Goroawase

Here is a chart of examples of Japanese word play “goroawase”, which are usually derived from number substitutes for sounds, and act as abbreviations useful in texting or (in the distant past) pagers, or as mnemonic devices for learners. You’ll find them in everyday life once you know what to look for. 4649!

Goroawase	Nihongo	Furigana	Romaji	English	Memo
15 x 15 = 225	イチゴイチゴに、ニコッ	いちごいちごににこっ	ichigoichigoni, niko	Grinning at the strawberries.	From children's school notes.
33414	寂しいよ	さみしいよ	Samishiiyo	I'm lonely.	Used in texting and pagers.
11 x 11 = 121	いいいい、人に人	いいいい、ひとにひと	iiii, hitonihito	good, good, person to person	From children's school notes.
11 x 11 = 121	いいいい、人に人	いいいい、ひとにひと	iiii, hitonihito	Good, good, person to person.	From children's school notes.
12 x 12 = 144	胃に胃に石よ	いにいにいしよ	iniini, ishiyo	From stomach to stomach, a rock.	From children's school notes.
13 x 13 = 169	いざいざ、一郎君	いざいざいちろうくん	izaiza, ichiroukun	In a pinch, Ichirou.	From children's school notes.
14 x 14 = 196	いよいよ、一苦労	いよいよいくろう	iyoiyo, hitokurou	Finally, a difficulty.	From children's school notes.
16 x 16 = 256	色々煮込む	いろいろにこむ	iroiro, nikomu	Stew various things.	From children's school notes.
17 x 17 = 289	いいないいな、二泊	いいないいなにはく	iinaiina, nihaku	That's great, that's cool, two nights!	From children's school notes.
18 x 18 = 324	いやいや、ミニよ	いやいやみによ	iyaiya, miniyo	No, no, it's mini.	From children's school notes.
19 x 19 = 361	行く行く、寒いとこ	いくいくあさむいとこ	ikuiku, samuitoko	Let's go, let's go, to a cold place.	From children's school notes.
物でねーと、せっかくのプレゼントも有り難くない。	物でねーと、せっかくのプレゼントも有り難くない。	ものでねーと、せっかくのぷれぜんともありがたくない	Mono de neeto, sekkaku no purezento mo arigatakunai.	If not a physical thing, even if you give me a present I'm not happy.	Mnemonic to remember the OSI model. Mono (physical) de (data) nee (network), to (t(o)ransport), sekkaku no (session), purezento (presentation), arigatakunai (application). 物理層データリンク層ネットワーク層トランスポート層セッション層プレゼンテーション層アプリケーション層.
0906	遅れる	おくれる	Okureru	I’ll be late.	Used in texting to say you’ll be late.
3.14159265	産医師異国に向こう	さんいしいこくにむこ	Sanishi ikokuni mukou	Obstetrician goes to a foreign land.	Mnenomic goroawase students use to remember the first few digits of the constant pi, π.
893	ヤクザ	やくざ	Yakuza	Yakuza	Mnemonic goroawase for the “Japanese mob”.
0840	お早う	おはよう	Ohayou	Good Morning	For IM or texting, mostly.
0340	お寿司◯	おすしまる	osushi maru	I love sushi!	License plate. The person must really love sushi!
8888	ハハハハ	はははは	hahahaha	Ha ha ha ha!	License plate. Laughter, or lucky Chinese New Year?!
6480	虫歯ゼロ	むしばぜろ	Mushiba zero	No Cavities!	Seen as the phone number on some dentist signs.
9182	キューティーハーニー	きゅーてぃーはーにー	Kyuutii haanii	Cutie Honey	License plate. The driver either likes the anime Cutie Honey, or is a cutie honey.
3315	さー、さー、行こう！	さーさーいこう	Saa, saa ikou!	Say, let’s go!	License plate goroawase, encouraging people to drive, I guess.
4155	よい、ゴーゴー	よいごうごう	Yoi, gou gou	Ready, go, go!	Exhortation to “go! go!” for a license plate.
3923	さんきゅう日産	さんきゅうにっさん	sankyuu nissan	Thank you, Nissan	Nissan lovers, unite!
4946	よく読む	よくよむ	yokuyomu	Read a lot, oft-read	“4946” or yokuyomu (often read), is used in toll free phone numbers for newspapers and magazines. Nikkei even has it in their website - http://www.nikkei4946.com/.
4649	宜しく	よろしく	Yoroshiku	Be kind to me	“4649” or yoroshiku is used when you are asking someone to do something. This uses both readings of the numeral 4, ‘yon’ and ‘shi’.
1192	良い国	いいくに	iikuni	Good Country	“1192” or iikuni, is the year the Kamakura bakufu government was established, with the idea of making a good country (ii kuni) .
39	さんきゅう	さんきゅう	sankyuu	Thank you	“39” is used in texting or IM chat, as a quick way to say thank you.
103	登山	とざん	tozan	Mountain climbing	“103” or Oct 3rd is “Mountain Climbing Day”.
1101	イトイ	いとい	itoi	The “Itoi” of “Itoi Shinbun”	If you know Hobonichi techo notebooks you’ll recognize their website as https://www.1101.com, which has a goroawase for Itoi Shinbun or newspaper.

Nihongo Number Substitutions

The following chart will serve as a key to the goroawase in the above table, showing the possible homophones for numbers in Japanese. Some of them are a bit of a stretch, so one could imagine a situation where the creator of the number play would have to explain how to pronounce it, were it not immediately apparent.

Number	Kunyomi Romaji	Onyomi Romaji	English Transliteration Romaji	Kunyomi Nihongo	Onyomi Nihongo	English Transliteration Nihongo
0	maru, ma, wa	rei, re	o, zero, ze	まる、ま、わ	れい、れ	オウ、ゼロ、ゼ
1	hitotsu, hito, hi	ichi, i	wan	ひとつ、ひと、ひ	いち、い	ワン
2	futatsu, fu, futa	ni, ji	tsu, tsū, tū	ふたつ、ふた、ふ	に、じ	ツ、ツー、トゥー
3	mitsu, mi	san, sa, za	su, surī	みつ、み	さん、さ、ざ	ス、スリー
4	yon, yo, yotsu	shi	fō, ho	よん、よ、よつ	し	フォ、ホ
5	itsutsu, itsu, i	go, ko	faibu, faivu	いつつ、いつ、い	ご、こ	ファイブ、ファイヴ
6	mutsu, mu	roku, ro	shikkusu	むつ、む	ろく、ろ	シックス
7	nana, nanatsu, na	shichi	sebun, sevun	ななつ、なな、な	しち	セブン、セヴン
8	yatsu, ya	hachi, ha, ba	eito	やつ、や	はち、は、ば	エート
9	kokonotsu, ko	kyu, ku	nain	ここのつ、こ	きゅう、く	ナイン
10	tō, to	ju, ji	ten	とお、と	じゅう、じ	テン