Days, Dates and Telling Time in Japanese: A Beginner's Quick Guide

Learn the seven day names, the month and date system, and the ji and fun/pun patterns that let you read a timetable or make plans in Japanese.

Published October 20, 2026 at 1:21 PM JST | By Tokyo Paul

Quick answer: Japanese days of the week end in -yobi and are named after the sun, moon and five elements: nichiyobi (Sunday) through doyobi (Saturday). Months are numbered plus -gatsu (ichigatsu, nigatsu), dates are written year, month, day, and clock times use ji for hours and fun or pun for minutes, with gozen (morning) and gogo (afternoon).

The seven days of the week

The names of the days come from the sun, the moon and the five visible planets as they were described in the traditional system of five elements. Sunday is nichiyobi (sun day), Monday getsuyobi (moon), Tuesday kayobi (fire), Wednesday suiyobi (water), Thursday mokuyobi (wood), Friday kinyobi (metal) and Saturday doyobi (earth).

Each name ends in -yobi, meaning "day of the week," so learning the first syllable of each is enough to recognize them. In writing, a single kanji character often stands for the day, such as in calendars, timetables and event notices, where a bracketed character after the date shows the weekday.

A reading aid is to memorize them in order as a chant: nichi, getsu, ka, sui, moku, kin, do. Each shortened sound matches the element above, and that same order is how the days run in the traditional list, so the chant doubles as a quick way to recall the sequence.

Months and dates

Months are simple: the number plus -gatsu. Ichigatsu is January, nigatsu February, sangatsu March, and so on to junigatsu for December. Three need care: shigatsu (April), shichigatsu (July) and kugatsu (September) use special readings of four, seven and nine. Traditional month names such as Yayoi (March) and Shiwasu (December) survive mainly in poetry, letters and seasonal writing.

Dates are written from the biggest unit to the smallest: year, month, then day, for example 2026 nen 10 gatsu 20 nichi. This order matches the international ISO format. Everyday writing also uses Arabic numerals with the characters for year, month and day attached.

Spoken days of the month from the first to the tenth, plus the 14th, 20th and 24th, are irregular and have to be learned as words. Hatsuka (the 20th) is the best-known example, and many calendars in Japan show the numbers rather than the spoken names, so reading by digits plus nichi is a safe fallback.

The special day names to learn first

Days of the month one through ten use a native Japanese set of readings: tsuitachi (1st), futsuka (2nd), mikka (3rd), yokka (4th), itsuka (5th), muika (6th), nanoka (7th), yoka (8th), kokonoka (9th) and toka (10th). The 20th is hatsuka. Beyond that, the pattern becomes regular: the number plus nichi, as in juichi-nichi (11th) or nijuichi-nichi (21st).

Exceptions inside the regular group include the 14th, which can be juyokka, and the 24th, nijuyokka. The 30th is misoka in a traditional reading or sanju-nichi in common speech. Reference works on the Japanese calendar list these forms, and it is normal for learners to practice them in sets. If memorizing all of these feels like a lot, start with the numbers one to ten and the days you need most. In many everyday situations, digits plus nichi are understood perfectly well.

Telling the hour with ji

Hours use ji after the number: ichiji (1 o'clock), niji, sanji, then yoji (4), goji, rokuji, shichiji (7), hachiji, kuji (9), juji, juichiji and juniji. Four, seven and nine are irregular here too, and the readings yoji, shichiji and kuji are listed in language references on counters.

To say "half past," add han: sanji han is 3:30. To ask the time, say "Nanji desu ka?" (what time is it?). For lengths of time, a different counter appears: jikan, as in ni-jikan (two hours). Using ji for a clock time and jikan for a duration is one distinction worth learning early. Reading a clock on a screen is easy, since many Japanese displays show digits such as 8:42, which can be read as hachiji yonju-ni fun.

Minutes with fun and pun

Minutes use fun or pun, depending on the number before them. The p sound appears after one, three, four, six, eight and ten: ippun, sanpun, yonpun, roppun, happun and juppun (or jippun). Others use fun: nifun, gofun, nanafun, kyufun.

The change follows a general rule in Japanese counters: certain numbers shift the sound of the counter word that follows. Language references on counters describe these changes as systematic, with some variation between speakers. Reciting the minute readings out loud, from one to ten, is the quickest way to make them automatic.

A full time then reads naturally: hachiji sanpun (8:03), kuji juppun (9:10), and yoji yonju-gofun (4:45), where the minutes follow the same fun or pun rule as any other number. Practice with a handful of familiar times, like the schedule for school, work or a regular train, and say each one aloud with the correct ji and fun or pun.

Morning, afternoon and the 24-hour clock

Japanese uses gozen (before noon, a.m.) and gogo (after noon, p.m.) before the time: gozen kuji is 9 a.m. and gogo san-ji is 3 p.m. Noon is shogo, and midnight appears in schedules as 0 ji or sometimes 24 ji, depending on the publisher.

Train and bus timetables commonly use the 24-hour clock, which is helpful for travelers because 15:30 cannot be mistaken for 3:30 a.m. A reference on time notation in Japan notes that the 24-hour system is widely used, especially in train schedules. It also notes that some schedules run past 24, such as 30:00 for 6 a.m. (the example given there), for services or events that carry over midnight, although this is rarely spoken in conversation.

Entries beyond 24:00 are best read as the early hours after midnight, so 25:30 would be 1:30 a.m. by the same logic. Seeing such a number is a sign that the schedule counts that service as part of the previous day; check the operator's own notes if a late-night connection matters.

Putting it together in practical situations

A short, complete sentence can combine the pieces. "Getsuyobi no gogo sanji ni aimashou" means "let's meet on Monday at 3 p.m." Adding ni after a time marks when something happens. To ask when, use "Itsu desu ka?" (when is it?) or "Nanji kara desu ka?" (from what time?).

At stations, a timetable lists departures in hours and minutes, often in columns. Platforms, ticket machines and reservation tickets usually show dates as month and day numbers. Seeing 10/20 on a ticket is read as juugatsu hatsuka, the 20th of October. This guide shares general language information, not formal instruction; a teacher or a learning program can help with pronunciation and special readings.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the days of the week in Japanese?

Nichiyobi (Sunday), getsuyobi (Monday), kayobi (Tuesday), suiyobi (Wednesday), mokuyobi (Thursday), kinyobi (Friday) and doyobi (Saturday). They are named after the sun, moon, fire, water, wood, metal and earth, and each ends in -yobi, meaning day of the week.

How do you say the time in Japanese?

Say the hour with ji, then the minutes with fun or pun: sanji gofun is 3:05. Add gozen for morning or gogo for afternoon, and han for half past. Timetables, especially for trains, commonly use the 24-hour clock, so 15:30 means 3:30 p.m.

How do you say dates in Japanese?

Months use the number plus -gatsu, such as juichigatsu for November. Days use the number plus nichi, with special readings for the first ten days and the 20th (tsuitachi, futsuka, mikka and hatsuka, for example). Written dates run year, month, day.

Want to go deeper? Tokyo Paul's book Japanese for Your First Trip is available on Amazon.

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