How to Tell Time in Japanese: An Easy Guide

How do you tell the time in Japanese? Well, just as in English, we need to start with the hours!

To tell time in Japanese, the suffix 時 (ji) meaning “hour” or “o’clock” is added to the numerical hour.

Below is a table to help you learn the correct pronunciations for each main hour:

Hours in Japanese

Easy, right? Note that sometimes the numbers will be written in kanji, but sometimes they’ll be written in the same numbers English uses.

Notice the times for 4:00, 7:00, and 9:00. Remember there are a few ways to say 4, 7, and 9, but these pronunciations are constant! They will not change. So you will not say something like yonji or shiji for 4:00. It’s always yoji.

Note I’ve included “What hour” in this table, which might seem weird. But don’t be thrown off! I’ll explain this in more detail in a later section, since we’ll use it to ask what time it is.

Also, these times can be used for both AM and PM. If you want to clarify whether you mean the time in the morning of afternoon/evening, you can use the following core words:

Japanese Time Words

Keep in mind that these words will go in front of the time expression. So for example, “9:00 AM” is 午前９時 (gozen kuji), and “7:00 PM” is 午後７時 (gogo shichiji).

Now, if you’re moving to Japan or ready to learn some slightly more advanced ways to tell time, you’ll want to know about the 24-hour clock.

Telling time in Japan can involve both the 12-hour clock (AM/PM system) mentioned earlier and the 24-hour clock, which is often referred to as military time in some other countries, like the US.

Japan is known for its punctual and efficient public transportation systems, which includes trains, buses, and subways. The timetables for these services almost invariably use the 24-hour clock format. This helps avoid confusion, particularly during the early morning and late evening hours.

The 24-hour clock is also commonly used in formal settings such as workplaces, schools, medical institutions, or on official documents like event schedules. Like in the above, this method reduces ambiguity and ensures clarity in communication. For example, a work shift that starts at ‘09:00’ and ends at ‘17:00’ refers to a typical 9 AM to 5 PM workday.

Also, many digital clocks, smartphones, and computers in Japan display time using the 24-hour format by default. So on Japanese smartphones, the default time display might read “14:00” instead of “2:00 PM.”

[IMG: advertisement.jpg]
You’ll notice this advertisement uses a lot of the 24-hour time!

Now, if you’re an American like me who has never been in the military, this might take some getting used to. It might trip you up at first, but it’s a pretty easy system to figure out.

To quickly convert PM times to the 24-hour format, simply add 12 to the PM time. For example, 3 PM becomes 15:00 (3 + 12).

Now, remember that midnight starts at “00:00” and that noon is “12:00.” With this in mind, times from “00:00” to “11:59” belong to the morning hours, while “12:00” to “23:59” cover the afternoon and evening periods.

24-Hour Clock in Japanese

Now, Japanese time doesn’t stop with “o’clock”s! For many times in the day, we’ll need to count minutes as well. That goes after the hour, the same as in English.

Note that for minutes, you generally add the number followed by 分 (fun or pun depending on the preceding number). Here’s a table to assist you:

Minutes in Japanese

Right, so this is a bit more complex than 時 (ji) above since the numbers change a bit more, but don’t worry. You’ll get the hang of it in no time.

Plus, once you can count to 11 minutes, you can count to all of them! “22 minutes,” for example, is ２２分 (nijuunifun).

Now here’s a sample sentence putting all this together:
“The train departs at 13:45 [1:45 PM].”
電車は１３時４５分に出発します。 (Densha wa juusanji yonjuugofun ni shuppatsu shimasu.)

You’ll notice one outlier in this table: 半 (han). This is the special word for 30 minutes past the hour. So while it’s possible to say ３０分 (sanjuppun) for 30 minutes, it’s less common. So for example, “3:30,” is most commonly sanji han rather than sanji sanjuppun.

So we have sentences like:
“School starts at 8:30.”
学校は八時半に始まります。 (Gakkou wa hachiji han ni hajimarimasu.)

Here’s a bit of a linguistic insight: As we covered, in Japanese, the word for minute is 分, which can be pronounced as either fun or pun. However, it’s not interchangeable, and there’s a specific rule that governs which pronunciation to use. This linguistic phenomenon is linked to a broader aspect of Japanese pronunciation known as 連濁 (rendaku).

Rendaku is where the first consonant of the second component of a compound word becomes voiced. This means a sound like “t” might change to “d,” “k” changes to “g,” or as in our case, “f” changes to “p.”

The exact reasons behind rendaku are still debated among linguists, but the general consensus is that it makes phrases easier to say and helps maintain a rhythm in speech. Rendaku also adds a layer of cohesion to compound words, making them sound more like a single unit rather than a sequence of separate elements.

