Time Words Chart in Japanese for Hours, Days, and Months

Japanese time words are one of those topics that look harmless until your brain meets 二時 and asks, “Wait, why is this suddenly different from counting apples?” The good news: once you learn the core patterns, Japanese time talk becomes very predictable. Delightfully predictable, in fact. Almost suspiciously so.

This chart covers the everyday time words you need for hours, minutes, days, weeks, and months. You will also see the common Japanese clock expressions, because being able to say “3:15,” “next week,” or “on the 20th” is kind of useful unless you enjoy missing trains and appointments for sport.

For a bigger Japanese learning roadmap, see the Learn Japanese page. And if you want a quick built-in reference for time-related study, the article at this Yak Yacker guide is also worth a look.

Table of Contents

Core Time Words At A Glance

Kanji	Rōmaji	English Meaning	Example	Rōmaji Example	Translation
時	ji	o’clock / hour	三時	sanji	3 o’clock
分	fun / pun	minute	五分	gofun	5 minutes
半	han	half	三時半	sanji han	3:30
日	nichi / jitsu / ka	day / sun	毎日	mainichi	every day
週	shū	week	今週	konshū	this week
月	getsu / gatsu	month / moon	一月	ichigatsu	January

Hours In Japanese

Hours usually use native Japanese number readings with 時 (ji). The pattern is simple:

Number + 時 = “__ o’clock”

Kanji	Rōmaji	Meaning	Example	Rōmaji Example	Translation
一時	ichiji	1 o’clock	一時です。	Ichiji desu.	It is 1 o’clock.
二時	niji	2 o’clock	二時に会いましょう。	Niji ni aimashō.	Let’s meet at 2 o’clock.
三時	sanji	3 o’clock	三時に始まります。	Sanji ni hajimarimasu.	It starts at 3 o’clock.
四時	yoji	4 o’clock	四時に起きます。	Yoji ni okimasu.	I wake up at 4 o’clock.
五時	goji	5 o’clock	五時に帰ります。	Goji ni kaerimasu.	I go home at 5 o’clock.
六時	rokuji	6 o’clock	六時に朝ごはんを食べます。	Rokuji ni asagohan o tabemasu.	I eat breakfast at 6 o’clock.
七時	shichiji	7 o’clock	七時に駅へ行きます。	Shichiji ni eki e ikimasu.	I go to the station at 7 o’clock.
八時	hachiji	8 o’clock	八時に仕事をします。	Hachiji ni shigoto o shimasu.	I work at 8 o’clock.
九時	kuji	9 o’clock	九時に寝ます。	Kuji ni nemasu.	I sleep at 9 o’clock.
十時	jūji	10 o’clock	十時に終わります。	Jūji ni owarimasu.	It ends at 10 o’clock.

Two hours worth remembering because they like to be a little dramatic: 四時 is yoji, not shiji, and 七時 is shichiji, not nanaji. Japanese loves consistency, but occasionally it also enjoys a tiny prank.

Minutes In Japanese

Minutes use 分 (fun / pun). The reading changes depending on the number before it. Yes, Japanese pronunciation does that. No, it does not ask permission.

Common pattern:

Number + 分 = “__ minutes”

Kanji	Rōmaji	Meaning	Example	Rōmaji Example	Translation
一分	ippun	1 minute	一分ください。	Ippun kudasai.	Please give me one minute.
二分	fun	2 minutes	二分待ってください。	Fun matte kudasai.	Please wait two minutes.
三分	sanpun	3 minutes	三分でできます。	Sanpun de dekimasu.	It can be done in three minutes.
四分	yonpun	4 minutes	四分前に着きました。	Yonpun mae ni tsukimashita.	I arrived four minutes early.
五分	gofun	5 minutes	五分後に会いましょう。	Gofun go ni aimashō.	Let’s meet in five minutes.
六分	roppun	6 minutes	六分で終わります。	Roppun de owarimasu.	It ends in six minutes.
七分	shichifun	7 minutes	七分ほどかかります。	Shichifun hodo kakarimasu.	It takes about seven minutes.
八分	happun	8 minutes	八分休みます。	Happun yasumimasu.	I rest for eight minutes.
九分	kyūfun	9 minutes	九分だけ遅れます。	Kyūfun dake okuremasu.	I’m only nine minutes late.
十分	jūppun	10 minutes	十分あります。	Jūppun arimasu.	There are ten minutes.

