Dates in Japanese: Months, Days of the Month and Days of the Week

Dates in Japanese: year, month, day (nen, gatsu, nichi)

Dates in Japanese are written year, month, day: 27 September 2026 is 2026年9月27日. Months are a number plus 月 (gatsu), so January is ichigatsu, and the 1st to the 10th of the month have their own words: tsuitachi, futsuka, mikka and so on.

Each part of a date is a number plus a counter, a small word that says what you're counting (more in Japanese counters). The three counters are the kanji 年 (year), 月 (month) and 日 (day):

So 27 September 2026, a Sunday, is written in full as 2026年9月27日（日曜日）. Arabic numerals are usual in everyday writing. Wikipedia's article on the Japanese calendar calls them "extremely common in everyday communication, almost the norm". You'll see kanji numerals too: 九月二十七日.

The months are easy. The days of the month are where the irregular readings are, so most of this page is about them.

Months in Japanese: ichigatsu to jūnigatsu

The months in Japanese are numbered, not named. January is "month one", 一月 (いちがつ, ichigatsu), and December is 十二月 (じゅうにがつ, jūnigatsu).

The only thing to watch is the three numbers with two readings (more on them in counting in Japanese):

• April is shigatsu (しがつ). Not よんがつ, even though よん is the usual four.
• July is shichigatsu (しちがつ). The table also accepts なながつ, but only しちがつ is marked as common in JMdict.
• September is kugatsu (くがつ). Not きゅうがつ.

To ask which month, use 何月 (なんがつ, nangatsu, “what month”): 何月ですか, "What month is it?"

The old month names

Before 1873, Japan used a lunisolar calendar, and its months had traditional names. Wikipedia says they are still used by some in poetry, and a letter or a speech might borrow one to give a sense of the season. Of the twelve, 師走 (December) "is still widely used today".

You don't need these to say a date. They're worth recognising when you see them.

Counting months in Japanese: kagetsu

Don't mix up the month names with a number of months. For a length of time, the counter is か月 (かげつ, kagetsu, “counter for months”), also written ヶ月. So 一か月 (いっかげつ, ikkagetsu) is one month, and 何か月 (なんかげつ, nankagetsu, “how many months”) asks how long.

Some numbers change their sound in front of か, just as they do with other counters. Here are 1 to 12 months, from Wiktionary's counters appendix:

The ones to learn are 1, 6, 8, 10 and 11, where the number shrinks to a small っ. As with some other counters, you may also hear はちかげつ for 8 and じっかげつ for 10. Note that four is よん here, not し, and nine is きゅう, not く.

Two more ways to say a length:

• 月 on its own, read つき (tsuki), is the word for the moon and for a month. "One month" can also be ひと月 (ひとつき, hitotsuki). It's sometimes written 一月, like January, but read ひとつき.
• Six months is often 半年 (はんとし, hantoshi, “half a year”).

So is month tsuki or gatsu? がつ names a month of the year, つき is "month" or "moon" as a word, and かげつ counts months.

Days of the month in Japanese: tsuitachi to tōka

The days of the month are the part that needs memorising. Wikipedia sums it up: the days "generally use kun (native Japanese) numeral readings up to ten, and thereafter on (Chinese-derived) readings, but there are some irregularities." Here are all the irregular ones:

To ask the date, use 何日 (なんにち, nannichi, “what day”): 今日は何日ですか, "What's the date today?"

Why they're irregular

The 2nd to the 10th use the native numbers, the ones you count things with:

Add か, a reading of 日 that JMdict lists as "day of month; counter for days", and compare them with the dates above. Some pairs are close: ふたつ gives ふつか, みっつ gives みっか, よっつ gives よっか. Ten, とお (tō), gives とおか. Others drift further: むっつ gives むいか, and やっつ gives ようか. So it's easiest to learn the 2nd to the 10th as nine separate words. The good news: once you have them, the rest of the month is almost regular.

