YEN TRAINER — how to read 万 and 億 in everyday prices
Japanese prices are written in units of ten thousand: a flat is 4,980万円, a salary is 年収450万円, a building is 3億2,000万円. The digits on the price tag follow English commas, but the words follow Japanese groups of four. This page converts either way, shows how the amount is said, and gives you ten real-life questions to practise.
Why 1,500万 feels harder than 15,000,000
English groups digits in threes (thousand, million, billion). Japanese groups them in fours (万 man = 10,000, 億 oku = 100,000,000, 兆 cho = 1,000,000,000,000). A price tag mixes the two: the commas are English, the unit is Japanese. The fix is to ignore the commas, count four digits from the right, and read each group with its unit: 15,000,000 becomes 1500 | 0000, which is 1,500万.
How the readings are made
The readings follow everyday spoken Japanese, including the sound changes: 300 is sanbyaku, 600 is roppyaku, 800 is happyaku, 3,000 is sanzen, 8,000 is hassen, and 1,000万 is issen-man while 1,500万 is sen-gohyaku-man. The romaji is split with hyphens so you can see the groups. There are no exchange rates here: they change every day, and this page is about reading, not converting.
Listening practice
The listening section reads a price aloud with your device's Japanese voice and asks you to type the digits. The voice is given the hiragana reading (せんごひゃくまんえん), not the digits, so you hear the same everyday reading the page shows, including the sound changes. Nothing is recorded or sent anywhere; if your device has no Japanese voice, the page says so instead of playing a wrong one.
Where the practice amounts come from
The ten questions use amounts you actually meet in Japan: rent and deposits, a monthly salary and an annual income, a mortgage, a used flat, the brokerage fee cap, earnest money, the inheritance tax basic deduction. The ones tied to a KuraLab article use that article's figures, and the answer links to it.
Questions
Is 8.5万円 really a price?
Yes. Listings often write a decimal with 万: 8.5万円 is 85,000 yen, 12.3万円 is 123,000 yen. The converter accepts this form.
Why does the page say 1,500万 is sen-gohyaku-man, not issen-gohyaku-man?
Both are heard, but in everyday speech the issen form is used mainly for a round 1,000万 (issen-man). For 1,500万 most people say sen-gohyaku-man. The page follows the everyday form.
Can I use it for other currencies?
The grouping trick works for any number written in Japanese (people, square metres, views). The readings end in en (yen) because that is what you meet most, but the digits and the 万/億 grouping are the same for anything.