days, months and year in japanese

Days, Months And Years In Japanese

May 02,2024Ava Sato

Want to learn the days, months and years in Japanese? Here’s a full guide on how to say the different days, months and years in Japanese. Check it out!

Mastering dates in Japanese unlocks smoother communication. This guide unravels the simple system for days (think numbers!), unique pronunciations for months (watch out for April!), and how years can be expressed in two ways. Get ready to impress your Japanese friends!

How To Say Days, Months And Years In Japanese

How to say days of the week in Japanese?

You might be wondering what the days of the week do here when this article is primarily about dates, months and years in Japanese, but perhaps it is good if someone starts from the basics. The names of the days of the week come from the five planets or the five elements of life.

days of the week in japanese

A ‘day’ in Japanese is called ‘yôbi’ and every day is followed by this word in Japanese

  • 日曜日 nichi-yôbi: Sunday (“Day of the Sun”)
  • 月曜日 getsu-yôbi: Monday (“Day of the Moon”)
  • 火曜日 ka-yôbi: Tuesday (“Day of Fire”)
  • 水曜日 sui-yôbi: Wednesday (“Day of Water”)
  • 木曜日 moku-yôbi: Thursday (“Day of Wood”)
  • 金曜日 kin-yôbi: Friday (“Day of Gold”)
  • 土曜日 do-yôbi: Saturday (“Day of the Earth”)

How to say the dates in Japanese?

Of course the Japanese write the numbers from 1 to 31 when mentioning a date, but the ideograms in Japanese are written in a different way. Every date is succeeded by the term ‘nichi’ which means sun and day.

Here is a table that will give you a fair idea of how the numbers in Japan are actually written. The ones with ‘nichi’ are how they are transliterated in Japanese and the writing is of the Japanese script.

READING OF IDEOGRAMS WRITING
ichi nichi 一日
ni nichi 二日
san nichi 三日
shi / yon nichi 四日
go nichi 五日
roku nichi 六日
nana nichi 七日
hachi nichi 八日
kyu nichi 九日
juu nichi 十日
juu ichi nichi 十一日
juu ni nichi 十二日
juu san nichi 十三日
juu yon nichi 十四日
juu go nichi 十五日
nii ju nichi 二十日
nii ju yon nichi 二十四日
nii ju go nichi 二十五日
san juu nichi 三十日
san juu ichi nichi 三十一日

How do you write the date in Japanese?

It is not like the American or the European style of writing, as mentioned earlier, the Japanese have a unique style of doing everything, even the sequence of the date counts.

But just like the date and month, the year is written in the same way in Japanese. The year is associated with the word nen which genuinely means year in Japanese. For instance, if someone has to write a date, say 2nd July 2022 in Japanese, they would write:

2022 年 7 月 2日 額隠 – 神秘的日本白布 July 2 2022 / Nii sen go nen / shigatsu / tsuitachi 二千五年四月一日

This may seem confusing and foreign but once you are acquainted with the language, writing and remembering dates in Japanese becomes a piece of cake.

Asking questions about the day and date in Japanese

It is also very essential to at least ask to someone the same thing you are reading in Japanese, it does save a lot of trouble.

  • Kyō wa nan-nichi desu ka? (What is today’s date?)
  • Kyō wa jūroku-nichi desu. (Today is the 16th.)
  • Kyō wa nanyōbi desu ka? (What day is it today?)
  • Getsuyōbi desu. (It’s Monday.)

How to say the months in Japanese

The Japanese have an uncanny habit of associating their calendars with natural objects, like days with the elements of life, dates with the sun and months with the moon. Although there is no specific name for any month, Japanese people would rather go with a simple Japanese name than saying Month 1, Month 2, Month 3 and so on.

This calendar is called wafuu getsumei which literally translates to a calender in Japanese style.

English Japanese Romaji
January 一月 chigatsu
February 二月 nigatsu
March 三月 sangatsu
April 四月 shigatsu
May 五月 gogatsu
June 六月 rokugatsu
July 七月 shichigatsu
August 八月 hachigatsu
September 九月 kugatsu
October 十月 juugatsu
November 十一月 juuichigatsu
December 十二月 juunigatsu

How to say years in Japanese

Japanese Meaning Gregorian Calendar
平成29年 year 29 of the Heisei era 2017
平成30年 year 30 of the Heisei era 2018
平成31年 year 31 of the Heisei era 2019(From January to April)
令和1年 year 1 of the Reiwa era 2019(From My to December)
令和2年 year 2 of the Reiwa era 2020
令和3年 year 3 of the Reiwa era 2021
令和4年 year 4 of the Reiwa era 2022

The Four Seasons in Japanese

Now as we have covered almost everything about dates and calendars in Japanese, perhaps it would be helpful about the seasons in Japanese as well. Even the term ‘four seasons’ has a specific term in Japanese, that is just how particular they can be about things.

So consider it as a tip to impress Japanese people- be apt with what you say in Japanese! Because who doesn’t love a foreigner who is able to get their language right with precision?

Below is a table which names the seasons in Japanese as well as how they are written in Japanese.

Season Japanese Characters
four seasons shiki 四季
Spring haru
Summer natsu
Autumn aki
Winter fuyu

Different ways to say calendar in Japanese

You can’t ask about a calendar if you do not know what it is said in Japanese. On top of that, there are not one but more than five kinds of different calendars. It is rather significant so you just improve your way of speaking Japanese and the people think that you have actually done your homework.

カレンダー karendaa Calendar
Koyomi Calendar
太陽暦 Tayoureki Solar Calendar
太陰暦 Taiinreki Lunar Calendar
平年 Heinen Common Year
閏年 Jyunen Leap year

Other Time-related Things In Japanese

Now if we are going deep into examining what is with the calendar and dates, maybe other time related stuff could come in handy too. Here is a complete list of Japanese words for reading the clock and telling the time of the day.

Time of the day in Japanese

Along with the date, here we have a list where you can know the timings of when to wish someone good night or evening(with a bow and a smiling gesture, mind you!)

  • Night in Japanese – Yoru
  • Evening in Japanese – Ban
  • Noon in Japanese – Hiru
  • Morning in Japanese – Asa
  • Afternoon in Japanese – Gogo

Here are some frequently used Japanese words for simple transactions related to time:

Kinoo Yesterday
Kyoo Today
Ashita Tomorrow

Reading the clock in Japanese

  • 1 o’clock – Ichi ji
  • 2 o’clock – Ni ji
  • 3 o’clock – San ji
  • 4 o’clock – Yo ji
  • 5 o’clock – Go ji
  • 6 o’clock – Roku ji
  • 7 o’clock – Shichi ji
  • 8 o’clock – Hachi ji
  • 9 o’clock – Ku ji
  • 10 o’clock -Jū ji
  • 11 o’clock – Jū ichi ji
  • 12 o’clock – Jū ni ji
  • Time/Hour – Jikan
  • Minute – Fun
  • Second – Byō
  • A.M. – Gozen
  • P.M. – Gogo
  • Quarter Hour – Yíkèzhōng
  • O’clock – Ji
  • Half – Han

更多文章