Numbers 3 and Numbers 4

Numbers 3 and Numbers 4 at a glance

Numbers is the branch of the Japan Lottery where you pick the digits yourself instead of waiting for a pre-printed ticket. There are two games: Numbers 3, where you choose a three-digit number, and Numbers 4, where you choose a four-digit number. Both are drawn every weekday evening, Monday through Friday, so there is a result to check almost every day of the working week³.

Each entry costs JPY 200 in both games, and you can play as few or as many entries as you like¹. The appeal is simple: the number is yours, the draw is frequent, and the top straight prize in Numbers 4 runs to about JPY 1,000,000².

Numbers has a long history in Japan. The draws were originally held three times a week, on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and were expanded to every weekday in July 2004. When internet sales of takarakuji began in January 2014, Numbers was the game chosen to launch them, which tells you something about how central it is to the lottery lineup⁴.

How the two games differ: 3 digits or 4 digits

The only structural difference between the two games is the length of the number:

• Numbers 3: you choose three digits, each from 0 to 9, giving numbers from 000 to 999. A straight win pays about JPY 100,000, with a theoretical value of JPY 90,000¹.
• Numbers 4: you choose four digits, each from 0 to 9, giving numbers from 0000 to 9999. A straight win pays about JPY 1,000,000, with a theoretical value of JPY 900,000².

Because Numbers 4 has ten times as many possible numbers, its straight prize is roughly ten times larger. Everything else works the same way: the same JPY 200 price, the same bet types, the same weekday draw schedule, and the same places to buy³.

Both games are what Japan calls number-selection lotteries. You pick your favorite three- or four-digit number and an entry type on a mark card or on the website, and the machine or site records your bet for the draws you choose².

How you can bet: straight, box and set

Within each game you choose an entry type, and Numbers offers three of them³:

• Straight (ストレート): your digits must match the drawn number exactly, in the exact order. This is the hardest bet and pays the most.
• Box (ボックス): your digits must match the drawn number, but in any order. If you play 123 and the draw is 321, a box bet still wins.
• Set (セット): this is a straight bet and a box bet combined in one entry, at half the stake each. If your number comes out in the exact order you win the straight half; if it comes out in a different order you win the box half.

The box and set types are where the pattern of your number matters. A number like 111, where every digit is the same, can only be drawn one way, so a box bet on it behaves like a straight. A number with all different digits, like 123, can be drawn in six different orders, so a box bet covers six outcomes and pays a smaller share when it wins. Numbers with one repeated pair sit in between. The same logic applies to Numbers 4, where a number with four different digits can be drawn in many more orders than one like 1111.

Because the box type covers several possible draws at once, its prize is correspondingly smaller than the straight prize for the same game. The set type splits your JPY 200 between the two, so it is a way to hedge: you give up part of the straight payout to keep a chance at the box payout if the digits come out in the wrong order.

What each bet type pays

The headline figures from the official rules are¹:

Box and set prizes are not fixed figures. They depend on how many possible orders your number can be drawn in, and on how many winners share the pool in that draw. A box bet on a number with all different digits wins more often but pays less per win than a box bet on a number with repeated digits, because fewer orderings of your number exist and fewer players typically hold them.

The straight figures above are also approximate rather than guaranteed. The theoretical value is what the prize works out to on average, and the actual payout in any given draw moves with sales and the number of winning entries.

Ticket price, purchase limits and where to buy

One entry costs JPY 200, in both games and for every bet type¹. There is no discount for buying in bulk and no limit on how many entries you can hold, but there is a convenience feature: you can place a standing order for up to 10 future draws, called a continuous purchase, so the same number is entered automatically as each weekday draw comes around³.

