples

Anime, manga, and television

  • 123 can be read as "hi-fu-mi", which the name of Hifumi Izanami in the music anime HYPNOSISMIC -D.R.B.-, as well as Hifumi Suu - a character from The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You who is heavily associated and in love with numbers - is derived from.
  • * Furthermore, her birthday is on 1/23, and Chapter 123 was her introductory chapter.
  • 152 can be read as "hi-ko-ni", meaning "unofficial", and is part of the license plate number of the Machine itasha in Unofficial Sentai Akibaranger.
  • 18782 + 18782 = 37564 can be read as "i-ya-na-ya-tsu + i-ya-na-ya-tsu = mi-na-go-ro-shi" 2=嫌な奴＋嫌な奴＝皆殺し.
  • * In Initial D, Rin Hojo's R32 Nissan Skyline GT-R has the license plate number "37-564", befitting his nickname of "Shinigami".
  • * In Taiko no Tatsujin, a rhythm game, there is a song called 万戈イム一一ノ十 where the lyrics "trois sept cinq six quatre" is sung multiple times.
  • 25 can be read as "ni-ko", referring to the character Nico Yazawa from Love Live! School Idol Project, who wears a wristband with that number. Her brother, Cotaro Yazawa, also wears a shirt with that number.
  • * 25252 can be read as "ni-ko-ni-ko-ni", referring to Nico's catchphrase "Nico Nico Ni".
  • 29 can be read as "ni-ka", which is the name of a sun god in One Piece, and it represents the power of the protagonist
  • 315, or "sa-i-go", is used as a transformation code in Kamen Rider 555: Paradise Lost due to being pronounced similarly to "Psyga".
  • 428, read as "yo-tsu-ba", can refer to the character Yotsuba Nakano from The Quintessential Quintuplets, who wears T-shirts with that number.
  • 4696 can be read as "yo-ru-ku-ra", which refers to the anime series "Jellyfish Can't Swim in the Night".
  • 4869 can be read as "shi-ya-ro-ku" ; when "ya" is written small, it becomes "sharoku", which resembles "Sherlock Holmes. This number is Conan Edogawa's phone PIN and the name of an experimental drug in Case Closed.
  • 5, read as "go", can refer to the board game go. In both the manga Hikaru no Go and its anime adaptation, the go-playing protagonist Hikaru Shindo often wears T-shirts with the number 5 on the front.
  • 5106 can be read as "go-ji-ra", which is the Japanese name of Godzilla.
  • 551 can be read as "go-ka-i", which is the name of the 35th season of Super Sentai, Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger, as well, the code for the Gokai Galleon is 5501, which is similar to 551.
  • 56 can be read as "go-mu", meaning "rubber", referring to One Piece protagonist Monkey D. Luffy's elastic abilities.
  • 564 can be read as "go-ru-shi", which can be interpreted as ゴルシ, Gold Ship's nickname from Umamusume: Pretty Derby.
  • 5710 can be read as "ko-na-ta" referring to the character Konata Izumi from the manga and anime Lucky Star.
  • 59 can be read as "go-ku" and is sometimes used in reference to Goku from Dragon Ball.
  • 63 can be read as "mu-zan" or "miserable", which refers to Muzan Kibutsuji, the main antagonist of Demon Slayer. The official Demon Slayer Twitter account refers to June 3 as "Muzan Day".
  • 723 can be read as "na-tsu-mi" or Natsumi and is commonly used in Sgt. Frog to symbolically refer to the character Natsumi Hinata.
  • * July 23 is the birthday of Date A Live character Natsumi Kyouno.
  • 819 can be read as "ha-i-kyū", meaning volleyball. The community around the anime series Haikyu!! considers 19 August to be "Haikyu!! Day".
  • 861 can be read as "ha-ru-hi", referring to the character Haruhi Suzumiya as well as the franchise of the same name.
  • 86239 can be read as "hachi-roku-ni-san-kyū", used in Initial D as the license plate number of a Toyota 86. It translates to "thank you, Eight-Six".
  • 874 can be read as "ha-na-yo", in reference to the character Hanayo Koizumi from the Love Live! series.
  • 89 years can be read as "ya-ku-sai". This is homophonous with the Japanese word for "calamity", being a fitting age for the JoJolion character Satoru Akefu, who has a calamity related ability.
  • 913 can be read as "ka-i-sa", as in Kamen Rider Kaixa, hence it being the transformation activation code.
  • * An anagram of this is 193, read as "i-ku-sa", which serves as the code to activate Rising Mode.

    Music

  • 10969 can be read as "wan-ō-ku-ro-ku", used by the rock band One Ok Rock.
  • 32, read as "sa-tsu", is often substituted into the name of Vocaloid producer Satsuki, known for his song Mesmerizer, including in social media handles and the name of his YouTube channel. Similarly but unrelatedly, 23, read as "tsu-mi", is used in the name of fellow producer Tsumiki.
  • 345 can be read as "mi-yo-ko", used by Miyoko Nakamura, the bass player of the rock band Ling Tosite Sigure.
  • 373, read as "mi-na-mi", is used by Minami on her logo and social handles.
  • 39 can be read as "mi-ku", usually in reference to the Vocaloid character Hatsune Miku. Miku Kobato of Band-Maid uses it too, and her signature Zemaitis guitar has a truss rod cover with the numbers 5810 and 39, which mean "Kobato" and "Miku" respectively.
  • 569 can be read as the English "Go Rock", used by 569 by the band GO!GO!7188
  • 524-773 can be read as "ko-ni-shi na-na-mi" and is part of the self-introduction of Hinatazaka46 member Nanami Konishi.
  • 610 can be read as "ro-ten" or "rotten", and is often used on merchandise of the rock band ROTTENGRAFFTY.
  • 712 can be read as "na-i-fu", and is used in the Shonen Knife album 712.
  • 75, read as "na-ko", is used by Nako Yabuki in her Instagram and Twitter handles.
  • 910 can be read as kyū-tō", used by the Jpop group C-ute. On June 29, 2013 the group received an official certification from the Japan Anniversary Council making September 10, known as "°C-uteの日", a national day.
  • 96 can be read as "ku-ro" meaning "black". 96猫 is a popular Japanese singer who covers songs on Niconico, and provides the singing voice of Tsukimi Eiko in Ya Boy Kongming!.