What Day Is Today?: Months, Days, and Weeks in Japanese :Learning the days of the week and dates is one of the initial steps in language study. It’s also an indispensable step in your progress to becoming a true Japanese master! On top of that, since the kanji are so simple, it can be a lot of fun to study as well! Today, we’re going to learn the names of the months, the days of the week, and the days of the month.
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Months,Week,Days in Japanese language
Names of the Months
Ever since the Paleolithic age, people have been counting the months based on the cycle of the Moon. “Moon” in Japanese is “tsuki” and is written like this:
月
When used in regard to months, it’s pronounced “gatsu.”
Japan originally based its calendar off of the Chinese lunisolar year. Therefore, the names of the months correspond to the Moon phases. For January, the kanji literally means “First Moon;” for February it means “Second Moon;” etc. Later, during the Meiji era, the calendar was changed to the solar Gregorian calendar—which we use in the west—but the concept of the Moon phases remained unchanged.
It is important to note that April is pronounced “shi-gatsu” and July is pronounced “shichi-gatsu.” Even though “four” can be said in two ways—“shi” and “yon”—April is pronounced “shi-gatsu” only. The same goes for July, it is only pronounced “shichi-gatsu”—not “nana-gatsu.”
| Kanji | Hiragana | Romaji | English | |
| 1 | 一月 | いちがつ | ichigatsu | January |
| 2 | 二月 | にがつ | nigatsu | February |
| 3 | 三月 | さんがつ | sangatsu | March |
| 4 | 四月 | しがつ | shigatsu | April |
| 5 | 五月 | ごがつ | gogatsu | May |
| 6 | 六月 | ろくがつ | rokugatsu | June |
| 7 | 七月 | しちがつ | shichigatsu | July |
| 8 | 八月 | はちがつ | hachigatsu | August |
| 9 | 九月 | くがつ | kugatsu | September |
| 10 | 十月 | じゅうがつ | juugatsu | October |
| 11 | 十一月 | じゅういちがつ | juuichigatsu | November |
| 12 | 十二月 | じゅうにがつ | juunigatsu | December |
Days of the week
The seven-day week is also based on the western Gregorian calendar. The names of the weekdays correspond to the Sun, Moon, and the five visible planets from Earth: Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. When written, the kanji for the planet goes first, followed by “yōbi,” which means “day of the week.” Let’s take a look at the kanji for each day of the week to help you remember them better.
Sunday 日曜日 (nichi-yōbi)
- 日 (nichi) means “Sun”
- Therefore, you should have no problem remembering that the kanji for “Sun” in “nichi-yōbi” means “Sunday.”
Monday 月曜日 (getsu-yōbi)
- 月 (tsuki) means “Moon”
- Think of the Sun and the Moon together as a pair. The sun is stronger than the moon; therefore, nichi-yōbi comes before getsu-yōbi in a week.
Tuesday 火曜日 (ka-yōbi)
- 火 (hi) means “fire”
- 火星 (ka-sei) is also the name for “Mars,” which is what the name ka-yōbi comes from.
Wednesday 水曜日 (sui-yōbi)
- 水 (mizu) means “water”
- 水星 (sui-sei) is also the name for the planet “Mercury,” which is where sui-yōbi comes from.
- Think of fire and water as a pair. Fire is stronger than water; therefore, ka-yōbi comes before sui-yōbi.
Thursday 木曜日 (moku-yōbi)
- 木 (ki) means “wood” or “tree”
- 木星 (moku-sei) is also the name for “Jupiter,” which is where moku-yōbi comes from.
Friday 金曜日 (kin-yōbi)
- 金 (kane) means “gold”
- 金星 (kin-sei) is also the name for “Venus,” which is where kin-yōbi comes from.
Saturday 土曜日 (do-yōbi)
- 土 (do) means “ground” or “soil”
- 土星 (do-sei) is also the name of “Saturn,” which is where do-yōbi comes from.
- Think of “tree,” “gold,” and “soil” as a set of three. Think of them like clues on a treasure map. At the tree, there is gold buried in the soil: tree, gold, soil: moku-yōbi, kin-yōbi, do-yōbi.
| 1 | 日曜日 | にちようび | nichiyoubi | Sunday |
| 2 | 月曜日 | げつようび | getsuyoubi | Monday |
| 3 | 火曜日 | かようび | kayoubi | Tuesday |
| 4 | 水曜日 | すいようび | suiyoubi | Wednesday |
| 5 | 木曜日 | もくようび | mokuyoubi | Thursday |
| 6 | 金曜日 | きんようび | kinyoubi | Friday |
| 7 | 土曜日 | どようび | doyoubi | Saturday |
Days of the month
The days of the month are a bit more challenging, but with a little bit of memorization, you’ll master it in no time!
