Some Great "Cheat Sheets" For My Reference & Yours Too!

Triskelion 6 >>Japanese Reference - Japanese Counters

Fun with Counters

Japan uses dozens of counters quantify different classes of inanimate and animate countable objects. 
 Below, the counter and quantities 1-5 (some 1-10) are listed for different classes of objects.

Class   Counter One Two Three Four Five Six Seven Eight Nine Ten
rolls / scrolls 巻 -maki hitomaki futamaki sanmaki              
people  人 -nin hitori futari sannin yonin gonin rokunin shichinin
nanachin		 hachinin kyunin junin
animals 匹 -hiki ippiki ni-hiki san-biki yon-hiki go-hiki roppiki nanahiki happiki kyuhiki juppiki
small furry animal
(rabbit)		   -piki                    
large animal 
(cow)		 頭 -tou ittou nitou santou yontou gotou rokutou nanatou hachitou kyutou juttou
birds 羽 -wa ichi-wa ni-wa san-wa yon-wa go-wa          
drops of liquid 滴 -teki itteki niteki santeck yonteki goteki rokuteki nanateki hatteki    
couple / pair 対 -tsui ittsui nitsui                
groups 班 ippan nihan sanpan yonhan gohan roppan nanahan happan kyuhan juppan  
bound objects
Such as books and magazines		 冊 -satsu issatsu ni-satsu san-satsu yon-satsu go-satsu rokusatsu nanasatsu hassatsu kyusatsu jusatsu
chapters 章 -shô isshô nishô sanshô yonshô goshô          
bundles 束 -taba hitotaba futataba mitaba yotaba            
copies 部 -bu ichibu nibu sambu yombu gobu          
boxes & cases 箱 -hako hito-hako futa-hako mi-hako yon-hako 
(or yo-hako)		 go-hako          
Buildings / blocks of flats 棟 -mune hitomune futamune                
houses 軒 -ken ikken ni-ken san-ken yon-ken go-ken          
copies   -bu ichi-bu ni-bu san-bu yon-bu go-bu          
cups or glassfuls
Liquid & dry measures		 杯 -hai ippai ni-hai san-bai yon-hai go-hai roppai nanahai happai kyuhai jupai
fish   -hiki ippiki ni-hiki san-biki yon-hiki go-hiki          
flat, thin objects
Such as paper, tickets, sheets, dishes, cloth, boards		   -mai ichi-mai ni-mai san-mai yon-mai go-mai rokumai nanamai hachimai kyumai jumai
floors of a building  階 -kai ikkai ni-kai san-gai yon-kai go-kai rokkai nanakai hakkai kyukai jukai
insects   -hiki ippiki ni-hiki san-biki yon-hiki go-hiki          
long objects
Long, cylindrical objects, such as bottles, chopsticks, fingers, legs, pencils, trees		 本 -hon ippon ni-hon san-bon yon-hon go-hon roppon nanahon happon kyuhon juppon
slices   -kire hito-kire futa-kire mi-kire yon-kire 
(or yo-kire)		 go-kire 
(or itsu-kire)		          
machines
large solid object (automobile)		   -dai ichi-dai ni-dai san-dai yon-dai go-dai          
people   -nin hitori futari san-nin yo-nin go-nin          
cylindrical object 
(pencil, bottle)		   -pon                    
Yama
small pile of things (basket of fruit)		   -pon                    
seconds 秒 -byo ichibyo nibyo sambyo              
minutes 分 -fun ippun nifun sampun yompun gofun roppun nanafun happun kyufun juppun
hours 時間 -jikan ichijikan nijikan sanjikan yojikan gojikan          
other small objects  個 -ko ikko ni-ko san-ko yon-ko go-ko  rokko nanako hakko kyuko juko

 

Counter Usage Examples
Hon wa ni-satsu o kaimashita. Book as-for two volume (direct object) bought
Biiru moo ippon kudasai. Beer more one cylindrical-object please
Empitsu wa sanbon desu. Pencil as-for three cylindrical-object are.
Hon ga issatsu arimasu. I have one book.
Neko ga sanbiki imasu. I have three cats.
Imouto ga futari imasu. I have two sisters.

Item ga counter arimasu/imasu. (Arimasu for inanimate things imasu for animate ones.)

When counting objects of indefinite shape (or if you are unsure which counter to use for an object), use the following native Japanese numbers:

hitotsu 1 
futatsu 2 
mittsu 3 
yottsu 4 
itsutsu 5 
muttsu 6 
nanatsu 7 
yattsu 8 
kokonotsu 9 
to 10