Time and Hours in Japanese
Time in Japanese is built simply: hours are a number + 時 (ji): 1 o'clock is 一時 ichiji, 3 o'clock is 三時 sanji. Minutes are a number + 分 (fun/pun): 5 minutes is 五分 gofun. “What time is it?” is 今何時ですか (ima nanji desu ka). Morning is 午前 gozen, afternoon is 午後 gogo. There are exceptions: 4時 yoji, 9時 kuji. In Japanese Zen, numbers and time are taught in the vocabulary section.
Time in Japanese flows along a simple channel: add “ji” to a number and you get the hour, add “fun” and you get the minute. Hours stack like blocks, almost without a catch. Asking “what time is it” opens the day in Japan.
How to say what time it is?
| Time | Japanese | Reading |
|---|---|---|
| 1:00 | 一時 | ichiji |
| 4:00 | 四時 | yoji (excl.) |
| 7:00 | 七時 | shichiji |
| 9:00 | 九時 | kuji (excl.) |
| 12:00 | 十二時 | juuniji |
Minutes and parts of the day
- Minutes: number + 分 (fun/pun): 5 minutes is 五分 gofun, 10 minutes is 十分 juppun.
- Half hour is 半 (han): 3:30 is 三時半 sanji-han.
- 午前 (gozen) is before noon, 午後 (gogo) is after noon.
- 朝 (asa) is morning, 昼 (hiru) is daytime, 夜 (yoru) is night.
Where time readings break down
Four o'clock is only 四時 (yoji), not “shiji”; nine is 九時 (kuji); minutes 1, 6, 8, 10 take っぷん instead of ふん (一分 ippun). These five exceptions account for almost all mistakes in talking about time.
What time is it? — asking and answering
- Ask: 今何時ですか (ima nanji desu ka) — “What time is it now?”.
- Answer with the hour: 三時です (sanji desu) — “It's three o'clock.”
- Add minutes: 三時十五分です (sanji juugofun desu) — “3:15.”
- Indicate the part of the day: 午後三時 (gogo sanji) — “3 p.m.”
How to ask a passerby for the time
すみません、今何時ですか (sumimasen, ima nanji desu ka) — “excuse me, what time is it now?”. The answer will end with 分, and “half” will be 半 (han): 三時半 — half past three.
FAQ
- How do you ask “what time is it” in Japanese?
- 今何時ですか (ima nanji desu ka) — “What time is it now?”. The word 時 (ji) means “hour”, 何時 (nanji) means “what hour”.
- Why are 4 o'clock and 9 o'clock read specially?
- Because 4時 is yoji (not “shiji”), and 9時 is kuji (not “kyuuji”). These, along with 7時 (shichiji), are stable exceptions that are simply memorized.
- How are minutes formed?
- Number + 分, which is read either “fun” or “pun” depending on the number: 5分 gofun, 10分 juppun, 30分 sanjuppun (or 半 han — “half”).
- How do you say “a.m.” and “p.m.”?
- In Japan, 午前 (gozen, before noon) and 午後 (gogo, after noon) are often used: 午前7時 is 7 a.m., 午後7時 is 7 p.m.
Updated: 2026-06-25