Time in Japanese: 時間 (jikan), 時 (ji) and 分 (fun)
Time in Japanese is 時間 (じかん, jikan, “time”), and "What time is it?" is 今何時ですか (ima nanji desu ka). To tell the time, put 時 (ji) after the hour and 分 (fun or pun) after the minutes: 3時10分 (sanji juppun) is 3:10.
You say the hour first, then the minutes, then です (desu):
- 3時です。 (さんじです, sanji desu) It's three o'clock.
- 3時10分です。 (さんじ じゅっぷんです, sanji juppun desu) It's ten past three.
- 午後2時半です。 (ごご にじはんです, gogo niji han desu) It's half past two in the afternoon.
時間 is time as an amount: "I don't have time", "two hours". For "time" in the sense of "when", as in "the time I went to Japan", the word is 時 (とき, toki, “time”).
The pattern is easy. The hard part is the readings. Four, seven and nine o'clock don't use the numbers you'd expect, and 分 is sometimes fun and sometimes pun. This page gives every reading from one to twelve o'clock and from one to ten minutes. It shows the rule for fun and pun, and how to build any time, such as 7:45.
How times are written
The tables below show kanji numbers (三時, 十分), because that's how the dictionary lists them. But Japanese written from left to right uses ordinary numbers: 3時10分, or simply 3:10. Japan's government style guide for official writing says to use Arabic numerals in horizontal text and kanji numbers in vertical text. Its own example is 午後2時37分. So the examples on this page use numbers, as you'd see them on a phone, a sign or a timetable.
Where the readings on this page come from
Every reading in the tables comes from JMdict, the open Japanese-English dictionary, not from memory. They are the same readings our time drills use.
Hours in Japanese: 時 (ji), and yoji, shichiji, kuji
Add 時 to a number and you have the hour: 1時 (ichiji) is one o'clock, 12時 (jūniji) is twelve o'clock.
| Written | Reading | Romaji | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 一時 | いちじ | ichiji | one o'clock |
| 二時 | にじ | niji | two o'clock |
| 三時 | さんじ | sanji | 3 o'clock |
| 四時 | よじ | yoji | four o'clock |
| 五時 | ごじ | goji | five o'clock |
| 六時 | ろくじ | rokuji | six o'clock |
| 七時 | しちじ | shichiji | seven o'clock |
| 八時 | はちじ | hachiji | eight o'clock |
| 九時 | くじ | kuji | nine o'clock |
| 十時 | じゅうじ | juuji | ten o'clock |
| 十一時 | じゅういちじ | juuichiji | eleven o'clock |
| 十二時 | じゅうにじ | juuniji | twelve o'clock; noon |
Most of these are the plain number plus じ (ji). Three are not, and they're the ones learners get wrong:
- 4 o'clock is よじ (yoji). Not よんじ (yonji). The dictionary also lists 四時 (しじ, shiji, “the four seasons”), but that's a different word.
- 7 o'clock is しちじ (shichiji). It uses しち (shichi), not the なな (nana) you'd often count with. You may also hear ななじ (nanaji). It's often explained as a way to avoid mixing it up with いちじ (ichiji), but しちじ is the reading the dictionary gives.
- 9 o'clock is くじ (kuji). It uses く (ku), not きゅう (kyū).
A good way to remember them: say the whole word, not the number. くじ, よじ and しちじ are words in their own right, and they stick better that way than as "nine plus じ".
Minutes in Japanese: 分, fun or pun
Minutes use 分. On its own it's read ふん (fun), but after some numbers it becomes ぷん (pun). The only difference is the first kana: ふ or ぷ. The number itself can change too: 一 becomes いっ (ip), 六 becomes ろっ (rop).
| Written | Reading | Romaji | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 一分 | いっぷん | ippun | one minute |
| 二分 | にふん | nifun | two minutes |
| 三分 | さんぷん | sanpun | three minutes |
| 四分 | よんぷん | yonpun | four minutes |
| 五分 | ごふん | gofun | five minutes |
| 六分 | ろっぷん | roppun | six minutes |
| 七分 | ななふん | nanafun | seven minutes |
| 八分 | はっぷん | happun | eight minutes |
| 九分 | きゅうふん | kyuufun | nine minutes |
| 十分 | じゅっぷん / じっぷん | juppun / jippun | ten minutes |
Fun or pun?
Group the readings and a clear pattern appears:
| 分 is read | After | Readings |
|---|---|---|
| ぷん (pun) | 1, 3, 4, 6, 8, 10 | いっぷん, さんぷん, よんぷん, ろっぷん, はっぷん, じゅっぷん / じっぷん |
| ふん (fun) | 2, 5, 7, 9 | にふん, ごふん, ななふん, きゅうふん |
Look at how the pun numbers end: いっ, さん, よん, ろっ, はっ, じゅっ. Every one ends in a small っ or in ん. The fun numbers (に, ご, なな, きゅう) end in a vowel. So if the number ends in っ or ん, expect ぷん.
