74 Must-Know The DATE in Japanese for Making Better Conversations

At a Glance

Imagine you’re in Japan and someone asks: “今日は何日ですか？” (What’s today’s date?) — and you freeze. Knowing how to talk about dates in Japanese is one of the most practical skills you can build. From making reservations to reading event flyers, dates in Japanese come up constantly. This guide covers everything: days of the week, months, date numbers with their tricky special readings, and essential conversation phrases.

Yuka

今日は何日ですか？
Kyou wa nan-nichi desu ka?
What’s today’s date?

Rei

今日は4月21日です。
Kyou wa shi-gatsu nijuu-ichi-nichi desu.
Today is April 21st.

Days of the Week (曜日)

The Japanese word for “day of the week” is 曜日（ようび）. Each day is named after a natural element — a useful memory hook.

In casual speech, Japanese people often drop 曜日 and just say 月（げつ）, 火（か）, 水（すい）, etc. For example: “次の月、会議があります” means “There’s a meeting next Monday.”

Example sentences:

A: 月曜日に授業があります。
A: Getsuyoubi ni jugyou ga arimasu.
A: I have class on Monday.

B: 金曜日の夜は飲み会です。
B: Kin’youbi no yoru wa nomikai desu.
B: Friday night is a drinking party.

Months (月)

Japanese months are beautifully simple: just attach 月（がつ） to the number. There are no special names like January, February — just 1月, 2月, and so on.

Note: 4月 uses shi, not yon; 7月 uses shichi, not nana; 9月 uses ku, not kyuu. These are fixed conventions for months.

Dates 1–31 (日付) — Special Readings

This is where most learners stumble. The first ten days of the month — plus a few others — use native Japanese (kun-reading) numbers rather than Sino-Japanese ones. Memorise these exceptions and the rest follows a pattern.

Key exceptions to memorise: 1日（ついたち） is completely irregular — it does not follow any number pattern. 20日（はつか） is also irregular. Days ending in 4 tend to use yokka pattern: 4日, 14日, 24日.

Yuka

誕生日はいつですか？
Tanjoubi wa itsu desu ka?
When is your birthday?

Rei

8月20日です。
Hachi-gatsu hatsuka desu.
It’s August 20th.

Relative Date Expressions

Beyond calendar dates, Japanese has a rich set of words for talking about time relative to today. These are essential for daily conversation.

Example sentences:

A: 明後日、映画を見に行きませんか？
A: Asatte, eiga wo mi ni ikimasen ka?
A: Would you like to go see a movie the day after tomorrow?

B: 先週の金曜日に彼女と会いました。
B: Senshuu no kin’youbi ni kanojo to aimashita.
B: I met her last Friday.

Useful Date Phrases for Conversation

Now let’s put it all together with phrases you can use right away. The standard date order in Japanese is: Year → Month → Day → Day of Week.

Full date format: 2026年4月21日（火曜日）= Tuesday, April 21, 2026

A: 今日は何日ですか？
A: Kyou wa nan-nichi desu ka?
A: What’s today’s date?

B: 締め切りは来月の15日です。
B: Shimekiri wa raigetsu no juugo-nichi desu.
B: The deadline is the 15th of next month.

C: 会議は水曜日の午後3時です。
C: Kaigi wa suiyoubi no gogo san-ji desu.
C: The meeting is Wednesday at 3 PM.

D: 先週の月曜日から風邪を引いています。
D: Senshuu no getsuyoubi kara kaze wo hiite imasu.
D: I’ve had a cold since last Monday.

Yuka

試験は何月何日ですか？
Shiken wa nan-gatsu nan-nichi desu ka?
What month and day is the exam?

Rei

7月1日、日曜日です。
Shichi-gatsu tsuitachi, nichiyoubi desu.
July 1st, Sunday.

Quick Quiz

Test yourself! Fill in the blank with the correct Japanese reading.

1. How do you read 3月14日？
Answer: san-gatsu juuyokka

2. What day of the week is 木曜日？
Answer: Thursday

3. How do you say “day after tomorrow” in Japanese?
Answer: 明後日（あさって）

4. How do you read 1月1日？
Answer: ichi-gatsu tsuitachi

5. What is the Japanese word for “last week”?
Answer: 先週（せんしゅう）

Practice with a Real Teacher

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