How to Say How Much Is This in Japanese: Ikura, Zeikomi and Totals

The core question: kore wa ikura desu ka

Ikura is the question word for price. It works on its own, and it works inside a full sentence. The full, polite version is kore wa ikura desu ka: this, as for it, how much is it. That is the sentence to memorise first, because it is correct in every setting from a supermarket to a jeweller.

Once you have it, notice that Japanese lets you drop what is obvious. If you are already holding the item, or the seller has just handed it to you, kore wa is often unnecessary. Ikura desu ka on its own is fine. A learner is safest keeping desu ka, which sounds polite without effort.

You can also put the item name in the sentence instead of kore. Kono ringo wa ikura desu ka, how much are these apples, or sore wa ikura desu ka when the thing is closer to the seller than to you. Kore, sore and are follow the usual rule: near me, near you, over there.

Pointing, this and that, and being specific

At markets, bakeries and souvenir stalls, most price questions are half gesture. A light point with an open hand or the whole hand is more natural than a single stiff finger, and a small kore or kochira while you point makes it clear which item you mean. If several similar items sit together, add a colour, a size or a position: migi no, the one on the right; ōkii hō, the bigger one; ichiban ue no, the top one.

When items are sold by weight or bundle, the price on the card may be per hundred grams or per pack, and it helps to ask which. Hyaku guramu means one hundred grams, and hitofukuro means one bag. Asking kore wa hitotsu no nedan desu ka, is this the price for one, saves confusion at fruit stalls where a tray and a single piece sit side by side.

Understanding the answer

The answer will be a number followed by en, yen. Staff usually say the number quickly and then add desu, or in polite service language ni narimasu. So you might hear sen gohyaku en desu, or sen gohyaku en ni narimasu, both meaning it is one thousand five hundred yen. The word en is your anchor: whatever comes right before it is the price.

Two habits make the numbers easier to catch. First, listen for the big unit first: sen for thousands, man for ten thousands, hyaku for hundreds. A price that starts with ichiman is ten thousand yen and up, a price that starts with a bare hyaku is a few hundred yen. Second, many cashiers repeat the total while showing it on a display, and market sellers often hold up fingers or type the number into a calculator. Look while you listen.

If the number goes past you, do not pretend. Mō ichido onegai shimasu, once more please, is normal, and so is repeating the number back with a rising tone: sen gohyaku en desu ka? The seller will nod or correct you. The post on Japanese money and prices covers the sound changes in numbers like sanbyaku and happyaku in detail, so here just remember that some hundreds change their first consonant.

Zeikomi, zeinuki and what you actually pay

Japan has a consumption tax, and shops are allowed to show prices in more than one way. A tag marked zeikomi, tax included, is the amount you pay. A tag marked zeinuki or zeibetsu, tax excluded, is lower than the amount you pay. Many labels print both, often with the tax-included price in smaller type in brackets, and a few older or informal stalls print only one number with no marking at all.

This matters most where a price that seems like a bargain can grow at the till. The rate and rules can change and differ for eat-in versus takeaway food, so do not memorise a percentage from this article; look at the receipt or ask. The question that solves everything is zeikomi desu ka, is that including tax. If the answer is zeinuki desu, ask zeikomi de ikura desu ka, how much with tax.

Asking for the total and prices for several items

When you buy more than one thing, the word you need is zenbu, all of it, with the particle de. Zenbu de ikura desu ka asks for the total. The same de pattern works with counters: futatsu de ikura desu ka, how much for two, or gohon de ikura desu ka, how much for five sticks. Some sellers offer a bundle price and will say something like mittsu de sen en, three for a thousand yen, without being asked.

At a register the total is usually announced automatically, often as o-kaikei wa, or gōkei de, followed by the amount. Gōkei means total and is the word you see on receipts. If you want to check the total before paying, gōkei de ikura ni narimasu ka is polite and clear. If something is being added that you did not expect, such as a bag fee, kore wa nan no ryōkin desu ka, what is this charge for, gets a plain answer.

Price words you will see and hear

The vocabulary of prices is small, and most of it appears on labels and receipts as well as in speech. Learning the written forms means you can check a price silently before you ask.

Waribiki often appears with a number in front: ni-wari biki is twenty per cent off, because wari is a unit of ten per cent. A red sticker with hangaku means half price, and you see it on supermarket food in the evening.

Politeness levels: from market stall to department store

The plain ikura desu ka is polite enough everywhere. What changes with the setting is the surrounding language. At a friendly market stall you can be brief: kore, ikura? with a smile is what regulars say, and ikura desu ka is the safe learner version. In a department store or a shop where staff use very formal keigo, you do not need to match their level. Kochira wa ikura desu ka, using kochira instead of kore, is enough to sound careful.

The honorific o-ikura belongs mostly to the shop side. Staff say o-ikura ni narimasu ka when asking your budget, and go-yosan wa o-ikura kurai desu ka in a florist or gift shop. If you want to ask a friend what they paid for something, drop desu ka entirely: sore, ikura datta? is how friends ask.

• Market or street food: kore, ikura desu ka, with a point
• Ordinary shop or supermarket: kore wa ikura desu ka
• Department store or formal setting: kochira wa ikura desu ka
• Asking a friend what they paid: sore, ikura datta?
• What staff ask you: go-yosan wa o-ikura kurai desu ka

When the exchange goes wrong

The most common problem is not the question but the answer. You ask, the seller replies at full speed, and you nod without understanding. Break the habit early: it is far better to ask for a repeat than to hand over a large note and hope. Mō ichido, once more, and yukkuri onegai shimasu, slowly please, are both ordinary requests in Japan.

The second problem is discovering the price is higher than expected, sometimes because the label was zeinuki. If you no longer want the item, you can decline politely at the register: sumimasen, yappari yamemasu, sorry, actually I will leave it. Staff will not be offended. If you only want to think about it, chotto kangaemasu, I will think about it, lets you walk away from a stall without a scene.

If a seller quotes a bundle deal you did not ask about, repeat it back, and if it is not what you want, say hitotsu dake de ii desu, just one is fine.