When making plans or discussing future events in Japanese, the ability to say the days of the month is a necessity. These days of the month can be tricky, but we’ll break it down step-by-step so you can learn them as easily as possible. Before we break all of the days down, let’s look at all of the days of the month in Japanese. Also, check out our days of the week lesson if you want to learn more!
| 1st 一日 ついたち (tsuitachi) | 2nd 二日 ふつか (futsuka) | 3rd 三日 みっか (mikka) | 4th 四日 よっか (yokka) | 5th 五日 いつか (itsuka) | 6th 六日 むいか (muika) |
| 7th 七日 なのか (nanoka) | 8th 八日 ようか (yōka) | 9th 九日 ここのか (kokonoka) | 10th 十日 とおか (tōka) | 11th 十一日 じゅういちにち (jū ichi nichi) | 12th 十二日 じゅうににち (jū ni nichi) |
| 13th 十三日 じゅうさんにち (jū san nichi) | 14th 十四日 じゅうよっか (jū yokka) | 15th 十五日 じゅうごにち (jū go nichi) | 16th 十六日 じゅうろくにち (jū roku nichi) | 17th 十七日 じゅうしちにち (jū shichi nichi) | 18th 十八日 じゅうはちにち (jū hachi nichi) |
| 19th 十九日 じゅうくにち (jū ku nichi) | 20th 二十日 はつか (hatsuka) | 21st 二十一日 にじゅういちにち (ni jū ichi nichi) | 22nd 二十二日 にじゅうににち (ni jū ni nichi) | 23rd 二十三日 にじゅうさんにち (ni jū san nichi) | 24th 二十四日 にじゅうよっか (ni jū yokka) |
| 25th 二十五日 にじゅうごにち (ni jū go nichi) | 26th 二十六日 にじゅうろくにち (ni jū roku nichi) | 27th 二十七日 にじゅうしちにち (ni jū shichi nichi) | 28th 二十八日 にじゅうはちにち (ni jū hachi nichi) | 29th 二十九日 にじゅうくにち (ni jū ku nichi) | 30th 三十日 さんじゅうにち (san jū nichi) |
| 31st 三十一日 さんじゅういちにち (san jū ichi nichi) |
Days 1-10
To start, let’s discuss the different ways to write the names of the 1st through the 10th in Japanese. Take a look at the table below for a breakdown of each day in kanji, hiragana, and romaji.
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | |
| Kanji | 一日 | 二日 | 三日 | 四日 | 五日 |
| Hiragana | ついたち | ふつか | みっか | よっか | いつか |
| Romaji | tsuitachi | futsuka | mikka | yokka | itsuka |
| 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th | |
| Kanji | 六日 | 七日 | 八日 | 九日 | 十日 |
| Hiragana | むいか | なのか | ようか | ここのか | とおか |
| Romaji | muika | nanoka | yōka | kokonoka | tōka |
The kanji used for the days of the month is very simple: as in English, the kanji for the number is used, followed by the kanji for day, 日 (にち, nichi). However, the reading of the kanji can follow different patterns.
Let’s take a look at the reading for the first 10 days of the month. Except for the 1st, all of the names for the first 10 days of the month end in か (ka).
In addition, these names use the Japanese names for numbers. The 1st is unique because it is the only day of the month that uses たち (tachi). This means that it needs to be memorized separately.
Days 11 – 20
While the first 10 days of the month follow the pattern above, the 11th onward follow a different pattern; take note of the difference when reading through the names.
| 11th | 12th | 13th | 14th | 15th | |
| Kanji | 十一日 | 十二日 | 十三日 | 十四日 | 十五日 |
| Hiragana | じゅういちにち | じゅうににち | じゅうさんにち | じゅうよっか | じゅうごにち |
| Romaji | jū ichi nichi | jū ni nichi | jū san nichi | jū yokka | jū go nichi |
| 16th | 17th | 18th | 19th | 20th | |
| Kanji | 十六日 | 十七日 | 十八日 | 十九日 | 二十日 |
| Hiragana | じゅうろくにち | じゅうしちにち* | じゅうはちにち | じゅうくにち | はつか |
| Romaji | jū roku nichi | jū shichi nichi* | jū hachi nichi | jū ku nichi | hatsuka |
*Note: 十七日 can also be read as じゅうななにち (jūnananichi). Some people do say this, but the more common (and more correct) reading is じゅうしちにち (jūshichinichi).
Instead of the か ending in the first 10 days, the 11th through the 20th uses にち (nichi). Nichi is one of the standard readings of the kanji “日.” However, as you may have noticed, there are two exceptions within these two days: the 14th and the 20th.
The 14th follows the pattern of the first ten days of the month, ending in か rather than にち. In addition, while the 11th through the 13th and the 15th through the 19th use the Chinese names for the numbers, the 14th goes back to the Japanese reading, resulting in よっか.
The 20th is also a unique date because while it ends in か, it also uses a special reading of 二十, はつ (hatsu).
Days 21 – 31
Lastly, we have the days of the month from the 21st through the 31st. Japanese months follow the same calendar as the international standard, so not all months have 31 days, but knowing how to say the 31st in Japanese is valuable. Take a look at the following table for each name’s breakdown.
| 21st | 22nd | 23rd | 24th | 25th | |
| Kanji | 二十一日 | 二十二日 | 二十三日 | 二十四日 | 二十五日 |
| Hiragana | にじゅういちにち | にじゅうににち | にじゅうさんにち | にじゅうよっか | にじゅうごにち |
| Romaji | ni jū ichi nichi | ni jū ni nichi | ni jū san nichi | ni jū yokka | ni jū go nichi |
| 26th | 27th | 28th | 29th | 30th | 31st | |
| Kanji | 二十六日 | 二十七日 | 二十八日 | 二十九日 | 三十日 | 三十一日 |
| Hiragana | にじゅうろくにち | にじゅうしちにち** | にじゅうはちにち | にじゅうくにち | さんじゅうにち | さんじゅういちにち |
| Romaji | ni jū roku nichi | ni jū shichi nichi** | ni jū hachi nichi | ni jū ku nichi | san jū nichi | san jū ichi nichi |
**Note: 二十七日 can also be read as にじゅうななにち (ni jū nana nichi), but にじゅうしちにち (ni jū shichi nichi) is more common and more “correct.”
Following the pattern of the 11th through the 20th, days 21 through 31 end in にち, with one exception; the 24th. As you may be able to guess, any day of the month ending in 4 will always use か instead of にち.
Using the Days of the Month in a Sentence
While the above tables break down the names of all the days of the month, let’s look at examples of how to use them in sentences. The following sentences show how to use the day of the month in a question and a response.
Example 1
The first example uses a day of the month in a question. Pay close attention to the particle used with this day.
十八日は予定がありませんか。
(jū hachi nichi wa yotei ga arimasen ka)
Do you have any plans on the 18th?
In this case, the day of the month, 十八日, is the subject, so the particle は (wa) is used as the subject marker. However, when the day of the month is not the subject of the sentence (and is a casual conversation), no particle can be used.
Example 2
五日、友達と一緒に海に行くよ。
(itsuka, tomodachi to issho ni umi ni iku yo)
On the fifth, I am going to the ocean with my friends.
Example 3
The days of the month can also be used to describe events related to time.
会社全体の会議は今月の二十日です。
(kaisha zentai no kaigi wa kongetsu no hatsuka desu)
The company-wide meeting is on the 20th of this month.
Knowing how to say the days of the month in Japanese can help you make plans, confirm events, and keep track of information the next time you’re in Japan. Remember to memorize the different patterns, and try them out next time you want to invite your friends to grab a coffee!
