百万
hyaku-man[ça̠kɯ̟mã̠ɴ]
The Japanese word for million is 百万 (hyaku-man).
百万 is a cardinal number used to represent the number one million.
Meaning: cardinal number (num)
What does it mean word for word?
The word is composed of 百 (hundred) and 万 (ten thousand), literally meaning 'one hundred ten-thousands'.
Which one should you use?
While 百万 is the standard way to express a million, the loanword ミリオン is sometimes used in casual contexts.
How does it change in a sentence?
When referring to a million yen, you append the currency counter directly to the number to form 百万円.
How do you pronounce it?
hyaku-man
What mistakes should you avoid?
Avoid trying to translate 'million' into a single unit. In Japanese, you must count in units of ten thousand (万), meaning a million is expressed as 'one hundred ten-thousands' (百万).
Did you know?
- The character 万 is used in the word 万能 (bannō) to mean 'all-powerful' or 'versatile'. Here, the idea of 'ten thousand' is used metaphorically to represent 'everything'.
- In historical contexts, the phrase 百万 was often used in poetry and literature to simply mean 'a vast, uncountable number' rather than a literal mathematical total.
- Japanese financial documents often use a comma every three digits to match Western standards, but the spoken language still reads the number using the four-digit 万 system.
Examples in context
- 損害は百万ドルにのぼる。The loss amounts to a million dollars.This sentence shows the use of 百万 to describe a sum of dollars.Tatoeba #139333 by bunbuku, translation #274553 by CK
- もし百万ドルあれば、どうしますか。What would you do if you had a million dollars?This sentence uses 百万 in a conditional context regarding money.Tatoeba #193464 by bunbuku, translation #30630 by CK
- この宝石は、ひとつ百万円以上のお値段です。These jewels are priced at over a million yen each.This sentence demonstrates how to append the currency counter to 百万 to express a price in yen.Tatoeba #11211598 by ITA, translation #11211745 by CK
- 日本の人口は一億二千万人です。The population of Japan is 120 million people.
- 彼は百万円の寄付をしました。He donated one million yen.
- そのアーティストはミリオンセラーを達成しました。That artist achieved a million-seller.
- 10 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
陽太 and 陽葵 are discussing the budget for a new concert.
- 陽太 Yota予算はいくらくらいかかるかな？Yosan wa ikura kurai kakaru kana?I wonder how much the budget will be?
- 陽葵 Himari少なくとも百万円は必要だと思います。Sukunakutomo hyakuman-en wa hitsuyou da to omoimasu.I think we need at least one million yen.
- 陽太 Yota陽葵さん、それはかなり高いですね。Himari-san, sore wa kanari takai desu ne.Himari, that is quite expensive.
- 陽葵 Himariええ、でも素晴らしいイベントになりますよ。Ee, demo subarashii ibento ni narimasu yo.Yes, but it will be a wonderful event.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “million” translations and entries 百万, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
