How to Say Dates and Times in Japanese

When you are making plans, appointments, and travel arrangements in Japanese-speaking countries, you should know how to say dates in Japanese along with the other calendar terms. Understanding the days of the week, and the months of the year, you should also be able to tell the time in Japanese.

How to say Dates in Japanese

The days of the week in Japanese usually end with yōbi.

You should also know the other phrases that are used to indicate the days of the week besides knowing how to say dates in Japanese.

• Yesterday – kinō (kee-nohh) 
• Today – kyō (kyohh) 
• Tomorrow – ashita (ah-shee-tah)

The words for the months of the year in Japanese are based on the numbers 1–12 and the Japanese word for month ends with gatsu.

• January – ichi-gatsu (ee-chee-gah-tsoo) 
• February – ni-gatsu (nee-gah-tsoo) 
• March – san-gatsu (sahn-gah-tsoo)
• April – shi-gatsu (shee-gah-tsoo)
• May – go-gatsu (goh-gah-tsoo)  
• June – roku-gatsu (roh-coo-gah-tsoo)
• July – shichi-gatsu (shee-chee-gah-tsoo) 
• August – hachi-gatsu (hah-chee-gah-tsoo) 
• September – ku-gatsu (coo-gah-tsoo)
• October – jū-gatsu (juuu-gah-tsoo)
• November – jūichi-gatsu (juuu-ee-chee-gah-tsoo) 
• December – jūni-gatsu (juuu-ni-gah-tsoo) 

Days of the Month

 When you refer to the days of the month in Japanese language, you will see that they are full of irregularities:

You can use the below-mentioned phrases as a guide after getting to know how to say dates in Japanese:

• What is today’s date? – Kyō wa nan-nichi desu ka? 
• Today is the 16^th – Kyō wa jūroku-nichi desu. 
• What day is it today?  – Kyō wa nanyōbi desu ka? 
• It’s Monday – Getsuyōbi desu. 

Expressing Time

If you wonder how to say time in Japanese, you should also know that the time of the day can be described either in general terms or specific times. You can use the following words to describe the general time of the day. 

• Morning – asa (ah-sah) 
• Noon – hiru (hee-roo)
• Afternoon – gogo (goh-goh)
• Evening – ban (bahn)
• Night – yoru (yoh-roo)

When to tell time between the hours, you should know how to say time in Japanese by using these terms to break things down:

• O’ clock – ji 
• Hour – jikan 
• Quarter hour – yíkèzhōng 
• Minute – fun
• Second – byō 
• Half – han 
• A.M. – gozen
• P.M. – gogo

On the Clock

In common, Japanese uses the 24-hour clock for all its official listings, such as train and flight schedules. For every hour after noon, all you have to do is just add an hour. For example 2:15 p.m. is 14:15 (jūyo-ji jūgo-fun).

If you want to know the specific time of day, you can use know how to say time in Japanese by using the following phrases. 

• What time is it now? – Ima nan-ji desu ka
• It’s 11:15 – Jūichi-ji jūgo-fun desu.
• From what time? – Nan-ji kara desu ka?
• Until what time? – Nan-ji made desu ka?
• It’s from 2 to 5 – Ni-ji kara go-ji made desu.
• At what time are you leaving? – Nan-ji ni demasu ka?
• I’ll leave at 3 – San-ji ni demasu.
• How many hours does it take? – Nan-jikan kakarimasu ka?
• It takes two hours – Ni-jikan kakarimasu. 

Conclusion            

To conclude, if you want to know everything in Japanese besides knowing how to say dates in Japanese and how to say time in Japanese along with the Japanese culture and traditions, you can approach Zing Languages as this institute has the best Japanese language teachers, best learning materials, etc. to assist you to find your dream career or job.

Check out Must-Know 40 Basic Verbs in Japanese.

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