Japanese Counter Quest
Choose the counter word (助数詞) that fits what you are counting — people, animals, books, machines, drinks — and learn the irregular readings and sound changes as you play.
About the author
Luke McLaughlin created Constructing Language after living in Japan and later learning Mandarin Chinese from scratch. The lessons, games, and guides are built from that first-hand learner experience and checked against native-speaker course work with Hiro for Japanese and Xiang for Mandarin Chinese.
- Lived in Japan and studied Japanese through immersion and structured self-study.
- Learned Mandarin Chinese from scratch as an adult learner.
- Created the Construction Method: audio-first sentence building, grammar graphics, and active recall.
- Built Japanese course material with Hiro and Mandarin course material with Xiang, both native-speaker collaborators.
How the counter quest works
Each question hides the counter inside a complete Japanese sentence shown in kanji with a full romaji reading. Learners pick the counter that matches the noun category, hear the sentence aloud, and get an explanation that covers irregular readings such as hitori, futari, and tsuitachi, plus sound changes like ippon, sanbiki, and roppyaku.
- Practise the 12 most useful counters: 人, 本, 枚, 匹, 冊, 台, 個, 杯, 羽, 頭, 階, and 回.
- Every answer shows the full counting phrase with its reading, for example 三匹（さんびき）sanbiki.
- A built-in cheat sheet lists each counter with its readings and typical noun categories.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are Japanese counters?
Japanese counters (助数詞, josuushi) are words that attach to numbers when counting: 三匹 for three small animals, 二冊 for two books, 一本 for one long thin object like an umbrella or a bottle.
Does the game explain the sound changes?
Yes. Every answer explains readings such as ippon (一本), sanbiki (三匹), roppyaku (六百), and the irregular people readings hitori and futari.