一人

Pattern visualization

Examples

1. 一人で旅行する。▶ —
   I travel alone.
2. 一人暮らしを始めた。▶ —
   I started living alone.

Collocations

Mnemonic

Hitori (一人) is the Yamato-specific counter for one person — already covered in futari. It splits between (1) "one person" (objective count) and (2) "alone" (adverbial, no companion). The 人 counter matrix (also from futari): hitori (Yamato), futari (Yamato), and on-yomi plus nin from three up. Etymology: Yamato hito (person) plus tori (counter element). Cultural code hitori-gurashi (一人暮らし, living alone): tanshin setai (single-person households) account for 38 percent of Japans population (2020 census, on pace for 40 percent within four years) — the worlds highest share. Drivers include rising marriage age, more lifelong singles, aging, divorce, and children moving out. Japans kodokushi (孤独死, lonely death) social problem: about 30,000 annual cases by the 2010s, estimated over 40,000 in the 2020s. Japan-specific vocabulary: hitori-kko (only child, on Japans 1.26 birthrate from 2022), o-hitori-sama (formal "one person," used by hotels and restaurants, plus the 2000s onward "solo dining / solo drinking / solo cinema" cultural movement), and the 2010s student slang botchi (loner). The o-hitori-sama business cluster — solo yakiniku, hitokara (solo karaoke), solo hot-pot — exploded across 2010-2020. Korea has parallel 1in gagu (single households) coding, but the o-hitori-sama business model is uniquely Japanese. Chinese yi ge ren is synonymous. JLPT N5 hitori integrates with this cultural cluster.

Quick check

1. Era when Japans o-hitori-sama business cluster exploded?

   • 2010s-2020s (solo dining, drinking, cinema, yakiniku, karaoke, hot-pot)
   • Edo period
   • Meiji period
   • 1980s bubble economy