The World of Languages · Japonic
Japanese · 日本語 (Nihongo)
Three writing systems in one sentence, levels of politeness built into grammar, and the language of anime, manga and Murakami.
- 124 million native speakers
- 126 million speakers in total
- Japanese (kanji + kana) script
- FSI Category IV · 88 weeks
- Official in 1 country
Where Japanese is spoken
Tap or hover over a country. Colours show the language's status, based on Unicode CLDR territory data (population estimates mix sources and years).
Top countries by speakers
- Japan · 日本Official language · 117M (95%)
Key numbers
- Native (L1) speakers
- 124 million
- Second-language (L2) speakers
- 2 million
- Total speakers
- 126 million
- Source
- Ethnologue (2026), via Wikipedia
Japanese at a glance
Japanese (日本語, Nihongo; [ɲihoŋɡo] ) is the principal language of the Japonic language family spoken by the Japanese people. It has around 123 million speakers, primarily in Japan, the only country where it is the national language, and within the Japanese diaspora worldwide.
The Japonic family also includes the Ryukyuan languages and the variously classified Hachijō language. There have been many attempts to group the Japonic languages with other families such as Ainu, Austronesian, Koreanic, and the now discredited Altaic, but none of these proposals have gained any widespread acceptance.
From the Wikipedia article Japanese language (CC BY-SA 4.0).
- Name in Japanese
- 日本語 (Nihongo)
- Family
- JaponicJapanesicJapan-Taiwan Japanese
- Writing system
- Kanji (Chinese characters), hiragana and katakana, often mixed in one sentence
- Direction
- Left to right or top to bottom
- Tones
- Pitch accent (not full tones)
- Official in
- Japan
- Codes
- ISO 639-3
jpn· Glottolognucl1643· Q5287 - Writing sample
すべての人間は、生まれながらにして自由であり、かつ、尊厳と権利とについて平等である。人間は、理性と良心とを授けられており、互いに同胞の精神をもって行動しなければならない。
Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights…”
Linguistic profile
How hard is Japanese for English speakers?
The US Foreign Service Institute puts Japanese in Category IV: about 88 weeks (2200 class hours) of full-time study to reach professional working proficiency.
Source: FSI language learning timelines. See all languages ranked: hardest · easiest.
Feature values from the World Atlas of Language Structures (WALS Online, CC BY 4.0).
The Japanese script
Kanji (Chinese characters), hiragana and katakana, often mixed in one sentence. Tap a character to hear it.
Hiragana, one of the three Japanese scripts (with katakana and kanji).
Useful Japanese phrases with pronunciation
Numbers 1–10
- 一 ichi
- 二 ni
- 三 san
- 四 shi
- 五 go
- 六 roku
- 七 shichi
- 八 hachi
- 九 ku
- 十 jū
Days of the week
- Mon 月曜日
- Tue 火曜日
- Wed 水曜日
- Thu 木曜日
- Fri 金曜日
- Sat 土曜日
- Sun 日曜日
Everyday words
- water 水 mizu
- cat 猫 neko
- dog 犬 inu
- coffee コーヒー kōhī
- beer ビール bīru
- bread パン pan
- book 本 hon
Phrases and words checked against Wiktionary; days and months from Unicode CLDR. Audio uses your browser's built-in Japanese voice when available.
Dialects and varieties
Standard Japanese (Hyōjungo)
Nationwide, based on Tokyo speech
“Arigatō” (thank you), “hontō?” (really?).
Kansai-ben
Osaka, Kyoto, Kobe
“Ōkini” for thank you, “honma?” for really?, and “-hen” instead of “-nai” for negatives: wakarahen (I don't understand).
Hakata-ben
Fukuoka, Kyushu
Sentence ending “-to?” in questions: “nan shiyo-to?” (what are you doing?).
Tōhoku-ben
Northern Honshu
Famously “zūzū-ben”: i and u merge and many sounds are voiced.
Okinawan
Okinawa
Okinawan (Uchināguchi) is a separate Ryukyuan language, not mutually intelligible with Japanese: “haisai” means hello.
Hear the dialects
Fun words, untranslatables and false friends
木漏れ日
komorebi
Sunlight filtering through the leaves of trees.
積ん読
tsundoku
Buying books and letting them pile up unread.
生き甲斐
ikigai
A reason for being; what makes life worth living.
False friends for English speakers
| Japanese | Looks like | Actually means |
|---|---|---|
| マンション manshon | mansion | apartment or condo |
| スマート sumāto | smart (clever) | slim, stylish |
| サイダー saidā | cider | a sweet fizzy soft drink |
Curious facts
- A normal Japanese sentence can use kanji, hiragana and katakana together: 東京へ行きます / コーヒーを飲みます.
- Japanese has no spaces between words. The mix of scripts helps readers see where words begin and end.
- Word order is subject–object–verb, and particles (は wa, を o, に ni) mark each word's role.
- Politeness (keigo) is built into verbs: taberu, tabemasu and meshiagaru all mean “eat”, at increasing levels of respect.
- Students learn the 2,136 jōyō kanji designated for everyday use.
Famous Japanese-speaking voices
Singers & musicians
Writers & poets
Film & TV
Other famous figures
Descriptions from Wikidata; photos from Wikimedia Commons under the licences shown.
Japanese culture now
Spirited Away
2001 film by Hayao Miyazaki
Your Name
2016 film by Makoto Shinkai
Pokémon
Japanese media franchise
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba
Japanese manga series by Koyoharu Gotouge
City pop
1970s Japanese pop music genre
Shōgun (2024 TV series)
2024 American historical drama television series
Learn Japanese on YouTube
Free lessons from teachers and channels with Japanese courses. Videos load only when you press play.
The story of the language
Quick quiz: how well do you know Japanese?
Where to learn Japanese
Learn Japanese
LangMagic's guide to learning Japanese.
LangMagicJapanese Content Portal
Japanese videos, with smooth progress from teachers' channels to native content.
LangMagicThe Endless Book
Read text you can understand, in the style of your favourite author and genre. About 30 languages.
LangMagicLangMagic Speak
Speaking lessons built around your topics, from materials you choose.
LangMagicLangMagic Meet
A virtual meeting platform built for language lessons, with follow-up exercises.
FreeWikivoyage Japanese phrasebook
Free travel phrasebook with pronunciation guide
FreeWikibooks: Japanese
Free, open textbook
FreeOmniglot: Japanese
Script, pronunciation and useful phrases
FreeWiktionary: Japanese dictionary
Free multilingual dictionary
Sources
- Speaker numbers: Ethnologue (2026), via Wikipedia.
- Countries, populations, alphabets, days and months: Unicode CLDR 46.
- Classification: Glottolog 5.3. Grammar features: WALS Online.
- Introduction: Wikipedia, Japanese language (CC BY-SA 4.0). People and culture: Wikipedia and Wikidata. Images: Wikimedia Commons.
- Writing sample: Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 1, from the Unicode UDHR collection. Phrases and words: Wiktionary. Difficulty: US Foreign Service Institute.
- Map: Natural Earth via world-atlas (public domain).