Writing the days of the month is easy. You start with the number of the day and end with the kanji for “day.” For example, the first day of the month is 一日 (the kanji for “one” plus the kanji for “day”), the second day of the month is 二日 (the kanji for “two” plus the kanji for “day”), etc.
However, when it comes to saying the days of the month aloud, it gets a bit tricky.
For example, with the first of the month, 一日, you may be tempted to say, “ichi-nichi.” However, this is wrong. It is pronounced “tsui-tachi”—the kanji for “one” is pronounced “tsui,” and the kanji for “day” is pronounced “tachi.” From the first of the month all the way to the tenth of the month, they all have different pronunciations from what you’re used to. Your guess is as good as mine as to why, but this is how the Japanese say it, so it is best to just memorize it.
There is a silver lining, however. From the 11th to the 19th, the days are all pronounced how you would expect them to be. For instance, the 11th is written 十一日 and is pronounced “juu-ichi nichi.” Also, from the 21st to the 31st, they are also pronounced as you’d expect them to be. The 21st is written 二十一日 and is pronounced “ni-juu-ichi nichi,” and so on.
The 20th is pronounced differently, however, and, again, it’s best to just memorize it. The 20th is written 二十日 but is pronounced “hatsu-ka”—not “ni-juu nichi.”
| 1 | 一日 | ついたち | tsuitachi | 1st |
| 2 | 二日 | ふつか | futsuka | 2nd |
| 3 | 三日 | みっか | mikka | 3rd |
| 4 | 四日 | よっか | yokka | 4th |
| 5 | 五日 | いつか | itsuka | 5th |
| 6 | 六日 | むいか | muika | 6th |
| 7 | 七日 | なのか | nanoka | 7th |
| 8 | 八日 | ようか | youka | 8th |
| 9 | 九日 | ここのか | kokonoka | 9th |
| 10 | 十日 | とおか | dooka | 10th |
| 11 | 十一日 | じゅういちにち | juuichinichi | 11th |
| 12 | 十二日 | じゅうににち | juuninichi | 12th |
| 13 | 十三日 | じゅうさんにち | juusannichi | 13th |
| 14 | 十四日 | じゅうよんにち | juuyonnichi | 14th |
| 15 | 十五日 | じゅうごにち | juugonichi | 15th |
| 16 | 十六日 | じゅうろくにち | juurokunichi | 16th |
| 17 | 十七日 | じゅうしちにち | juushichinichi | 17th |
| 18 | 十八日 | じゅうはちにち | juuhachinichi | 18th |
| 19 | 十九日 | じゅうくにち | juukunichi | 19th |
| 20 | 二十日 | はつか | hatsuka | 20th |
| 21 | 二十一日 | にじゅういちにち | nijuuichinichi | 21st |
| 22 | 二十二日 | にじゅうににち | nijuuninichi | 22nd |
| 23 | 二十三日 | にじゅうさんにち | nijuusannichi | 23rd |
| 24 | 二十四日 | にじゅうよんにち | nijuuyonnichi | 24th |
| 25 | 二十五日 | にじゅうごにち | nijuugonichi | 25th |
| 26 | 二十六日 | にじゅうろくにち | nijuurokunichi | 26th |
| 27 | 二十七日 | にじゅうしちにち | nijuushichinichi | 27th |
| 28 | 二十八日 | にじゅうはちにち | nijuuhachinichi | 28th |
| 29 | 二十九日 | にじゅうくにち | nijuukunichi | 29th |
| 30 | 三十日 | さんじゅうにち | sanjuunichi | 30th |
| 31 | 三十一日 | さんじゅういちにち | sanjuuichinichi | 31st |
In conclusion, although some aspects of the days of the month may seem daunting, learning the months, days, and weeks is an essential step to developing your Japanese skill. Further down the road, once you study more vocabulary, you will understand why, for example, the first day of the month is pronounced “tsui-tachi” instead of “ichi-nichi.” Today’s lesson is your springboard, so don’t take it lightly! Study these tables until you know them like the back of your hand, and you’ll really impress your teachers, Japanese colleagues, and friends!
Also, don’t forget to get out there and practice! Try telling a Japanese speaker the day and date today. Keep a Japanese journal, and write the day and date at the top. Practice makes perfect, so get out there and practice, practice, practice!
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