To say “half past,” use 半 (han): 三時半 (sanji han) = 3:30. Simple, neat, and far less annoying than writing 30 every time.

Days Of The Week

Days of the week are built from the word 曜 (yō, “day of the week”) plus the day’s element. These are very common in calendars, schedules, and any moment when adults pretend they control their week.

Kanji	Rōmaji	Meaning	Example	Rōmaji Example	Translation
月曜日	getsuyōbi	Monday	月曜日に学校へ行きます。	Getsuyōbi ni gakkō e ikimasu.	I go to school on Monday.
火曜日	kayōbi	Tuesday	火曜日は忙しいです。	Kayōbi wa isogashii desu.	Tuesday is busy.
水曜日	suiyōbi	Wednesday	水曜日に会議があります。	Suiyōbi ni kaigi ga arimasu.	There is a meeting on Wednesday.
木曜日	mokuyōbi	Thursday	木曜日に買い物をします。	Mokuyōbi ni kaimono o shimasu.	I shop on Thursday.
金曜日	kinyōbi	Friday	金曜日がいちばん好きです。	Kinyōbi ga ichiban suki desu.	Friday is my favorite.
土曜日	doyōbi	Saturday	土曜日に友だちに会います。	Doyōbi ni tomodachi ni aimasu.	I meet friends on Saturday.
日曜日	nichiyōbi	Sunday	日曜日は休みです。	Nichiyōbi wa yasumi desu.	Sunday is a day off.

A quick memory trick: 月 for Monday, 火 for Tuesday, 水 for Wednesday, 木 for Thursday, 金 for Friday, 土 for Saturday, and 日 for Sunday. It looks like a random assortment of life, but it works.

Days Of The Month

The days of the month are a little special. Some are regular, and some are historical oddballs. Japanese grammar, naturally, refuses to be boring here.

Kanji	Rōmaji	Meaning	Example	Rōmaji Example	Translation
一日	tsuitachi	1st day of the month	一日は休みです。	Tsuitachi wa yasumi desu.	The 1st is a holiday.
二日	futsuka	2nd day	二日に旅行します。	Futsuka ni ryokō shimasu.	I travel on the 2nd.
三日	mikka	3rd day	三日に始まります。	Mikka ni hajimarimasu.	It starts on the 3rd.
四日	yokka	4th day	四日に会いましょう。	Yokka ni aimashō.	Let’s meet on the 4th.
五日	itsuka	5th day	五日は大切です。	Itsuka wa taisetsu desu.	The 5th is important.
六日	muika	6th day	六日に帰ります。	Muika ni kaerimasu.	I return on the 6th.
七日	nanoka	7th day	七日に試験があります。	Nanoka ni shiken ga arimasu.	There is a test on the 7th.
八日	yōka	8th day	八日に出発します。	Yōka ni shuppatsu shimasu.	I leave on the 8th.
九日	kokonoka	9th day	九日に来てください。	Kokonoka ni kite kudasai.	Please come on the 9th.
十日	tōka	10th day	十日に終わります。	Tōka ni owarimasu.	It ends on the 10th.

The special forms continue through the 20th and beyond, but these first ten are the ones learners meet all the time. If you can say these without freezing, you are already doing better than many calendar apps with bad alerts.

Weeks In Japanese

Weeks are straightforward. The main word is 週 (shū).

Kanji	Rōmaji	Meaning	Example	Rōmaji Example	Translation
一週間	isshūkan	one week	一週間かかります。	Isshūkan kakarimasu.	It takes one week.
先週	senshū	last week	先週は雨でした。	Senshū wa ame deshita.	Last week was rainy.
今週	konshū	this week	今週は忙しいです。	Konshū wa isogashii desu.	This week is busy.
来週	raishū	next week	来週また会いましょう。	Raishū mata aimashō.	Let’s meet again next week.

Months In Japanese

Months are actually one of the easier parts of Japanese time words. They use 月 (gatsu) after the number. That’s it. Tiny miracle.

