Time and dates

Clock times

Hours are a number + 時 ji, and minutes a number + 分, read fun or pun.

Eleven and twelve o'clock are 十一時 jūichiji and 十二時 jūniji. Longer minutes follow their last digit: 十五分 jūgofun, 二十分 nijuppun. 半 han means "half past": 三時半 sanji han. 午前 gozen "a.m." and 午後 gogo "p.m." come before the time: 午後三時 gogo sanji is 3 p.m. ごろ after a time means "about": 三時ごろ "about three".

• 今、何時ですか。
  Ima, nanji desu ka.
  What time is it now?
• 午後三時半です。
  Gogo sanji han desu.
  It's half past three in the afternoon.
• 毎朝七時に起きます。
  Maiasa shichiji ni okimasu.
  I get up at seven every morning.
• 授業は九時から十二時までです。
  Jugyō wa kuji kara jūniji made desu.
  Class is from nine to twelve.

Days of the week

In speech the final 日 is often dropped: 月曜 getsuyō. "What day of the week" is 何曜日 nan'yōbi.

Months

A month is its number + 月 gatsu. Watch the readings of April, July and September.

A number of months is counted with か月: 三か月 sankagetsu "three months".

Days of the month

The first ten days of the month have their own words:

From the 11th on, a date is the number + 日 nichi: 十一日 jūichinichi, 二十五日 nijūgonichi. The exceptions are 十四日 jūyokka, 二十日 hatsuka and 二十四日 nijūyokka, and the 17th, 19th, 27th and 29th use しち and く: 十七日 jūshichinichi, 十九日 jūkunichi, 二十七日 nijūshichinichi, 二十九日 nijūkunichi. The same words count days, except that "one day" is 一日 ichinichi: 三日 mikka also means "three days".

Years and full dates

Years are a number + 年 nen: 2026年 nisen nijūroku nen. A full date runs from the largest unit to the smallest: 2026年10月10日 is October 10, 2026. Japan also counts years by era: 2026 is 令和8年 Reiwa hachinen, the eighth year of the Reiwa era.

Relative days

Two more are おととい ototoi "the day before yesterday" and あさって asatte "the day after tomorrow".

• 誕生日は五月三日です。
  Tanjōbi wa gogatsu mikka desu.
  My birthday is May 3.
• 来週の金曜日に会いましょう。
  Raishū no kin'yōbi ni aimashō.
  Let's meet next Friday.
• 明日は何曜日ですか。
  Ashita wa nan'yōbi desu ka.
  What day is it tomorrow?