Calendar Dates
In English, January 1st is read as January first, and not January one. Calendar dates in Japan also get a different pronunciation. Please note, however, that these are not ordinal (sequence) numbers nor units of time. These words apply specifically to dates.
Date Rules
Summary:
Format: Year/Month/Day
Year: Number + 年(ねん)
Month: # of Month in order + 月(がつ)
Day: See chart.
The Japanese date format is Year/Month/Day (big to small)
Years are just number + 年 (ねん). This is also the counter for years.
- 2022年 – にせん にじゅうに ねん
The name for the months is just their calendar order ＋月(がつ).
- 1月 – いち がつ – 1st month – January
- 11月 – じゅういち がつ – 11th month – November
The days of the month are harder, because the 1st-10th, as well as the 20th have special pronunciations.
Additionally, days ending in 4 are Xよっか。 Dates ending in 9 are Xくにち as opposed to よん or きゅう
Please see the charts below.
Months of the Year
| English | Number | Japanese | Romaji | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 1 | いち がつ | ichi gatsu | |
| February | 2 | に がつ | ni gatsu | |
| March | 3 | さん がつ | san gatsu | |
| April | 4 | よん がつ | yon gatsu | |
| May | 5 | ご がつ | go gatsu | |
| June | 6 | ろく がつ | roku gatsu | |
| July | 7 | なな がつ | nana gatsu | can also be しち がつ |
| August | 8 | はち がつ | hachi gatsu | |
| September | 9 | く がつ | ku gatsu | |
| October | 10 | じゅう がつ | jyuu gatsu | |
| November | 11 | じゅういち がつ | jyuuichi gatsu | |
| December | 12 | じゅうに がつ | jyuuni gatsu |
Days of the Month
| Number | Day (date) ～日 (にち) | Day Romaji | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ついたち | tsuitachi | |
| 2 | ふつか | futsuka | |
| 3 | みっか | mikka | mitsu but tsu became small |
| 4 | よっか | yokka | yotsu but tsu became small |
| 5 | いつか | itsuka | |
| 6 | むいか | muika | |
| 7 | なのか | nanoka | |
| 8 | ようか | youka | 8 days is longer than 4, long O sound. |
| 9 | ここのか | kokonoka | |
| 10 | とおか | tooka | |
| 11 | じゅう いち にち | juu ichi nichi | |
| 12 | じゅう に にち | juu ni nichi | Pattern continues except 14, 19, 20, 24 |
| 14 | じゅう よっか | juu yokka | |
| 19 | じゅう く にち | juu ku nichi | |
| 20 | はつか | hatsuka | |
| 24 | にじゅう よっか | ni jyuu yokka |