You can buy Numbers tickets in four ways³:

• Lottery stands (宝くじ売り場): the street counters and kiosks found around train stations and shopping streets. They sell every day of the year except the year-end and New Year period, from 8:00 to 20:00. On draw days, Monday to Friday, sales stop earlier, at 18:30³.
• The official website: sales run around the clock, all year in principle. To buy online you register your member information, a payment method, and a bank account for receiving winnings³.
• Some bank ATMs: a selection of banks lets you buy through the machine.
• Some convenience stores: a small number of chains handle Numbers at the register.

The online channel is worth setting up if you plan to play regularly, since it never closes at 18:30 and the winnings handling is automatic, as explained below. Internet sales of takarakuji started with Numbers in January 2014, and the game remains the core of the online offering⁴.

Draw schedule, time and how the draw works

Draws are held every weekday, Monday through Friday³. That is five draws a week, up from the original three (Monday, Wednesday and Friday) before July 2004⁴.

The draw itself selects the winning digits by machine, one digit at a time from 0 to 9, to produce a three-digit number for Numbers 3 and a four-digit number for Numbers 4. Each digit is drawn independently, which is why repeats like 1111 are possible³.

A practical point on timing: if you buy at a stand on a draw day, you need to hand over your entry by 18:30 to be in that evening's draw. Anything bought after that, or online later in the evening, goes into the next weekday's draw. The continuous purchase option covers up to 10 draws ahead, so a single visit to a stand can keep your number running for two full weeks³.

Prize payment: when winnings reach you

How you get paid depends on the size of the win and where you bought the ticket.

For online purchases, winnings of JPY 10,000 or more are, as a rule, transferred automatically to your registered bank account within about a week, counting from the next business day after the draw date¹. So a win drawn on a Monday typically reaches your account by around the following Monday.

Winnings under JPY 10,000 are not transferred one by one. They are held on your My Page as retained winnings, reflected the next business day after the draw, and when your running total exceeds JPY 10,000 the whole amount is transferred automatically, again within about a week¹. If you play small box bets regularly, this means your small wins accumulate and arrive in batches rather than as separate transfers.

For tickets bought at stands, you claim prizes in the traditional way, at the stand or a prize counter, following the standard Japan Lottery claim process.

Rules on repeated digits

Each digit in your number is chosen independently from 0 to 9, and the same digit may be repeated³. So 1111 in Numbers 4, or 777 in Numbers 3, are perfectly valid entries. The trade-off is in the box type: a number whose digits are all the same can only be drawn in one order, so a box bet on it is effectively the same bet as a straight, while a number with all different digits gives your box bet many ways to win at a lower payout.

When you fill in a mark card at a stand, you simply mark the same digit in each column. Online, you type the number directly. There is no restriction on patterns, and no rule forcing variety across your entries.

Other lottery options nearby

If you enjoy the pick-your-own-numbers format, the same official site runs several siblings:

• Loto 6: pick six numbers from 1 to 43. Draws moved to twice a week, Monday and Thursday, in April 2011⁴.
• Loto 7: the bigger sibling with seven numbers and larger prizes.
• Mini Loto: a smaller, cheaper weekly draw.
• Bingo 5: a bingo-card format with a weekly Wednesday draw; its fourth prize, for reference, pays JPY 18,200⁶.

Beyond number games, the takarakuji lineup includes scratch cards, sold in four price categories of JPY 100, 200, 300 and 500, and always available at any lottery ticket stand⁷. The big seasonal draws, the jumbo lotteries such as the Year-End Jumbo, are sold nationwide on identical terms with a limited number of tickets, so once a release sells out before the sales period ends, it is gone⁸. A typical Year-End Jumbo fourth prize is JPY 10,000 across 240,000 tickets, which gives a sense of the scale of these draws compared with Numbers⁹.

For sports fans, the sports betting side of the same ecosystem offers toto, sold at lottery stands bearing the sports toto logo, and BIG and MEGA BIG, the random-assignment football pools¹⁰. Note that toto cannot be reserved or bought from the official site itself; stand purchases for sports lottery products require a prior online reservation and a QR code presented at the counter¹².

If you want the full picture of what you can play in Japan, see gambling in Japan.