Japanese Grammar Bank

DATES IN JAPANESE

Using dates – including years, months, and days – will allow you to talk about your past activities and plans much more precisely!

Whenever setting a meeting or even while having a daily conversation, using these numbers is essential. So, let’s get you started.

FIRST 10 DAYS OF THE MONTH IN JAPANESE

There are special readings from the 1st to 10th days.

These readings you will have to remember simply by practicing. There isn’t a magic formula for this unfortunately. Let’s get practicing and maybe pop some flashcards up around your home?

DAY OF THE MONTHKANJIHIRAGANAROMANIZATION
1 一日 ついたちtsuitachi
2 二日 ふつかfutsuka
3 三日 みっかmikka
4 四日 よっかyokka
5 五日 いつかItsuka
6 六日 むいかmuika
7 七日 なのかnanoka
8 八日 ようかyouka
9 九日 ここのかkokonoka
10 十日 とおかto-o-ka

Pay special attention to the difference between the 4th and the 8th. The 4th is read as よっか (yokka), whereas the 8th is read as ようか (youka).

It becomes simple after the 10th. You just have to combine numbers that we have learnt while learning numbers with the kanji for day i.e., 日（にち）.

For example:

EXAMPLEKANJIHIRAGANAROMANIZATION
18 十八日 じゅうはちにちjyuhachinichi
25 二十五日 にじゅうごにちnijyuugonichi

Special numbers:

The 20th is read as はつか (hatsuka).

For the days ended in four i.e., 14th and 24th, you will have to read them as じゅうよっか (juuyokka) and にじゅうよっか (nijuuyokka) respectively.

DAYS OF THE WEEK IN JAPANESE

Now let’s learn days in a week. 

Each day ends with the word 曜日 (youbi), which means “day of the week.”

So you have to only remember the first character to remember the day.

KANJIHIRAGANAROMANIZATIONMEANING
月曜日げつようびgetsu-youbiMonday
火曜日かようびka-youbiTuesday
水曜日すいようびsui-youbiWednesday
木曜日もくようびmoku-youbiThursday
金曜日きんようびkin-youbiFriday
土曜日どようびdo-youbiSaturday
日曜日にちようびnichi-youbiSunday

Let’s also teach you the meaning of each word as there is a special meaning behind each one.

  • 月 (getsu) is the kanji representing moon, so Monday is the day of moon.
  • 火 (ka) is the kanji representing fire, so Tuesday is the day of fire.
  • 水 (sui) is the kanji representing water, so Wednesday is the day of water.
  • 木 (moku) represents wood, so Thursday is the day of wood.
  • 金 (kin) represents gold, so Friday is the day of gold.
  • 土 (do) represents earth, so Saturday is the day of earth.
  • 日 (nichi) represents sun, so Sunday is the day of sun.

In Japan, you will most likely see that only the first character is used to represent the days of the week.

For example, in newspapers or the business hours of shops, the Japanese usually use (月), (火), (水), (木), (金), (土) and (日).

MONTHS IN JAPANESE

In Japanese, months of the year are also quite straight forward.

The month 月 here is read as gatsu (not getsu) when it is used for months of the year.

Simply add the Japanese numbers of 1 to 12 in front of 月 to form the months from January to December respectively.

KANJIHIRAGANAROMANIZATIONMEANING
一月いちがつichigatsuJanuary
二月にがつnigatsuFebruary
三月さんがつsangatsuMarch
四月しがつshigatsuApril
五月ごがつgogatsuMay
六月ろくがつrokugatsuJune
七月しちがつshichigatsuJuly
八月はちがつhachigatsuAugust
九月くがつkugatsuSeptember
十月じゅうがつjyuugatsuOctober
十一月じゅういちがつjyuuichigatsuNovember
十二月じゅうにがつjyuunigatsuDecember

BE CAREFUL | The pronunciations for April, July and September are a bit different!

While normally yon (4), nana (7) and kyuu (9) are used in Japanese numbers, shi (4), shichi (7) and ku (9) are used when reading these 3 months. 

Don’t make these common mistakes!!

YEARS IN JAPANESE

For years in Japanese, you just have to add 年 which is a kanji for year pronounces as nen in front of the number.

So, 2022 will be 二千二十二年
にせんにじゅうにねん
i.e., ni-sen-ni-jyuu-ni-nen

And 1999 will be 千九百九十九年（せんきゅうひゃくきゅうじゅうきゅうねん） i.e., sen-kyuu-hyaku-kyuu-jyuu-kyuu-nen.

Isn’t that a little difficult to pronounce? Don’t worry, it is very common to use numbers instead of kanji for years in Japanese.

JAPANESE CALENDAR || DATE FORMAT

The Japanese date format is Year / Month / Day with the Japanese characters inserted in between the numbers.

PATTERN

Year + 年 + Month + 月 + Day + 日

For example, 6th April 2024 would be 2024年4月6日.

JAPANESE CALENDAR || RELATIVE TIME PERIODS

Although mostly specific words are used, in conversations you might need to use some relative words. So here is a list we have prepared specially for you!

KANJIHIRAGANAROMAJIMEANING
一昨日おとといototoiThe day before yesterday
昨日きのうkinouYesterday
今日きょうkyouToday
明日あしたashitaTomorrow
明後日あさってasatteThe day after tomorrow
先々週せんせんしゅうsensenshuuThe week before last week
先週せんしゅうsenshuuLast week
今週こんしゅうkonshuuThis week
来週らいしゅうraishuuNext week
再来週さらいしゅうsaraishuuThe week after next week
先々月せんせんげつsensengetsuThe month before last month
先月せんげつsengetsuLast month
今月こんげつkongetsuThis month
来月らいげつraigetsuNext month
再来月さらいげつsaraigetsuThe month after next month
一昨年おととしototoshiThe year before last year
去年きょうねんkyounenLast year
今年ことしkotoshiThis year
来年らいねんrainenNext year
再来年さらいねんsarainenThe year after next year

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FAQs

Why learn about dates in Japanese?

You’ll be able to talk about appointments, future plans, and more in daily conversation!

They’re an essential skill in any language.

How do you say the 20th day of the month?

二十日（はつか・hatsuka).

How do you say a year in Japanese?

You say the number and add 年（ねん・nen).

What are the days of the week in Japanese?

Monday – 月曜日 (getsuyoubi)

Tuesday – 火曜日 (kayoubi)

Wednesday – 水曜日 (suiyoubi)

Thursday – 木曜日 (mokuyoubi)

Friday – 金曜日 (kinyoubi)

Saturday – 土曜日 (doyoubi)

Sunday – 日曜日 (nichiyoubi)

How do you say April in Japanese?

４月（しがつ・shigatsu).

What is next year in Japanese?

来年 (らいねん・rainen).

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