The 1st is tsuitachi (ついたち). Wikipedia explains that it's "a worn-down form of tsuki-tachi (月立ち), literally 'calendar month start'". JMdict still lists 月立ち (つきたち, tsukitachi) as an archaic word for the first day of the month.

The 14th and 24th reuse よっか: じゅうよっか and にじゅうよっか.

The 20th is hatsuka (はつか). Wiktionary gives two likely derivations. One is はた (hata, “twenty”), an old reading of 二十, plus か. The other is 二十歳 (はたち, hatachi, “20 years old”) plus か, worn down over time.

Every other day: number + nichi

The rest are regular: the Sino-Japanese number (いち, に, さん) plus にち.

The table shows one reading each, so three details:

• The 17th and 27th accept both しち and なな: じゅうしちにち or じゅうななにち.
• The 29th can be にじゅうくにち or にじゅうきゅうにち.
• The dictionary gives only じゅうくにち for the 19th. Wiktionary's counters appendix gives じゅうきゅう, so you may hear じゅうきゅうにち too, but じゅうくにち is the safe choice.

Days of the week in Japanese: getsuyōbi to nichiyōbi

Every day of the week ends in 曜日 (ようび, yōbi, “day of the week”). The first kanji is what changes:

To ask what day it is, use 何曜日 (なんようび, nanyōbi): 今日は何曜日ですか, "What day is it today?"

What the weekday kanji mean

The first kanji of each day is a basic word on its own: 月, 火, 水, 木, 金, 土 and 日. On their own, most are read differently than inside the weekday names:

For five of the days, it's the same kanji as in a planet's name:

That's not a coincidence. As in many European languages, the names follow what the Ancient Romans considered the seven visible planets: the sun, the moon and five planets. In East Asia, Wikipedia explains, those five planets are named after the five Chinese elements (metal, wood, water, fire, earth). Together, the seven are 七曜 (しちよう, shichiyō, “the seven luminaries (sun, moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn)”). The last kanji, 曜, is the one in 曜日.

Saying a full date in Japanese

Put the pieces together in order, year first:

• 2026年9月27日 is にせんにじゅうろくねん くがつ にじゅうしちにち.
• The day of the week goes last: 9月27日、日曜日.

How dates are written

Wikipedia's article on date notation in Japan says the most common written format is "year month day (weekday)", with the weekday usually shortened to a single kanji in brackets: 2026年9月27日（日）. Written in full, the weekday usually drops the brackets. All-numeric dates use slashes, such as 2026/09/27. They can be shortened to 26/09/27, sometimes with dots instead of slashes, but then only the context shows which calendar the year is from.

Useful questions

• 今日は何日ですか。 What's the date today?
• 今日は何曜日ですか。 What day is it today?
• 誕生日 (たんじょうび, tanjōbi)はいつですか。 When's your birthday?
• 何月何日 (なんがつなんにち, nangatsunannichi)ですか。 What's the date? (month and day)

To give a time as well, see telling the time in Japanese.

Today, next month, last year

These words cover dates around now:

To say on a date, a specific date usually takes the particle に: 9月27日に, "on 27 September". Words like 今日, 来月 and 去年 normally don't: 来月行きます, "I'll go next month".

Years: nen

Years are the number plus 年 (ねん, nen, “counter for years (e.g. of an era), grades (e.g. school)”). Read the number normally: 2026 is 二千 (にせん) + 二十六 (にじゅうろく). Wiktionary's counters appendix gives the readings for four, seven and nine. Four is 四年 (よねん, yonen), like よにん and よじ. Seven is usually ななねん, though you may hear しちねん. Nine is きゅうねん.

Era years

Japan also counts years by imperial era. The current era is 令和 (れいわ, reiwa), which began on 1 May 2019. Its first year is 令和元年, with 元年 (がんねん, gannen, “first year (of an imperial era)”). The era year then goes up every 1 January, so 2020 was 令和2年 and 2026 is 令和8年. The first year is always 元年, never 1年. Wikipedia notes that the era system "remains in wide use, especially on official documents and government forms", so expect it on anything official.

Misoka: the last day of the month

There's one more date word you'll run into, especially at the end of the year.

