Days, Months, and Years in Japanese

Do you know how to write and say the days, months, and years in Japanese? In this article, we will examine in detail how to write and pronounce the days, months, and years in the Japanese language. Remembering that the writing is usually similar to that of the Chinese language, which can help you recognize both.

The days, months, and years can be written both with 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 on different occasions. Of course, when pronouncing, it is recommended to use the popular reading in the Japanese language.

We also recommend reading:

• How to know if the reading of Kanji is ON or KUN?
• Seasons, Weather, and Climate in Japanese
• Names of the planets in Japanese

How are the days of the week said in Japanese?

Although the focus of this article is on days, months, and years, we should start by looking at the days of the week in Japanese (from Monday to Sunday), which are practically the names of the planets or the 5 elements.

Sunday	日曜日	nichiyoubi
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

How are the days of the month said 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 provide below 2 readings, both are correct but are used differently. When referring to a specific day of a 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 are the months said in Japanese?

In the Japanese language, there is no special name for each month. They usually 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 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) – May
• 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. Nowadays, it is usually used in horoscopes, lunar calendars, and other traditional things.

This calendar is called wafuu getsumei [和風月名] which literally means names of the months in the Japanese style.

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 ideogram for moon.

How is the year said in the Japanese language?

The year works the same way as the day and month, the number accompanied by the ideogram “nen” [年] which literally means year. See an example below of how to say “April 1, 2005”:

• 2005 年 4 月 1日 (Nii sen go nen / shigatsu / tsuitachi) 二千五年 四月 一日

We notice that the year comes first, 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.

Also read: Numbers in Japanese – Complete Guide

Words related to the Calendar in Japanese

We cannot talk about years, days, months, and dates without mentioning calendars and other related words such as leap year in Japanese, lunar calendar, and other words related to dates. 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 Calendar
• Heinen (平年)-Common Year
• Jyunen (閏年)-Leap Year
• Seireki (西暦)- Common Era

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