Telling Time in Japanese : Hours and Minutes

Learning how to tell time in Japanese is an essential skill for anyone navigating daily life in Japan or even just planning a trip. Whether it’s checking schedules, making appointments, or just chatting about your day, understanding the way time is expressed in Japanese can make a huge difference. Let’s break it down step by step so you can confidently say what time it is and understand common time-related expressions.

Hours and Minutes

In Japanese, hours are expressed using the word “時 (じ, ji).” To say a specific time, you simply put the number in front of “時.” Here is a complete chart for the hours:

Hour	Japanese	Romaji
1:00	一時（いちじ）	ichiji
2:00	二時（にじ）	niji
3:00	三時（さんじ）	sanji
4:00	四時（よじ）	yoji
5:00	五時（ごじ）	goji
6:00	六時（ろくじ）	rokuji
7:00	七時（しちじ）	shichiji
8:00	八時（はちじ）	hachiji
9:00	九時（くじ）	kuji
10:00	十時（じゅうじ）	juuji
11:00	十一時（じゅういちじ）	juuichiji
12:00	十二時（じゅうにじ）	juuniji

Minutes are expressed using “分 (ふん, fun or pun).” The pronunciation of “分” changes depending on the number, which can be tricky, but with a little practice, it becomes second nature. Here is a complete chart for the minutes:

Minute	Japanese	Romaji
1	一分（いっぷん）	ippun
2	二分（にふん）	nifun
3	三分（さんぷん）	sanpun
4	四分（よんぷん）	yonpun
5	五分（ごふん）	gofun
6	六分（ろっぷん）	roppun
7	七分（ななふん）	nanafun
8	八分（はっぷん）	happun
9	九分（きゅうふん）	kyuufun
10	十分（じゅっぷん）	juppun
30	三十分（さんじゅっぷん）/ 半（はん）*half	sanjuppun/han

AM and PM / Half

In Japanese, it’s common to specify whether a time is in the morning or afternoon using “午前 (ごぜん, gozen)” for AM and “午後 (ごご, gogo)” for PM.

9:00 AM: 午前九時ごぜんくじ (gozen kuji)
3:00 PM: 午後三時ごごさんじ (gogo sanji)

When it’s half of the time, you can say either 30分 (さんじゅっぷん, sanjuppun) or 半 (はん, han) after hour.

9:30 AM: 午前九時三十分ござんくじさんじゅっぷん (gozen kuji sanjuppun)
3:30 PM: 午後三時半ごごさんじはん (gogo sanji han)

Asking for the Time

If you need to ask someone for the time, you can use this simple phrase:

今何時いまなんじですか？ (Ima nanji desu ka?) – What time is it now?

Useful Time-Related Expressions

Expression	Meaning	Example Usage
ごろ (goro)	around	午前9時ごぜんくじごろ (around 9 AM)
前 (mae)	before	午前9時前ごぜんくじまえ (A little after 9AM)
過ぎ(sugi)	past	午前9時過ごぜんくじすぎ (A little after 9AM)

Exercises

Try these exercises to practice telling time in Japanese:

Write out how to say 2:45 PM in Japanese.
How would you ask someone the time in Japanese?
Write 7:30 AM using both “三十分さんじゅっぷん” and “半はん” in Japanese.
Translate “around 5 PM” into Japanese.
How would you say “a little before 11 AM” in Japanese?
Write out 3:15 using the correct minute value in Japanese.

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