三十日 (みそか, misoka) (also written 晦日) means "last day of the month" in JMdict. The みそ is みそ (miso), an old reading of 三十 (thirty), and か is the same "day" you saw in ふつか and とおか. So it literally means "the 30th".

Wikipedia notes that the 30th "was also traditionally called misoka", and that today the number plus にち is "much more common" for the 28th to the 31st. But みそか is still used in contracts, for example for a payment due on or by the last day of the month.

Its best-known use is 大晦日 (おおみそか, ōmisoka, “New Year's Eve”). Wikipedia translates it as the "big 30th": the last day of the whole year. That term is still in use.

How to learn them

• Learn the months first. They're just numbers plus がつ, with three exceptions: しがつ, しちがつ, くがつ.
• Learn ついたち to とおか as ten words, then add じゅうよっか, はつか and にじゅうよっか. That's every irregular date.
• Remember one kanji per weekday. Moon, fire, water, wood, gold, earth, sun: once you know the pictures, you know the week.
• Say today's date every morning, out loud, in full: year, month, day, weekday. It takes ten seconds, and in a month you'll have said every date.

Questions about dates in Japanese

How do you write the date in Japanese?

Japanese dates are written year, month, day, each number followed by 年, 月 and 日: 2026年9月27日. The weekday often follows in brackets, shortened to one kanji: 2026年9月27日（日）.

What are the 12 months in Japanese?

The 12 months are the numbers 1 to 12 plus がつ (gatsu): ichigatsu, nigatsu, sangatsu, shigatsu, gogatsu, rokugatsu, shichigatsu, hachigatsu, kugatsu, jūgatsu, jūichigatsu and jūnigatsu. April, July and September are the ones to watch.

Is month tsuki or gatsu?

Use gatsu (がつ) for a month of the year, such as 9月, kugatsu. つき (tsuki) is the word for "moon" or "month", and かげつ (kagetsu) counts a number of months.

How do you say 4 months or 9 months in Japanese?

Four months is よんかげつ (yonkagetsu) and nine months is きゅうかげつ (kyūkagetsu). Both are written with the counter か月: 4か月, 9か月.

How do you say the 1st of the month in Japanese?

The 1st of the month is ついたち (tsuitachi), written 1日 or 一日. Read いちにち, the same kanji mean "one day".

How do you say the dates of the month in Japanese?

From the 2nd to the 10th, the dates have their own words: ふつか, みっか, よっか, いつか, むいか, なのか, ようか, ここのか, とおか. After that, most are the number plus にち, with the 14th, 20th and 24th as exceptions.

How do you ask today's date in Japanese?

Ask 今日は何日ですか (kyō wa nan-nichi desu ka). To ask the day of the week, say 今日は何曜日ですか.

What are the days of the week in Japanese?

The days of the week are getsuyōbi (Monday), kayōbi, suiyōbi, mokuyōbi, kin'yōbi, doyōbi and nichiyōbi (Sunday). Each one is a kanji plus 曜日.

Sources

• Readings and meanings: JMdict (EDRDG, CC BY-SA 4.0).
• Wikipedia contributors, Japanese calendar (revision of September 2026), CC BY-SA 4.0: Arabic numerals, the days of the month, ついたち, みそか and おおみそか, the weekday names, the old month names and 師走, the 1873 calendar change, the Reiwa era and era names on official forms.
• Wikipedia contributors, Date and time notation in Japan (revision of June 2026), CC BY-SA 4.0: the written date format, the short weekday in brackets, numeric forms and 元年.
• Wiktionary contributors, 二十日 (revision of August 2026: はつか from はた or はたち, plus か) and Appendix: Japanese counters (年 with four, seven and nine; 箇月 from 1 to 12; じゅうきゅう for the 19th), CC BY-SA 4.0.
• Reviewed by two independent reviews; the 19th, the years 7 and 9, the readings of 8 and 10 months, the particle に with dates, the written short forms and the use of the old month names are waiting for a native speaker's check. The full list of sources is on our attributions page.