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While hiking I saw 3 bears, and I have heard a lot of people say ひき to count them. There was a mother and two small ones, if that matters.

But when talking about it I also have been told that 頭 should be used to count bears.

Are both usable? Does it depend on the age of the bear?

Nicolas Raoul
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2 Answers2

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頭【とう】 is a counter for what are usually herd animals. Cows, elk, horses, elephants... The four legged thing might also be a factor. You don't necessarily have to see them on a ranch for foodstock purposes, but it's that kind of animal.

ひき is the counter for pretty much every other kind of animal that isn't covered by a more specific counter like 頭, or 羽【わ】 for birds.

A point that arose in the comments below which is important enough to make sure it's seen with this answer:

A key factor seems to be the human relationship to the animal, and whether that animal can be reared, hunted, or exploited in some way. As was pointed out in the comments, 頭 can be used for bears if the context is hunters harvesting them. At least one example of this was found, though I suspect this usage is extremely limited in scope.

Questioner
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    So if I reared bears, I could use 頭 to count them? :P – Lukman Aug 23 '11 at 07:01
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    @Lukman: I know you're joking, but actually, I think yes, that might be true. It would have to be a ranch-style rearing in groups kind of thing, because merely raising bears would be like having cats, and cats are ひき. But, still... a bear farm might use 頭. – Questioner Aug 23 '11 at 07:05
  • @Dave: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWymXNPaU7g – Questioner Aug 23 '11 at 07:05
  • by "herd animals" do you mean "animals that usually travel in a group?". what about a lone white tiger which hunts alone, is it called a とう or ひき ? – Pacerier Aug 23 '11 at 07:16
  • @Pacerier: Animals that usually travel in large groups, so a lone tiger is definitely not 一頭. The key thing is that I think the focus is on the human relation to the animals more than the group. It's about whether or not the animal is felt to be ranch-able, in a sense. So, for example, lions and wolves travel in groups, but they are "packs", but not "herds", and realistically humans can't do much with them on a ranch. Thus lions and wolves aren't 頭. – Questioner Aug 23 '11 at 08:00
  • http://www.amazon.co.jp/gp/product/4834000060/ - even Tolstoy uses "hiki" to count bears. Dare you challenge Tolstoy? – Matt Aug 23 '11 at 08:26
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    @Dave ah ic, so basically http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~jwb/cgi-bin/wwwjdic.cgi?1MUE%E5%8C%B9 is misleading after all when they list ひき as "counter for small animals" and 頭 as "counter for large animals" – Pacerier Aug 23 '11 at 08:58
  • @Pacerier: "Misleading" is a little strong. I would say it's just not nuanced. The actual usage is a little fuzzy in practise, so you could start with that definition and then develop a feel. – Questioner Aug 23 '11 at 10:17
  • @Dave M G - I've specifically asked my Japanese friends about wolves, lions and tigers. They all said 匹 for them, even if they are in a pack/pride/etc. If you want to get a chuckle, start counting people with 〜頭. – istrasci Aug 23 '11 at 14:45
  • English is actually exactly the same here, we say "three head of cattle" but not "three head of bears". – Avery Aug 25 '11 at 01:25
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    Would be remiss if I didn't mention [this page](http://oshiete.goo.ne.jp/qa/2171028.html), which include, among other things, a discussion of whether Mickey Mouse should be 一匹, 一頭 or 一人... – Dave Aug 25 '11 at 01:55
  • @Avery Morrow: The English overlaps a lot. However, I don't know about you, but I wouldn't say "three head of elephant". I think the English is a little more limited to animals that are *definitely* kept on a ranch or reared in a similar way, whereas the Japanese is a little more expansive to include animals that have a similar feel. – Questioner Aug 25 '11 at 02:18
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    I think 頭 can also be used if you are a frequent bear hunter. Though you usually hunt maximum one for a day, you could use it for your monthly count. (DISCLAIMER: I am not encouraging bear poaching. Save them bears! Use them as karate training partners!) – syockit Aug 25 '11 at 07:03
  • @syockit: That sounds plausible to me. Hunting bears would create the right kind relationship of humans utilizing the animals that I personally think 頭 is based on. It would be a specialized use that non-hunters might not be aware of (and assuming that hunters did use it). – Questioner Aug 25 '11 at 07:09
  • @Dave Not definitive, but I found one example: http://www.pref.akita.jp/fpd/matagi/matagi-04.htm – syockit Aug 25 '11 at 07:22
  • @syockit: Nice find! That does lend credence to the concept that 頭 is about human use of animals. I might have to update my answer to be more nuanced. – Questioner Aug 25 '11 at 07:39
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熊 is usually counted with [頭]{とう}. A rough pattern is that large animals are counted with 頭, and small animals are with [匹]{ひき}, although this is by no means a firm rule.

I have never heard of using 頭 for herd animals and 匹 for non-herd animals.

Chocolate
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Tsuyoshi Ito
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  • That was what I thought...I can't say as I'm not a native speaker, but it sounds like using 匹　for a bear is somehow cute-ifying it. "Ohhh, look at the little bear! She's so furry!" Never mind it can take your head off your shoulders with one fuzzy paw... – silvermaple Dec 19 '11 at 05:09