Two more readings from the dictionary follow the same pattern:
| Japanese | Reading | Romaji | Meaning | When |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 何分 | なんぷん | nanpun | what minute; how many minutes | なん ends in ん, so ぷん |
| 三十分 | さんじゅっぷん | sanjuppun | thirty minutes; half an hour | じゅっ ends in っ, so ぷん; also read さんじっぷん |
Minutes above ten
To say any minute above ten, say the tens, then the last number with 分. The last number decides fun or pun, just as in the table above. A round ten, like 20 or 50, ends in じゅっぷん (juppun) or じっぷん (jippun).
| Minutes | Reading | Romaji |
|---|---|---|
| 15分 | じゅうごふん | jūgofun |
| 20分 | にじゅっぷん or にじっぷん | nijuppun or nijippun |
| 45分 | よんじゅうごふん | yonjūgofun |
These follow the rule, but the dictionary doesn't list them as words, so they're on our list for a native speaker to check.
Put it together for 7:45: 7時45分 (しちじ よんじゅうごふん, shichiji yonjūgofun). You can also say "a quarter to eight": 8時15分前 (はちじ じゅうごふん まえ, hachiji jūgofun mae).
The hour and the minute don't match
The numbers that were irregular for 時 are irregular in a different way for 分. It's worth learning these three side by side:
| Number | o'clock (時) | minutes (分) |
|---|---|---|
| 4 | よじ (yoji) | よんぷん (yonpun) |
| 7 | しちじ (shichiji) | ななふん (nanafun) |
| 9 | くじ (kuji) | きゅうふん (kyūfun) |
Half past, a.m. and p.m.: han, gozen, gogo
A handful of short words cover everything else you need to say the time.
| Written | Reading | Romaji | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 半 | はん | han | half (e.g., にじはん | half-past two) |
| 午前 | ごぜん | gozen | morning, A.M. |
| 午後 | ごご | gogo | afternoon, P.M. |
| 丁度 | ちょうど | choudo | just, right, exactly |
| 前 | まえ | mae | before, in front |
| 今 | いま | ima | now |
Han: half past
半 (han) after the hour means "half past": 2時半 (にじはん, niji han) is half past two, 7時半 (しちじはん, shichiji han) is half past seven. You can also say 30分 (さんじゅっぷん, sanjuppun), but 半 is shorter and very common.
半 on its own means "half" in general. For "half of something" (half the cake, half the students), the everyday word is 半分 (はんぶん, hanbun, “half”).
Gozen and gogo: a.m. and p.m.
午前 (gozen) is a.m. and 午後 (gogo) is p.m. Both contain 午, "noon": 午前 is "before noon" (前, "before") and 午後 is "after noon" (後, "later"). Unlike in English, they go before the time:
- 午前9時 (ごぜん くじ, gozen kuji): 9 a.m.
- 午後4時半 (ごご よじはん, gogo yoji han): 4:30 p.m.
Exactly, to and past: chōdo, mae, sugi
- ちょうど (chōdo, "exactly") after the time: 3時ちょうどです。 (さんじ ちょうどです, sanji chōdo desu) It's three o'clock exactly.
- 前 (mae, "before") after the minutes gives "to": 3時5分前 (さんじ ごふん まえ, sanji gofun mae) is five to three.
- 過ぎ (すぎ, sugi, “past”) after the time: 10時過ぎ (じゅうじ すぎ, jūji sugi) is "after ten" or "past ten".
The 24-hour clock, noon and midnight in Japanese
Both the 12-hour and the 24-hour clock are common in Japan. You'll see the 24-hour clock especially on train timetables. To read it, say the number plus 時 as usual, with the same よじ, しちじ and くじ at the end:
| Japanese | Reading | Romaji | Meaning | When |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| １３時 | じゅうさんじ | jūsanji | 1 PM | |
| １４時 | じゅうよじ | jūyoji | 2 PM | |
| １５時 | じゅうごじ | jūgoji | 3 PM | |
| １６時 | じゅうろくじ | jūrokuji | 4 PM | |
| １７時 | じゅうしちじ | jūshichiji | 5 PM | The dictionary also lists じゅうななじ |
| １８時 | じゅうはちじ | jūhachiji | 6 PM | |
| １９時 | じゅうくじ | jūkuji | 7 PM | |
| ２０時 | にじゅうじ | nijūji | 8 PM | |
| ２１時 | にじゅういちじ | nijūichiji | 9 PM | |
| ２２時 | にじゅうにじ | nijūniji | 10 PM | |
| ２３時 | にじゅうさんじ | nijūsanji | 11 PM |
Noon and midnight
Noon is 正午 (しょうご, shōgo, “noon”). Midnight is 午前零時 (ごぜんれいじ, gozenreiji, “midnight”), usually written 午前0時. On a 24-hour clock, midnight is 零時 (れいじ, reiji), written 0時.
