We have investigated the effects of hydrogen injection via in-situ gas addition ($O_2$, $H_2$, or $O_2$ + $H_2$ gas) and plasma post-treatment (Ar or Ar + H plasma) on material properties of ZnO that is considered to be as a channel layer in transparent thin film transistors. The variations in the electrical resistivity, optical transmittance and bandgap energy, and crystal quality of ZnO thin films were characterized in terms of the methods and conditions used in hydrogen injection. The resistivity was significantly decreased by injection of hydrogen; approximately $10^6;{Omega}cm$ for as-grown, $1.2;{ imes};10^2;{Omega}cm$ for in-situ with $O_2/H_2;=;2/3$ addition, and $0.1;{Omega}cm$ after Ar + H plasma treatment of 90 min. The average transmittance of ZnO films measured at a wavelength of 400-700 nm was gradually increased by increasing the post-treatment time in Ar + H plasma. The optical bandgap energy of ZnO films was almost monotonically increased by decreasing the $O_2/H_2$ ratio in in-situ gas addition or by increasing the post-treatment time in Ar + H plasma, while the post-treatment using Ar plasma hardly affected the bandgap energy. The role of hydrogen in ZnO was discussed by considering the creation and annihilation of oxygen vacancies as well as the formation of shallow donors by hydrogen.