Counting by tallies
This is how you count by tally marks in Chinese:
Japanese do it this way, too. It seems easy enough to me. I use the English system of tallies sometimes, and Japanese are interested in it when they see it for the first time. They immediately catch on, just like I immediately catch on to the Asian style. It impresses some people that I am able to do it. It impresses some people that I am able to read and write any kanji at all. Below is also a picture of some dice marked in Chinese kanji on each face. Usually Japanese use normal dice, with dots marking the six faces. But when I saw these dice at the Shinjuku branch of the Tokyu Hands department/variety store I thought they were cool. They are kanji for the first six numbers, sort of like the Chinese equivalent of Roman Numerals in the West.