Twelve o'clock on its own, 12時 (jūniji), can mean noon or midnight. Even the a.m. and p.m. labels for noon are muddled. Japan's 1872 law on the clock calls noon 午前12時, but TV and newspapers usually say 午後0時 for noon. The National Astronomical Observatory of Japan explains the confusion. The safe choice is to say 正午, or to use the 24-hour clock, where 12時 is noon and 0時 is midnight.
25時 is 1 a.m.
Some activities that run past midnight keep counting the hours. TV schedules often list late-night shows this way, so 25時 is 1 a.m. A bar may even say it's open until 30時, which is 6 a.m.
What time is it in Japanese? 今何時ですか (ima nanji desu ka)
"What time?" is 何時 (なんじ, nanji, “what time”): 何 (nan, "what") plus 時. Put 今 (いま, ima, “now”) (今) in front, and you're asking the time:
- 今何時ですか。 (いま なんじですか, ima nanji desu ka) What time is it?
- 今何時？ (いま なんじ, ima nanji?) What time is it? Casual, with friends.
- すみません、今何時ですか。 (すみません、いま なんじですか, sumimasen, ima nanji desu ka) Excuse me, what time is it? To a stranger, start with すみません (sumimasen, “excuse me”).
The answer uses the same pattern as the start of this page: 3時です (sanji desu), "It's three o'clock", or 3時10分です (sanji juppun desu).
What time do you…? Nanji ni
何時に起きますか。 (なんじに おきますか, nanji ni okimasu ka) What time do you get up?
The particle に (ni) marks the time something happens: 7時に起きます。 (しちじに おきます, shichiji ni okimasu) I get up at seven. The verb here is 起きる (おきる, okiru, “to get up”), in its polite form 起きます.
何時 can also be いつ
JMdict lists two different words written 何時: 何時 (なんじ, nanji, “what time”) and 何時 (いつ, itsu, “when”). On our N5 list, "when" is written in kana, いつ, which avoids the confusion. The same goes for 何時から: JMdict has both 何時から (なんじから, nanjikara, “from what time”) and 何時から (いつから, itsukara, “since when”). If you see 何時 in a sentence about the clock, read it なんじ.
About: goro and gurai
To say "about" a time, add ごろ (goro) ("around; about") straight after it:
- 9時ごろ寝ます。 (くじごろ ねます, kuji goro nemasu) I go to bed at about nine.
The verb is 寝る (ねる, neru, “to go to bed”), in its polite form 寝ます.
ごろ is for "about what time". For "about how long", use ぐらい (gurai, “approximately”):
- 1時間ぐらい待ちました。 (いちじかんぐらい まちました, ichijikan gurai machimashita) I waited about an hour.
The verb is 待つ (まつ, matsu, “to wait”). In casual speech you may also hear ぐらい after a clock time, as in 9時ぐらい.
From… to…: kara and made
から (kara, "from") and まで (made, "until") work with times too:
- 9時から5時まで (くじから ごじまで, kuji kara goji made): from nine to five
How long: 時間 (jikan) and 分間 (funkan)
時 gives you a point on the clock. For a length of time in hours, use 時間 (jikan, "hour") instead. The second kanji is 間, "interval".
| Clock time | Duration |
|---|---|
| 1時 (いちじ, ichiji): one o'clock | 1時間 (いちじかん, ichijikan): one hour |
| 2時 (にじ, niji): two o'clock | 2時間 (にじかん, nijikan): two hours |
| 何時 (なんじ, nanji): what time? | 何時間 (なんじかん, nanjikan): how many hours? |
The dictionary lists 一時間 (いちじかん, ichijikan, “one hour”) and 何時間 (なんじかん, nanjikan, “how many hours”) as words of their own.
- 1時間待ちました。 (いちじかん まちました, ichijikan machimashita) I waited for an hour.
Minutes are simpler: 分 already works for both. 10分 can be "ten past" (3時10分) or "ten minutes": 10分待ちました (じゅっぷん まちました, juppun machimashita), "I waited ten minutes". Written with numbers, it can't be misread as じゅうぶん, "enough".
If you want to make "how long" clear, JMdict has 分間 (ふんかん, funkan, “minutes (period of)”): 5分間 (ごふんかん, gofunkan) is "for five minutes".
