Telling the Time and Dates in Japanese
To tell the time in Japanese, say the hour with 時 (ji) and the minutes with 分 (fun or pun): 三時十五分 (sanji jūgofun) is 3:15. Add 午前 (gozen, a.m.) or 午後 (gogo, p.m.) in front when it matters. Dates go from big to small, year, month, day: 2026年10月29日. Months are simply the number plus 月 (gatsu), but the first ten days of the month and a few others have special readings you need to learn by heart.
Hours and minutes
Most hours are regular, but watch three of them: 四時 is yoji (not yonji), 七時 is shichiji and 九時 is kuji. Minutes change sound after some numbers.
| Minutes | Japanese | Reading |
|---|---|---|
| 1, 3, 4, 6 | 一分、三分、四分、六分 | ippun, sanpun, yonpun, roppun |
| 2, 5, 7, 9 | 二分、五分、七分、九分 | nifun, gofun, nanafun, kyūfun |
| 8, 10 | 八分、十分 | happun (or hachifun), juppun |
| 30 / half past | 三十分、半 | sanjuppun, han |
So 7:30 is 七時半 (shichiji han), and “five to eight” is 八時五分前 (hachiji gofun mae). Timetables and offices often use the 24-hour clock: 十八時 is 6 p.m. For the counter rules behind these sound changes, see Japanese numbers and counters.
Days of the month
Days 1 to 10, plus 14, 20 and 24, use old Japanese readings. Everything else is the number plus 日 (nichi).
| Day | Reading |
|---|---|
| 1st | tsuitachi |
| 2nd | futsuka |
| 3rd | mikka |
| 4th | yokka |
| 5th | itsuka |
| 6th | muika |
| 7th | nanoka |
| 8th | yōka |
| 9th | kokonoka |
| 10th | tōka |
| 14th | jūyokka |
| 20th | hatsuka |
| 24th | nijūyokka |
The same readings (except tsuitachi) also count days: 三日間 (mikkakan) is “for three days”.
Months, weekdays and years
- Months: 一月 ichigatsu to 十二月 jūnigatsu. Watch 四月 shigatsu, 七月 shichigatsu and 九月 kugatsu.
- Weekdays: 月曜日 Monday, 火曜日 Tuesday, 水曜日 Wednesday, 木曜日 Thursday, 金曜日 Friday, 土曜日 Saturday, 日曜日 Sunday. Calendars often shorten them to one kanji: (月).
- Years: 二〇二六年 is nisen nijūroku nen. Official forms often use the Japanese era instead: 2026 is 令和8年 (Reiwa 8), because Reiwa began in 2019.
Useful sentences
| Japanese | Say it | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 今、何時ですか。 | ima, nanji desu ka. | What time is it now? |
| 会議は午後二時からです。 | kaigi wa gogo niji kara desu. | The meeting starts at 2 p.m. |
| 何時まで開いていますか。 | nanji made aite imasu ka. | What time are you open until? |
| 誕生日は七月八日です。 | tanjōbi wa shichigatsu yōka desu. | My birthday is 8 July. |
| 来週の水曜日は都合がいいですか。 | raishū no suiyōbi wa tsugō ga ii desu ka. | Does next Wednesday suit you? |
Common mistakes
- English order. Japanese puts the year first and the day last, on forms and in speech.
- Mixing up yokka and yōka. The 4th and the 8th sound alike; the vowel length is the difference. See the Japanese pronunciation guide.
- Forgetting に. Specific times take に: 七時に起きます. Relative words like 明日 and 毎日 don’t.
How Hanabuddies can help
Time and date readings stick when you use them, not when you read a table. Our native tutors teach one-to-one online and practise them in real tasks, such as booking appointments, arranging meetings and talking about your plans, until you can say any time or date without counting on your fingers.