Do you know how to write and say the days, months and years in Japanese? In this article, we will take a detailed look at how to write and pronounce days, months, and years in the Japanese language. Remembering that the writing is usually similar to the Chinese language, which can make it easier for you to recognize both.
Days, months, and years can be written with both Roman numerals (123) and with the ideograms of the Japanese language (一二三). There is no rule for when to use each of these forms, they usually coexist in different occasions. Of course, when pronouncing, it is recommended to use the popular reading in the Japanese language.
We also recommend reading:
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- Japanese name of planets
Table of Content
How do you say the days of the week in Japanese?
Although the focus of this article is the days, months and years, we should start by looking at the days of the week in Japanese (Monday to Sunday), which are practically the names of the planets or the 5 elements.
| domingo | 日曜日 | nichiyoubi |
| segunda-feira | 月曜日 | getsuyoubi |
| terça-feira | 火曜日 | kayoubi |
| quarta-feira | 水曜日 | suiyoubi |
| quinta-feira | 木曜日 | mokuyoubi |
| sexta-feira | 金曜日 | kinyoubi |
| sábado | 土曜日 | doyoubi |
How do you say the days of the month in Japanese?
The days of the month are accompanied by an ideogram that is pronounced nichi [日] which means sun and day. The table below explains better the ways to pronounce the days of the month in Japanese.
We leave below 2 readings, both are correct but are used differently. When referring to a day in a given month, we usually use the special reading in bold.
| DAY | ROMAJI | KANJI | SPECIAL ROMAJI |
| 1 | ichi nichi | 一日 | tsuitachi |
| 2 | ni nichi | 二日 | futsuka |
| 3 | san nichi | 三 日 | mikka |
| 4 | shi/yon nichi | 四日 | yokka |
| 5 | go nichi | 五日 | itsuka |
| 6 | roku nichi | 六日 | muika |
| 7 | nana nichi | 七 日 | nanoka |
| 8 | hachi nichi | 八 日 | youka |
| 9 | kyu nichi | 九 日 | kokonoka |
| 10 | juu nichi | 十日 | tooka |
| 11 | juu ichi nichi | 十一日 | |
| 12 | juu ni nichi | 十二日 | |
| 13 | juu san nichi | 十三日 | |
| 14 | juu yon nichi | 十四日 | juu yokka |
| 15... | juu go nichi | 十五日 | |
| 20 | nii ju nichi | 二 十日 | hatsu ka |
| 24 | nii ju yon nichi | 二十四日 | ni juu yokka |
| 25 | nii ju go nichi | 二十五日 | |
| 30 | san juu nichi | 三十日 | |
| 31 | san juu ichi nichi | 三十一日 |
How do you say the months in Japanese?
In Japanese, there is no special name for each month. They usually just say the number followed by the ideogram tsuki (月) which means moon (tsuki) and month (gatsu). It may seem strange to say Month 1, Month 2, Month 3, but when you stop to think about it, it is much simpler and easier.
- 1月 (Ichigatsu) - January
- 2月 (Nigatsu) - February
- 3月 (Sangatsu) - March
- 4月 (Shigatsu) - April
- 5月 (Gogatsu) - Maio
- 6月 (Rokugatsu) - June
- 7月 (Shichigatsu) - July
- 8月 (Hachigatsu) - August
- 9月 (Kugatsu) - September
- 10月 (Jūgatsu) - October
- 11月 (Jūichigatsu) - November
- 12月 (Jūnigatsu) - December
The Japanese also have an old traditional way of saying the months in Japanese that is rarely used. Currently it is often used in horoscope calendars, lunar calendar and other traditional things.
This calendar is called the wafuu getsumii [和風月名] which literally means Japanese-style month names.
| 月 | Kanji | Romaji |
| 1月 | 睦月 | mutsuki |
| 2月 | 如月 | kisaragi |
| 3月 | 弥生 | yayoi |
| 4月 | 卯月 | udzuki |
| 5月 | 皐月 | satsuki |
| 6月 | 水無月 | minadzuki |
| 7月 | 文月 | fumidzuki |
| 8月 | 葉月 | hadzuki |
| 9月 | 長月 | nagatsuki |
| 10月 | 神無月 | kannadzuki |
| 11月 | 霜月 | shimotsuki |
| 12月 | 師走 | shiwasu |
Note that not all months in this traditional list have the moon character.
How do you say the year in Japanese?
The year works the same way as the day and month, the number followed by the ideogram "nen" [年] which literally means year. See below an example of how to say "April 1st, 2005":
- 2005 年 4 月 1日 (Nii sen go nen / shigatsu / tsuitachi) 二千五年 四月 一日
We realize that first comes the year, then the month and finally the day. If we know all the numbers in the Japanese language we can easily write the days, months and years in the language.
Read also: Numbers in Japanese - Complete Guide
Words related to Calendar in Japanese
We can't talk about years, days, months and dates without talking about calendars and other related words like Japanese leap year, lunar calendar and other date related words. Make good use of the vocabulary table below:
- karendaa (カレンダー)-Calendar
- Koyomi (暦)-Calendar
- Tayoureki (太陽暦)-Solar Calendar
- Taiinreki (太陰暦) - Lunar calendarLunar Calendar
- Heinen (平年) - Averagecommon year
- Jyunen (閏年)-Leap year
- Seireki (西暦)- It was common
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