Days of the Week and Months in Japanese

Days and months follow neat patterns once you learn the elements behind them.

Days of the week

Each day pairs an element with 曜日 (yōbi):

• 月曜日 (getsu) — Monday (moon)
• 火曜日 (ka) — Tuesday (fire)
• 水曜日 (sui) — Wednesday (water)
• 木曜日 (moku) — Thursday (wood)
• 金曜日 (kin) — Friday (gold)
• 土曜日 (do) — Saturday (earth)
• 日曜日 (nichi) — Sunday (sun)

Months

Months are simply number + 月 (gatsu): 一月 (January), 二月 (February)… 十二月 (December). Watch the irregulars: April is 四月 (shigatsu), July is 七月 (shichigatsu), September is 九月 (kugatsu).

Dates

Days of the month 1–10 (and a few others) have special readings — 一日 (tsuitachi), 二日 (futsuka), 三日 (mikka). These are worth memorising as a set.

Once the pattern clicks, you can say any day, month and date with confidence.