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Japanese calendar



         


Since January 1, 1873, Japan has used the Gregorian Calendar, with local names for the months and mostly fixed holidays. Before 1873 a lunisolar calendar was in use, which was adapted from the Chinese calendar.

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Years

Although Japan adopted the Gregorian calendar, they count years by the different eras as well as using the Christian counting. Each emperor enthroned must change the era's name. In modern times, one emperor has one era. For example the current emperor Akihito (明仁)， was enthroned on January 8, 1989 which became the first year of Heisei (平成元年) so 2004 is the year Heisei 16. The last era was Showa (昭和） for the emperor Hirohito (裕仁) who declared the Japanese surrender in 1945, that is, Showa 20. Because Hirohito died on January 7, 1989, the first seven days of 1989 comprise the year Showa 64, as well as Heisei 1, and also 1989.

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Months

The modern Japanese names for the months literally translate to "first month," "second month," and so on. The corresponding number is combined with the suffix -gatsu (month):

In addition, every month has a traditional name, still used by some in fields such as poetry; of the twelve, shiwasu is still widely used today. The opening paragraph of a letter or the greeting in a speech might borrow one of these names to convey a sense of the season. Some, such as yayoi and satsuki, do double duty as given names (for women). These month names also appear from time to time on jidaigeki, which are contemporary television shows and movies set in the Edo period or earlier.

Here is a list of the traditional names.

The name of month: (pronunciation, literal meaning)

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Days of the month

Each day of the month has a semi-systematic but irregularly formed name:


1一日 tsuitachi 2二日 futsuka
3三日 mikka 4四日 yokka
5五日 itsuka 6六日 muika
7七日 nanoka 8八日 yōka
9九日 kokonoka 10十日 tōka
11十一日 jūichinichi 12十二日 jūninichi
13十三日 jūsannichi 14十四日 jūyokka
15十五日 jūgonichi 16十六日 jūrokunichi
17十七日 jūshichinichi 18十八日 jūhachinichi
19十九日 jūkunichi 20二十日 hatsuka (occasionally, nijūnichi)
21二十一日 nijūichinichi 22二十二日 nijūninichi
23二十三日 nijūsannichi 24二十四日 nijūyokka
25二十五日 nijūgonichi 26二十六日 nijūrokunichi
27二十七日 nijūshichinichi 28二十八日 nijūhachinichi
29二十九日 nijūkunichi 30三十日 sanjūnichi
31三十一日 sanjūichinichi


In the traditional calendar, the thirtieth was the last day of the month, and its traditional name, misoka, survives (although sanjunichi is far more common, and is the usual term). The last day of the year is ōmisoka (the big thirtieth day), and that term is still in use.

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Days of the week


月曜日getsuyōbiMoonMonday
火曜日kayōbiFireTuesday
水曜日suiyōbiWaterWednesday
木曜日mokuyōbiWoodThursday
金曜日kinyōbiMetal/GoldFriday
土曜日doyōbiEarthSaturday
日曜日nichiyōbiSunSunday


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Holidays

Notes: Single days between two national holidays are taken as a bank holiday. This applies to May 4, which is a holiday each year. When a national holiday falls on a Sunday the following Monday is being taken as a holiday.

Date English Name Local Name Remarks
January 1 New Year's Day 元日  
Moveable Monday Coming-of-age Day 成人の日 2nd Monday of January
February 11 National Foundation Day 建国記念日  
March 20 or 21 Vernal Equinox Day 春分の日  
April 29 Greenery Day みどりの日 Golden Week
May 3 Constitution Memorial Day 憲法記念日
May 4 National Holiday  
May 5 Children's Day 子供の日
Moveable Monday Maritime Day 海の日 3rd Monday of July
Moveable Monday Respect for the Aged Day 敬老の日 3rd Monday of September
September 23 or 24 Autumnal Equinox Day 秋分の日  
Moveable Monday Health-Sports Day 体育の日 2nd Monday of October
November 3 Culture Day 文化の日  
November 23 Labor Thanksgiving Day 勤労感謝の日  
December 23 The Emperor's Birthday 天皇誕生日  

The list and the table are to be merged.

The list of national holidays:

This table includes 雑節 (Zassetsu), 二十四節気 (24 Sekki) and some others.

(Except 中元 (chūgen) and お盆 (obon), days vary according to the year.)

Some of these names are still used quite frequently in everyday life in Japan. It is common that daily weather reports use 冬至 (Tōji).

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Seasonal festivals

The following are known as the five seasonal festivals (sekku 節句)

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Rokuyō

The rokuyō (六曜) are a series of six days that predict whether there will be good or bad fortune during that day. The rokuyō are still commonly found on Japanese calendars today, and are often used to plan weddings and funerals. The rokuyō are also known as the rokki (六輝). In order, they are:

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See also

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