5.5. The names of the months and the days


5.5.1. The names of the months


Japanese has lost the names of months since hundreds of years ago, and now months are called with sequential numbers. After a number, just say the word (ga)(tu) /gatu/, which means month.

EnglishJapanese
HiraganaPhonemesMeaning
January(i)(ti)(ga)(tu)/itigatu'/The first month
February(ni)(ga)(tu)/ni'gatu/The second month
March(sa)(n)(ga)(tu)/sa'Ngatu/The third month
April(si)(ga)(tu)/sigatu'/The fourth month
May(go)(ga)(tu)/go'gatu/The fifth month
June(ro)(ku)(ga)(tu)/rokugatu'/The sixth month
July(si)(ti)(ga)(tu)/sitigatu'/The seventh month
August(ha)(ti)(ga)(tu)/hatigatu'/The eighth month
September(ku)(ga)(tu)/ku'gatu/The ninth month
October(zi)(small yu)(u)(ga)(tu)/zyuugatu'/The tenth month
November(zi)(small yu)(u)(i)(ti)(ga)(tu)/zyuuitigatu'/The eleventh month
December(zi)(small yu)(u)(ni)(ga)(tu)/zyuunigatu'/The twelfth month

For the names of the months, the common digit names of 4, 7, and 9 are not used. (i.e. (yo)(n)(ga)(tu) /yoNgatu/, (na)(na)(ga)(tu) /nanagatu/, and (ki)(small yu)(u)(ga)(tu) /kyuugatu/ are not used.)

5.5.2. The ancient names of the months


For those who are interested, here is a list of the ancient names of the months.
Just skip this paragraph if you don't want to surprise friends by memorizing these names.

EnglishJapanese
HiraganaPhonemesMeaning
January(mu)(tu)(ki)/mu'tuki/The month of friendship
February(ki)(sa)(ra)(gi)/kisaragi/The month of the rebirth of plants
March(ya)(yo)(i)/yayoi/The month of growing plants
April(u)(du)(ki)/u'duki/The month of (u)(no)(ha)(na) /u'nohana/ (a kind of flower)
May(sa)(tu)(ki)/satuki/The month of rice sprouts
June(mi)(na)(du)(ki)/mina'duki/The month of water
July(hu)(mi)(du)(ki)/humi'duki/The month of letters
August(ha)(du)(ki)/ha'duki/The month of leaves
September(na)(ga)(tu)(ki)/naga'tuki/The month of long nights
October(ka)(n)(na)(du)(ki)/kaNna'duki/The month of gods
November(si)(mo)(tu)(ki)/simo'tuki/The month of frost
December(si)(wa)(su)/siwasu/The month of busy people

5.5.3. The names of the days of the week


The days of the week are named after the sun, the moon, and planets.

EnglishJapanese
HiraganaPhonemesMeaning
Sunday(ni)(ti)(yo)(u)(bi)/nitiyo'ubi/The day of the sun
Monday(ge)(tu)(yo)(u)(bi)/getuyo'ubi/The day of the moon
Tuesday(ka)(yo)(u)(bi)/kayo'ubi/The day of Mars
Wednesday(su)(i)(yo)(u)(bi)/suiyo'ubi/The day of Mercury
Thursday(mo)(ku)(yo)(u)(bi)/mokuyo'ubi/The day of Jupiter
Friday(ki)(n)(yo)(u)(bi)/kiNyo'ubi/The day of Venus
Saturday(do)(yo)(u)(bi)/doyo'ubi/The day of Saturn

5.5.4. The names of the days of the month


To my regret, the names of the days of the month in Japanese are not as easy as the names of the months.

The day 11th through 31st except for 14th, 20th, and 24th have straighforward names. Their names are the combination of the number and word (ni)(ti) /niti/, which means a day. For example, the 15th day is called (zi)(small yu)(u)(go)(ni)(ti) /zyuugo'niti/ in Japanese. The word (ni)(ti) /niti/ sometimes becomes (n)(ti) /Nti/ in colloquial Japanese.

For other days, please look at the table below. Using (ni)(ti) /niti/ for the days listed below is understandable, so don't hesitate to use (ni)(ti) /niti/ when you can't remember their real names.

EnglishJapanese
HiraganaPhonemesMeaning
1(tu)(i)(ta)(ti)/tuitati'/The beginning of the month
2(hu)(tu)(ka)/hutuka/The second day
3(mi)(small tu)(ka)/miQka/The third day
4(yo)(small tu)(ka)/yoQka/The fourth day
5(i)(tu)(ka)/ituka/The fifth day
6(mu)(i)(ka)/muika/The sixth day
7(na)(no)(ka)/nanoka/The seventh day
8(yo)(u)(ka)/youka/The eighth day
9(ko)(ko)(no)(ka)/kokonoka/The ninth day
10(to)(o)(ka)/tooka/The tenth day
14(zi)(small yu)(u)(yo)(small tu)(ka)/zyu'uyoQka/The fourteenth day
20(ha)(tu)(ka)/hatuka/The twentieth day
24(ni)(zi)(small yu)(u)(yo)(small tu)(ka)/ni'zyuuyoQka/The twenty-fourth day
(others)(ni)(ti)The number + /niti/-

5.5.5. How to read date and time


In Japanese, it is necessary to say the biggest part first, then go down to smaller parts. This is because of the head-last rule of Japanese. This rule is applied not only for date but also for time and addresses.

Dates are read in the following order: a year, a month, a day of the month, a day of the week. To read a year, just add (ne)(n) /neN/, which means a year, after the number.

Example: "Monday, June 16, 1997" in English is 1997 (ne)(n) 6 (ga)(tu) 16 (ni)(ti) (ge)(tu)(yo)(u)(bi) /se'N kyu'uhyaku kyu'uzyuu nana'neN rokugatu' zyuurokuniti' getuyo'ubi/ in Japanese.
Japanese style of abbreviation of the date shown above is 1997/6/16 (year/month/day).
Please remember American style and European style are also different from each other.

American: week month/day/year
European: week day/month/year
Asian: year/month/day week

To read time, add (zi) /zi/ after hours, (hu)(n) /huN/ after minutes, and (bi)(small yo)(u) /byou/ after seconds.
For example, 11:29:07 is 11 (zi) 29 (hu)(n) 7 (bi)(small yo)(u) /zyuuiti'zi ni'zyuu kyu'uhun nana'byou/ in Japanese.
If you want to say both date and time, say date first. Please remember the biggest part comes first in Japanese.


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