Okay, so now we know how to say the time in Japanese. But how about asking for it? In the tables above, you had the vocabulary. Here’s how to use them in context.

The most common and polite way to ask for the time in Japanese is 何時ですか？ (Nanji desu ka?)

If you really need to get specific with time in Japanese, you can also ask about the seconds! In Japanese, the word for “second” in the context of time is 秒 (byou).

To count seconds, you simply precede 秒 (びょう, byou) with a number. Luckily, seconds are as straightforward as hours 時 (ji)! Here’s how you count from one second up to sixty seconds:

Seconds in Japanese

Pretty straightforward, right?

To wrap up this section, here are some sample sentences using seconds:

“Can you wait for just 10 seconds?”
１０秒だけ待ってもらえますか？ (Juubyou dake matte moraemasu ka?)

“This microwave heats up food in 30 seconds.”
この電子レンジは食べ物を三十秒で温めます。(Kono denshirenji wa tabemono o sanjuubyou de atatamemasu.)

When speaking of time in Japanese, we’ve covered a number plus 時 (ji). But sometimes, you might run into a number plus 時間 (jikan), which also means “hour.” Are they interchangeable? Actually, no! But don’t worry – their distinct uses are pretty easy to separate.

On the one hand, just to quickly recap, 時 (ji) directly translates to “o’clock” or “hour” in English. It is commonly used to specify the hour of the day or to tell time:

• 何時ですか？ (Nanji desu ka?) – “What time is it?”
• 八時です。 (Hachiji desu.) – “It is eight o’clock.”

時間 (jikan), on the other hand, translates to “time” as a concept or duration. It is used to indicate the length, duration or a period of time rather than a specific time. It can reflect the amount of time something takes or the period someone spent doing something:

• 映画はどのくらいの時間がかかりますか？(Eiga wa dono kurai no jikan ga kakarimasu ka?) – “How long will the movie take?”
• 昨日、一時間ジョギングしました。 (Kinou, ichi jikan jogingu shimashita.) – “Yesterday, I jogged for an hour.”

So while both ji and jikan relate to ‘time,’ their applications are distinctly different.

To solidify your understanding, here’s a practical comparison:

If you’re telling a friend when to meet for lunch: 一時に会いましょう。 (Ichiji ni aimashou.) – “Let’s meet at one o’clock.”
If you’re discussing how long lunch will be: ランチは一時間です。 (Ranchi wa ichijikan desu.) – “Lunch will be for an hour.”

For our intermediate and advanced learners, there are of course more specific ways to talk about the time in Japanese! Here’s a list of vocabulary to learn to push up your level:

Time Vocabulary in Japanese

Now here are some examples of how to use these Japanese time words in context:

1. “Let’s have lunch at noon.”
   =正午にランチを食べましょう。 (Shougo ni ranchi wo tabemashou.)
2. “I will go for a drive late at night.”
   深夜にドライブに行きます。 (Shin’ya ni doraibu ni ikimasu.)
3. “Please do not call at midnight.”
   真夜中に電話をしないでください。 (Mayonaka ni denwa wo shinaide kudasai.)
4. “Let’s take a walk in the evening.”
   夕方に散歩しましょう。 (Yuugata ni sanpo shimashou.)
5. “I am going to see the sunrise tomorrow.”
   明日の日の出を見に行きます。 (Ashita no hinode wo mi ni ikimasu.)
6. “The sea is very beautiful at sunset.”
   日没の時に海がとても綺麗です。 (Nichibotsu no toki ni umi ga totemo kirei desu.)
7. “I am currently in a meeting.”
   現在、会議中です。 (Genzai, kaigichuu desu.)
8. “I plan to arrive around eight o’clock.”
   八時頃に到着する予定です。 (Hachiji goro ni touchaku suru yotei desu.)
9. “I will call you in about thirty minutes.”
   約三十分後に電話します。 (Yaku sanjuppun go ni denwa shimasu.)
10. “I sent the email two hours ago.”
    二時間前にメールを送りました。 (Nijikan mae ni meeru wo okurimashita.)
11. “I will return immediately after lunch.”
    昼食後すぐに戻ります。 (Chuushoku go sugu ni modorimasu.)
12. “Please reply as soon as possible.”
    できるだけ早く回答をお願いします。 (Dekiru dake hayaku kaitou wo onegaishimasu.)
13. “I apologize for the long wait.”
    長い間お待たせして申し訳ありません。 (Nagai aida omatase shite mōshiwake arimasen.)
14. “Please come here right now.”
    今すぐここへ来てください。 (Ima sugu koko e kite kudasai.)