The Complete Guide to Writing Dates in Japanese
Writing dates in Japanese is surprisingly easy! While there is a lot of memorization involved in being able to write the date, once you know your numbers and counters, it is a simple task to put everything together.
The date in Japanese is written in the order of Year + Month + Day, so let’s look into how to say the year, month, and day in Japanese.
Years in Japanese
The year is easy to write if you know how to write numbers into the thousands. Just write the year in numerical form then add the counter 年 (nen) to the end!
2022 in Japanese is 2022年. It is written out as 二千二十二年 and pronounced ni-sen ni-jū-ni nen.
In modern times, years are based on the Gregorian calendar rather than the Japanese calendar, which is based on the reigns of its emperors. Japan is currently in the 令和 (reiwa) era. The previous era was the 平成 (heisei) era. The Heisei era began in 1989 when Emperor Akihito ascended the throne. It lasted until his death in 2019, when his son Naruhito took his place and began the Reiwa era. To write the year in the format of the Japanese calendar, add the era before the year. For example, 2019 was the first year of the current era and would be written as 令和1年 (reiwa ichi nen).
Related Words to Know:
What year: 何年 (nan nen)
This year: 今年 kotoshi)
Last year: 去年 (kyonen)
Next year: 来年 (rainen)
Every year: 毎年 (maitoshi)
Months in Japanese
Months follow the same rule as years. In fact, if you know numbers 1-12 in Japanese, you’re already halfway there! The month in Japanese is simply the month’s number followed by 月 (gatsu), the counter for months.
| Month | Kanji | Romaji |
|---|---|---|
| January | 一月 or 1月 | Ichi-gatsu |
| February | 二月 or 2月 | Ni-gatsu |
| March | 三月 or 3月 | San-gatsu |
| *April | 四月 or 4月 | Shi-gatsu |
| May | 五月 or 5月 | Go-gatsu |
| June | 六月 or 6月 | Roku-gatsu |
| *July | 七月 or 7月 | Shichi-gatsu |
| August | 八月 or 8月 | Hachi-gatsu |
| September | 九月 or 9月 | Ku-gatsu |
| October | 十月 or 10月 | Jū-gatsu |
| November | 十一月 or 11月 | Jū-ichi-gatsu |
| December | 十二月 or 12月 | Jū-ni-gatsu |
*四 is usually pronounced よん (yon) or よ (yo). For April, it is always pronounced し (shi). 七 can also be pronounced as なな (nana), but for July, it always uses the しち (shichi) pronunciation
Related Words to Know:
What month is it?: 何月ですか? (nan gatsu desu ka?)
This month: 今月 (kongetsu)
Last month: 先月 (sengetsu)
Next month: 来月 (raigetsu)
Every month: 毎月 (maitsuki)
Days of the Month
Writing the days of the month is where it gets tricky. Days all end with the counter 日. While the majority of the time it is pronounced にち (nichi), a large chunk of the days pronounce it as か (ka).
