Days of the week, months and dates in Japanese
The Japanese calendar is a little culture lesson: the days of the week are named after the sun, the moon and the five elements, while the months are simply numbered.
The only real traps are the readings of the days of the month, which use the native Japanese series from 1 to 10 — highlighted below.
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The days of the week in Japanese
They all end in 〜曜日 (yōbi). The first character is the sun, the moon or one of the five classical elements.
| 日本語 | Kana | Rōmaji | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 月曜日 | げつようび | getsuyōbi | Monday · moon |
| 火曜日 | かようび | kayōbi | Tuesday · fire |
| 水曜日 | すいようび | suiyōbi | Wednesday · water |
| 木曜日 | もくようび | mokuyōbi | Thursday · wood |
| 金曜日 | きんようび | kin’yōbi | Friday · gold |
| 土曜日 | どようび | doyōbi | Saturday · earth |
| 日曜日 | にちようび | nichiyōbi | Sunday · sun |
The months in Japanese
Number + 月 (gatsu): nothing to memorize if you know your numbers. Just watch 4, 7 and 9, which use the readings shi, shichi and ku here.
| 日本語 | Kana | Rōmaji | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 一月 | いちがつ | ichigatsu | January |
| 二月 | にがつ | nigatsu | February |
| 三月 | さんがつ | sangatsu | March |
| 四月 | しがつ | shigatsu | April |
| 五月 | ごがつ | gogatsu | May |
| 六月 | ろくがつ | rokugatsu | June |
| 七月 | しちがつ | shichigatsu | July |
| 八月 | はちがつ | hachigatsu | August |
| 九月 | くがつ | kugatsu | September |
| 十月 | じゅうがつ | jūgatsu | October |
| 十一月 | じゅういちがつ | jūichigatsu | November |
| 十二月 | じゅうにがつ | jūnigatsu | December |
The days of the month in Japanese
This is where the irregulars live: from 1 to 10 (plus 14, 20 and 24) native readings are used — highlighted in the table. The rest is regular: number + 日 (nichi).
| # | Kanji | Kana | Rōmaji |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 一日 | ついたちtsuitachi | tsuitachi |
| 2 | 二日 | ふつかfutsuka | futsuka |
| 3 | 三日 | みっかmikka | mikka |
| 4 | 四日 | よっかyokka | yokka |
| 5 | 五日 | いつかitsuka | itsuka |
| 6 | 六日 | むいかmuika | muika |
| 7 | 七日 | なのかnanoka | nanoka |
| 8 | 八日 | ようかyōka | yōka |
| 9 | 九日 | ここのかkokonoka | kokonoka |
| 10 | 十日 | とおかtōka | tōka |
| 11 | 十一日 | じゅういちにちjūichinichi | jūichinichi |
| 14 | 十四日 | じゅうよっかjūyokka | jūyokka |
| 20 | 二十日 | はつかhatsuka | hatsuka |
| 24 | 二十四日 | にじゅうよっかnijūyokka | nijūyokka |
Today, tomorrow, yesterday
今日 (kyō) is today, 明日 (ashita) tomorrow, 昨日 (kinō) yesterday; one step further are おととい, the day before yesterday, and あさって, the day after tomorrow. All of them have irregular readings: learn them as whole words.
| 日本語 | Kana | Rōmaji | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 一昨日 | おととい | ototoi | day before yesterday |
| 昨日 | きのう | kinō | yesterday |
| 今日 | きょう | kyō | today |
| 明日 | あした | ashita | tomorrow |
| 明後日 | あさって | asatte | day after tomorrow |
In formal speech and announcements 明日 is also read あす (asu) and 昨日 さくじつ (sakujitsu). おととい and あさって are almost always written in kana: their kanji are 一昨日 and 明後日.
Week, month, year
One pattern covers them: 先 (sen) for last, 今 (kon) for this, 来 (rai) for next. The years are the exception: 去年 (kyonen) for last year, and 今年 is read kotoshi.
| 日本語 | Kana | Rōmaji | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 先週 | せんしゅう | senshū | last week |
| 今週 | こんしゅう | konshū | this week |
| 来週 | らいしゅう | raishū | next week |
| 先月 | せんげつ | sengetsu | last month |
| 今月 | こんげつ | kongetsu | this month |
| 来月 | らいげつ | raigetsu | next month |
| 去年 | きょねん | kyonen | last year |
| 今年 | ことし | kotoshi | this year |
| 来年 | らいねん | rainen | next year |
How dates are written
From large to small: year, month, day — 2026年7月2日 reads nisen nijūroku-nen shichigatsu futsuka. Time works the same way: 3時 (sanji, “three o'clock”).
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Frequently asked questions
Like in the West, they come from the celestial bodies: the sun and moon plus the five visible planets, matched with the five elements of Chinese tradition (fire, water, wood, metal, earth).
Kyō (今日), ashita (明日), kinō (昨日); the day after tomorrow is asatte (あさって) and the day before yesterday ototoi (おととい). Their readings are completely irregular: learn them as whole words.
It's the first day of the month (一日): an irregular reading derived from tsuki-tachi, “the moon rising”.
Large to small: year → month → day, 2026年7月2日. On documents you'll often also see the Japanese era (令和, Reiwa).