Editing Japanese numerals (section)

=== Large numbers ===

Following Chinese tradition, large numbers are created by grouping digits into [[myriad]]s (every 10,000) rather than the Western thousands (1,000):
{| class="wikitable"
!align="left"|Rank  
|10{{sup|4}}
|10{{sup|8}}
|10{{sup|12}}
|10{{sup|16}}
|10{{sup|20}}
|10{{sup|24}}
|10{{sup|28}}
|10{{sup|32}}
|10{{sup|36}}
|10{{sup|40}}
|10{{sup|44}}
|10{{sup|48}}
|10{{sup|52}} <br /><small>{{nowrap|(or 10{{sup|56}})}}</small>
|10{{sup|56}} <br /><small>{{nowrap|(or 10{{sup|64}})}}</small>
|10{{sup|60}} <br /><small>{{nowrap|(or 10{{sup|72}})}}</small>
|10{{sup|64}} <br /><small>{{nowrap|(or 10{{sup|80}})}}</small>
|10{{sup|68}} <br /><small>{{nowrap|(or 10{{sup|88}})}}</small>
|- align="center"
!align="left"|Character 
|{{wikt-lang|ja|万}}
|{{wikt-lang|ja|億}}
|{{wikt-lang|ja|兆}}
|{{wikt-lang|ja|京}}
|{{wikt-lang|ja|垓}}
|{{wikt-lang|ja|𥝱}}, {{wikt-lang|ja|秭}}
|{{wikt-lang|ja|穣}}
|{{wikt-lang|ja|溝}}
|{{wikt-lang|ja|澗}}
|{{wikt-lang|ja|正}}
|{{wikt-lang|ja|載}}
|{{wikt-lang|ja|極}}
|{{wikt-lang|ja|恒河沙}}
|{{wikt-lang|ja|阿僧祇}}
|{{wikt-lang|ja|那由他}}, {{wikt-lang|ja|那由多}}
|{{wikt-lang|ja|不可思議}}
|{{wikt-lang|ja|無量大数}}
|- align="center"
!align="left"|Reading 
|{{tlit|ja|man}}
|{{tlit|ja|oku}}
|{{tlit|ja|chō}}
|{{tlit|ja|kei}}
|{{tlit|ja|gai}}
|{{tlit|ja|jo}}, {{tlit|ja|shi}}
|{{tlit|ja|jō}}
|{{tlit|ja|kō}}
|{{tlit|ja|kan}}
|{{tlit|ja|sei}}
|{{tlit|ja|sai}}
|{{tlit|ja|goku}}
|{{tlit|ja|gōgasha}}
|{{tlit|ja|asōgi}}
|{{tlit|ja|nayuta}}
|{{tlit|ja|fukashigi}}
|{{tlit|ja|muryōtaisū}}
|}

Variation is due to the {{Nihongo||塵劫記|[[Jinkōki]]}}, Japan's oldest mathematics text. The initial edition was published in 1627 and had many errors, most of which were fixed in the 1631 edition. In 1634, there was yet another edition which again changed a few values. The above variation is due to inconsistencies in the latter two editions. There are different characters for 10{{sup|24}} (of which {{lang|ja|秭}} is in Chinese today), and after 10{{sup|48}} they differ in whether they continue increasing by a factor of 10{{sup|4}} or switch to 10{{sup|8}}. (If by a factor of 10{{sup|8}}, the intervening factors of 10{{sup|4}} are produced with {{Nihongo krt||万|man}}. The current edition of the {{tlit|ja|Jinkōki}}, the 11th, follows a factor of 10{{sup|4}} throughout, though some people still use the values from the 8th edition even today.)

The first three numbers with multisyllabic names and variation in assigned values ultimately derive from India, though they did not have defined values there. {{Nihongo krt||恒河沙|gōgasha}} was originally used in Buddhist scripture for an indefinitely large quantity; it derives from the [[Sanskrit]] {{lang|sa|गङ्गा}} {{tlit|sa|gangā}} '[[Ganges]]' (which conveniently includes the character {{Nihongo krt|'river'|河|ka}}) and {{Nihongo krt|'sand'|沙|sha}}, referring to the innumerable sands of the Ganges River. {{Nihongo krt||阿僧祇|asōgi}}, from Sanskrit {{lang|sa|असंख्येय}} {{tlit|sa|asaṃkhyeya}} 'uncountable/innumerable', with the negative prefix {{Nihongo krt||阿|a}}, and {{Nihongo krt||那由他|nayuta}} is from Sanskrit {{lang|sa|नयुत/नयुतः}} {{tlit|sa|nayuta(ḥ)}}. After that, the numbers are Buddhist terms translated into or coined in Chinese and later assigned numerical values: {{Nihongo krt|'unimaginable'|不可思議|fukashigi}} and {{Nihongo krt|'immeasurably large number'|無量大数|muryōtaisū}}. 

Examples: ''(spacing by groups of four digits is given only for clarity of explanation)''
*1 0000 : {{Nihongo krt||一万|ichi-man}}
*983 6703 : {{Nihongo krt||九百八十三万 六千七百三|kyū-hyaku hachi-jū san-man, roku-sen nana-hyaku san}}
*20 3652 1801 : {{Nihongo krt||二十億 三千六百五十二万 千八百一|ni-jū oku, san-zen rop-pyaku go-jū ni-man, sen hap-pyaku ichi}}

However, numbers written in Arabic numerals are separated by commas every three digits following English-speaking convention. If Arabic numbers and kanji are used in combination, Western orders of magnitude may be used for numbers smaller than 10,000 (e.g. {{lang|ja|2,500万}} for 25,000,000).

In Japanese, when long numbers are written out in kanji, zeros are omitted for all powers of ten. Hence 4002 is {{lang|ja|四千二}} (in contrast, Chinese requires the use of {{lang|zh|零}} wherever a zero appears, e.g. {{lang|zh|四千零二}} for 4002).  However, when reading out a statement of accounts, for example, the skipped digit or digits are sometimes indicated by {{Nihongo||飛び|tobi}} or {{Nihongo||飛んで|tonde}}): e.g. {{tlit|ja|yon-sen '''tobi''' ni}} or {{tlit|ja|yon-sen '''tonde''' ni}} instead of the normal {{tlit|ja|yon-sen ni}}.