Seconds: byō
Seconds are 秒 (びょう, byō, “second (unit of time)”). They work like 分: 30秒 is thirty seconds, and 1分30秒 is a minute and a half.
A few more words from the N5 list that come up whenever you talk about time:
| Written | Reading | Romaji | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 時間 | じかん | jikan | time |
| 時計 | とけい | tokei | a watch; a clock |
| いつ | いつ | itsu | when |
| 朝 | あさ | asa | morning |
| 昼 | ひる | hiru | noon, daytime |
| 晩 | ばん | ban | evening |
| 夜 | よる | yoru | evening, night |
How to learn them
- Learn the three odd hours first. よじ (yoji), しちじ (shichiji) and くじ (kuji) are the ones that trip people up. The other nine are the plain numbers.
- Learn ぷん by its sound. After a number ending in っ or ん, 分 is ぷん (pun). That one observation covers the whole minutes table, and every minute above ten.
- Say full times out loud. 午後4時半, 午前9時10分: the more you say the hour, minutes and 午前 or 午後 together, the less you'll hesitate.
- Read the clock around you. Every time you look at a clock, say the time in Japanese. It's free daily practice.
Clock times are one part of the numbers you need at N5. For the rest, see counting in Japanese, dates in Japanese, counting people and age and Japanese counters.
Drill the minutes: fun or pun
一分 to 十分: is it ふん or ぷん?
Questions about time in Japanese
How do you say time in Japanese?
Time in Japanese is 時間 (jikan), which also means "hour". For "time" in the sense of "when", Japanese uses 時 (toki).
How do you say "what time is it" in Japanese?
"What time is it?" in Japanese is 今何時ですか (ima nanji desu ka). With friends, 今何時？ (ima nanji?) is enough.
How do you say 7:30 in Japanese?
7:30 in Japanese is 7時半 (shichiji han), "half past seven". You can also say 7時30分 (shichiji sanjuppun), as you'd read it off a digital clock.
How do you say 3:30 in Japanese?
3:30 in Japanese is 3時半 (sanji han). For 3:30 p.m., put 午後 in front: 午後3時半 (gogo sanji han).
How do you say 4:00 in Japanese?
4:00 in Japanese is 4時 (yoji). It isn't yonji: four o'clock is one of the three hours with a special reading.
How do you say 12:00 in Japanese?
12:00 in Japanese is 12時 (jūniji). It can mean noon or midnight, so say 正午 (shōgo) for noon and 午前0時 (gozen reiji) for midnight.
What does nanji mean?
Nanji (何時) means "what time". 今何時ですか (ima nanji desu ka) means "What time is it?"
Is 7 o'clock shichiji or nanaji?
7 o'clock is shichiji (しちじ), the reading the dictionary gives. You may also hear nanaji, often explained as a way to avoid mixing it up with ichiji.
Is it fun or pun for minutes?
Minutes are pun after 1, 3, 4, 6, 8 and 10, and fun after 2, 5, 7 and 9. If the number ends in っ or ん, expect pun.
Does Japan use a.m. and p.m.?
Japan uses both the 12-hour clock, with 午前 (gozen, a.m.) and 午後 (gogo, p.m.), and the 24-hour clock. The 24-hour clock is common on train timetables, where 18時 is 6 p.m.
What time zone is Japan in?
Japan is on Japan Standard Time, 9 hours ahead of UTC (UTC+9). It doesn't use daylight saving time, so the clocks never change.
Facts on this page last checked on 2026-10-01.Sources
- Readings and meanings: JMdict (EDRDG, CC BY-SA 4.0), including 七時 read しちじ, 四時 read しじ as "the four seasons", 十七時 read じゅうしちじ or じゅうななじ, the two readings of 十分 and the two words written 何時.
- Word list: our N5 list, based on Jonathan Waller's JLPT lists (tanos.co.uk, CC BY). The JLPT has not published official vocabulary lists since 2010.
- Numbers in horizontal and vertical writing: Council for Cultural Affairs (文化審議会), 公用文作成の考え方 (2022), Ⅰ 表記の原則, 4 数字の使い方, items ア and キ.
- The 12-hour and 24-hour clocks, train timetables, 8時42分 and 8:42, 午後0時 for noon in broadcasting, and hours past 24: Wikipedia, Date and time notation in Japan.
- Noon in the 1872 law, and the 午前12時 and 午後0時 confusion: National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, 暦Wiki, 午前と午後.
- Japan's time zone: Wikipedia, Japan Standard Time (UTC+9, no daylight saving time).
- The full list of sources is on our attributions page.
- Reviewed by two independent reviews; the points about ななじ, minute readings above ten, noon and midnight in speech, spoken 24-hour times, ぐらい after a clock time and 25時 are waiting for a native speaker's check.