Time & Dates Once you learn how to count in Japanese, telling time is no harder than in English- All you have to do is say the word for the numeral and add a simple suffix. For example, to say 5 o'clock, you say the word for 5, go, add the suffix meaning Vclock',yj, and you've golgo-ji. To express a fraction of an hour, combine the word for the. hour with the word for the minutes. For example, 5,15 would be 5 o'clock, goji, + 15 minutes, jugofun, or goji ju go fun. The half-hour is expressed by han\ 5<30 would therefore be gojihan. Learn the military or 24-hour time system before arriving in Japan, because this system is used for train and bus schedules - 13G0 is 1 o'clock, 1800 is 6 o'clock, etc. Telling Time What time is it? nanji desu ka? film ti- lt is ... o'clock. ji desu i ichi 2 4 yon 5 go 6 roku 7 shichi 8 haehl 9 ku 1Q ja u 12 jurat Minutes 1 minute ippun 5 minutes gofun 10 minutes juppun 15 minutes jugofun 30 minutes 45 minutes yanjugofun A .1 Now it's 2.15. ima wa ni jugofun desu It's half past one. ichiji han desu Some Useful Words afternoon gogo day H day after tomorrow asatte HP day before yesterday ototoi evening Off, 6a n H half past han $ hour jihan midnight gozen rciji minute fun i morning -tri asa II night yoru noon shOgo now ima 1 49 today kyO tomorrow ashita tonight konban yesterday kino Weeks last week senshu next week raisku this week konshtl one week isshuhan two weeks nishukan Dates AJthou gh traditional hoMays still fal 1 a ccord i n g to the 1 unar calendar they originated with, the Japanese today use the Gregorian (solar) calendar. Sometimes you may hear of a year referred to as the '63rd (or other) year of Showa'. The Japanese also date years according to the beginning of eras which start when a new emperor takes over. Thus, with accession of Emperor Akihito to the Chrysanthemum Throne, 1989 became the first year of Heisei. In Japanese, dates are written with the year first, followed by the month and lastly the day. Months Months in Japanese are simply referred to as the '1-month' (January), the '2-month' (February), etc. January ichigatsu February nigatau, March sangatsu April shigatsu May gogatsu June rokugatsu July ahichigatsu August hachigatsu September kugatsu October jugatsu. November jdichigatsu y December Qjfej jiinigatsu, -n m Days Today is........ kyC wa........desu. Sunday nichiyObi Monday gelsuyobi Tuesday kayObi Wednesday suiyObi Thursday mokuyobi Friday kinydbi Saturday doysbi holiday kyajitsu Some Useful Phrases What day is today? kyO wa nanycbi desu ka? What's today's date? kyG wa nannichi desu ka? What time is it? nanji desu ka? When will you come back? itsu kaerimasu ka? 4-a ti,„T-r RiflB ■xme ffft Festivals Most of Japan's festivals began as Local celebrations by farm era wanting to express their awe of nature or their joy over completed harvests. Because of the lack of communication in pre-modera Japan most festivals retained their local nature and never became nation-wide celebrations. Around the second week in August the ben festival features trad it i onal danc i rig and celebrants wel come and send off the souls of their ancestors. festival day saijitsu. eve of festival yoimatsuri festival parade shinko palanquins mikoski paper lanterns ohSchin Seasons spring karu summer natsu autumn aki winter fuyu