| Day | Kanji | Romaji |
|---|---|---|
| *1st | 1日 or 一日 | Tsuitachi |
| 2nd | 2日 or 二日 | Futsuka |
| 3rd | 3日 or 三日 | Mikka |
| 4th | 4日 or 四日 | Yokka |
| 5th | 5日 or 五日 | Itsuka |
| 6th | 6日 or 六日 | Muika |
| 7th | 7日 or 七日 | Nanoka |
| 8th | 8日 or 八日 | Yōka |
| 9th | 9日 or 九日 | Kokonoka |
| 10th | 10日 or 十日 | Tōka |
| 11th | 11日 or 十一日 | Jū-ichi-nichi |
| 12th | 12日 or 十二日 | Jū-ni-nichi |
| 13th | 13日 or 十三日 | Jū-san-nichi |
| *14th | 14日 or 十四日 | Jū-yokka |
| 15th | 15日 or 十五日 | Jū-go-nichi |
| 16th | 16日 or 十六日 | Jū-roku-nichi |
| 17th | 17日 or 十七日 | Jū-shichi-nichi |
| 18th | 18日 or 十八日 | Jū-hachi-nichi |
| 19th | 19日 or 十九日 | Jū-ku-nichi |
| *20th | 20日 or 二十日 | Hatsuka |
| 21st | 21日 or 二十一日 | Nijū-ichi-nichi |
| 22nd | 22日 or 二十二日 | Nijū-ni-nichi |
| 23rd | 23日 or 二十三日 | Nijū-san-nichi |
| *24th | 24日 or 二十四日 | Nijū-yokka |
| 25th | 25日 or 二十五日 | Nijū-go-nichi |
| 26th | 26日 or 二十六日 | Nijū-roku-nichi |
| 27th | 27日 or 二十七日 | Nijū-shichi-nichi |
| 28th | 28日 or 二十八日 | Nijū-hichi-nichi |
| 29th | 29日 or 二十九日 | Nijū-ku-nichi |
| 30th | 30日 or 三十日 | Sanjū-nichi |
| 31st | 31日 or 三十一日 | Sanjū-ichi-nichi |
As you can see, days 2 through 10 end with か (ka). Days above 10 end in にち (nichi), with exceptions being 14, 20, and 24. Also note that days 2 through 10 use their Kun'yomi readings, as opposed to their more common On'yomi readings. The 1st of the month is an outlier, so it is best to memorize it.
Days of the Week
Days of the week all end with 曜日 (yōbi). In Japanese, each day of the week is represented by an element in nature as well as a celestial body.
| Day | Kanji | Romaji | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sunday | 日曜日 | Nichiyōbi | Sun |
| Monday | 月曜日 | Getsuyōbi | Moon |
| Tuesday | 火曜日 | Kayōbi | Fire, Mars |
| Wednesday | 水曜日 | Suiyōbi | Water, Mercury |
| Thursday | 木曜日 | Mokuyōbi | Wood, Jupiter |
| Friday | 金曜日 | Kinyōbi | Gold, Venus |
| Saturday | 土曜日 | Doyōbi | Dirt, Saturn |
Note that the kanji for the days of the week use their On'Yomi readings, rather than their more common Kun’Yomi readings.
As mentioned, the date in Japanese is written in the order of Year + Month + Day. If you want to add a day of the week, the most common way is to add it to the end using parentheses. In this instance, the 曜日 is dropped and only the defining kanji is used.
Related Words to Know
What day of the week is it?: 今日は何曜日ですか？ (Kyō wa nan yōbi desu ka?)
Today: 今日 (kyō)
Yesterday: 昨日 (kinō)
Tomorrow: 明日 (ashita)
Every day: 毎日 (mainichi)
Week: 週 (shū)
This week: 今週 (konshū)
Last week: 先週 (senshū)
Next week: 来週 (raishū)
Every week: 毎週 (maishū)
Weekend: 週末 (shūmatsu)
Weekday: 平日 (heijitsu)
Let’s practice what we’ve learned with some important dates in Japan!
Remember: Year + Month + Day (weekday)
New Year’s Day (January 1st) is 2023年1月1日(日）
Coming of Age Day (January 9th) is 2023年1月9日(月）
Foundation Day (February 11th) is 2023年2月11日(土）
Emperor’s birthday (February 23rd) is 2023年2月23日(木）
Golden Week (April 29th to May 5th) is 2023年4月29日(土) から2023年5月5日（金）
*から (kara) means “from” and can link two dates together
Marine Day (July 17th) is 2023年7月17日(月）
Mountain Day (August 11th) is 2023年8月11日(金）
Respect for the Aged Day (September 18th) is 2023年9月18日(月）
Sports Day (October 9th) is 2023年10月9日(月）
Culture Day (November 3rd) is 2023年11月3日(金）
Labor Thanksgiving Day (November 23rd) is 2023年11月23日(木）