人
nin
人 counts heads, nothing else
The picture Tapping heads in a line as you count them. Not who they are — how many places get filled. Tap heads and you're counting with 人; count a creature small enough to pick up and you're counting with 匹.
Where the picture shows up in 人
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heads at the ticket window
大人二人、子ども一人です。
otona futari, kodomo hitori desu
Two adults and one child.
Pointing along the queue at the ticket window — two adults, one child.
One is ひとり and two is ふたり — irregular. Four is よにん, never しにん.
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heads at the table
予約は四人でお願いします。
yoyaku wa yonin de onegai shimasu
A booking for four, please.
Writing '4' in the booking book and pushing four chairs up to the table.
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a head on its own
今日は一人で来ました。
kyō wa hitori de kimashita
I came by myself today.
Sitting alone at a table laid for four, opening the menu.
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the heads you're missing
スタッフがあと三人足りません。
sutaffu ga ato sannin tarimasen
We're still three staff short.
Three blank lines still unfilled on today's staff rota.
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asking how many heads
全部で何人ですか。
zenbu de nannin desu ka
How many of you altogether?
Tapping heads at the door as you count the group.
All of it in one picture
Buying tickets is heads, booking a table is seats to fill, coming alone is a head of one, being short-staffed is three empty slots, and the question at the door is simply how many heads. In none of those scenes does anyone ask who the people are. 人 isn't a word for describing people — it counts places filled or left empty. What 人 leaves you with is a number, not a face.