Kanji Numbers
1,000
The kanji
for sen came from the shape of a person and
evolved into today’s 
.
100
Today’s kanji for hyaku came from a picture of a pointing hand.
10
The kanji
for 
(ju) evolved
from a threaded needle.
9
Today’s kanji for 
(kyu or ku)
came from the shape of an arm.
8
The kanji
for hachi came from two curved lines and
ended out as today’s
.
7
An awl
between wood was the starting point for the kanji for 
(nana)
also read as shichi.
6
The kanji
for 
(roku) came from a picture of a house and evolved into
today’s.
5
Go’s kanji started as a spool
of thread and today’s is 
.
4
The kanji
for 
(yon)
came from the picture of a mouth with lips and a tongue.
3
San’s kanji came from 3 sticks
of wood parallel to each other and is now 
.
2
San and
(ni)
evolved from the same concept except ni came
from only two sticks of wood.
1
A pointing
hand was the starting point for the kanji for 
(ichi)
.
By Will
May, 2000