Kanji	Rōmaji	Meaning	Example	Rōmaji Example	Translation
一月	ichigatsu	January	一月は寒いです。	Ichigatsu wa samui desu.	January is cold.
二月	nigatsu	February	二月に試験があります。	Nigatsu ni shiken ga arimasu.	There is an exam in February.
三月	sangatsu	March	三月に卒業します。	Sangatsu ni sotsugyō shimasu.	I graduate in March.
四月	shigatsu	April	四月に新学期が始まります。	Shigatsu ni shingakki ga hajimarimasu.	The new school term starts in April.
五月	gogatsu	May	五月は気持ちいいです。	Gogatsu wa kimochi ii desu.	May feels nice.
六月	rokugatsu	June	六月は雨が多いです。	Rokugatsu wa ame ga ōi desu.	June has a lot of rain.
七月	shichigatsu	July	七月に旅行します。	Shichigatsu ni ryokō shimasu.	I travel in July.
八月	hachigatsu	August	八月はとても暑いです。	Hachigatsu wa totemo atsui desu.	August is very hot.
九月	kugatsu	September	九月に学校が始まります。	Kugatsu ni gakkō ga hajimarimasu.	School starts in September.
十月	jūgatsu	October	十月はすごしやすいです。	Jūgatsu wa sugoshi yasui desu.	October is comfortable.
十一月	jūichigatsu	November	十一月に紅葉を見ます。	Jūichigatsu ni kōyō o mimasu.	I see autumn leaves in November.
十二月	jūnigatsu	December	十二月は忙しいです。	Jūnigatsu wa isogashii desu.	December is busy.

Quick Time Patterns You Will See Everywhere

Here are the most useful time patterns in real life. They show up in schedules, messages, lesson plans, and the occasional “sorry I’m late” text.

Pattern	Rōmaji	Meaning	Example	Rōmaji Example	Translation
～時に	~ji ni	at __ o’clock	八時に来てください。	Hachiji ni kite kudasai.	Please come at 8 o’clock.
～分に	~fun ni / ~pun ni	at __ minutes past	十分に始まります。	Jūppun ni hajimarimasu.	It starts at 10 minutes past.
～時半	~ji han	__ :30	六時半に会いましょう。	Rokuji han ni aimashō.	Let’s meet at 6:30.
～日前	~nichi mae	__ days ago / before __ days	三日前に行きました。	Mikkka mae ni ikimashita.	I went three days ago.
～日後	~nichi go	__ days later / after __ days	二日後に返事します。	Futsuka go ni henji shimasu.	I will reply in two days.

Common Confusions And Easy Fixes

Japanese time words have a few famous trouble spots. Here are the ones worth learning early so they stop ambushing you.

四時 is yoji, not shiji.
七時 is shichiji, not nanaji.
一分 is ippun, not ichifun.
三分 is sanpun, not sanfun.
八分 is happun, not hachifun.
一週間 means one week, but 一日 as a date means the 1st of the month, not simply “one day.”
月 can mean month or moon, depending on context. Japanese enjoys context doing the heavy lifting.

If a form feels strange, it is usually because the pronunciation changed for sound reasons. That is normal. The language is not broken. It is just being itself.

Practice

Try saying these out loud. Yes, out loud. Silent learning is useful, but pronunciation only gets better when your mouth joins the meeting.

3:00 = 三時 (sanji)
4:30 = 四時半 (yoji han)
10 minutes = 十分 (jūppun)
Monday = 月曜日 (getsuyōbi)
Friday = 金曜日 (kinyōbi)
next week = 来週 (raishū)
January = 一月 (ichigatsu)
December = 十二月 (jūnigatsu)

Now try these sentence swaps:

Change 三時 to 五時: 三時に始まります。 → 五時に始まります。
Change 月曜日 to 金曜日: 月曜日に行きます。 → 金曜日に行きます。
Change 今週 to 来週: 今週は忙しいです。 → 来週は忙しいです。
Change 六月 to 八月: 六月は雨が多いです。 → 八月は雨が多いです。

Quick Reference Summary

時 (ji) = hour / o’clock
分 (fun / pun) = minute
半 (han) = half past
曜日 (yōbi) = day of the week
週間 (shūkan) = week
月 (gatsu) = month
毎日 (mainichi) = every day
先週 (senshū) = last week
今週 (konshū) = this week
来週 (raishū) = next week

Time words in Japanese are easier once you stop translating every sound one by one. Learn the pattern, learn the exceptions, and the whole clock starts behaving itself.

With these words, you can talk about schedules, dates, appointments, and everyday plans without sounding like you are wrestling the calendar. That is a solid win. Keep the patterns close, and Japanese time expressions will start feeling natural surprisingly fast.