Today, in this vocabulary course, we will see the months of the year. This course follows that on Japanese numbers. If you came across this page by going directly to the vocabulary course page and the anchor links, I strongly advise you to read the course on Japanese numbers first because we’ll use them of course. It is imperative if you want to understand this course.
In Japanese, we have already seen that the kanji of « day » is the same as the kanji of « sun ». Here it is below with its purely Japanese and Sino-Japanese pronunciation :
日 .
ひ .
ニチ, ジツ
So, I would like to get you to think a little bit. If the kanji of « day » and « sun » is 日, in your opinion, what could be the kanji which symbolizes the month ? This is our satellite, the moon. Yes, because it takes a full month for the moon to fill, so the kanji of the « moon » and « month » is the same. Here it is below with its purely Japanese and Sino-Japanese pronunciation :
月 .
つき .
ゲツ, ガツ
Note that the kanji of « moon » has two Sino-Japanese pronunciations. And this is the second that interests us here.
In Japanese, there is no name for the months. We just count the months. You’ll see, it’s very simple.
January .
一月 .
イチガツ
February .
二月 .
ニガツ
March .
三月 .
サンガツ
April .
四月 .
シガツ
May .
五月 .
ゴガツ
June .
六月 .
ロクガツ
July .
七月 .
シチガツ
August .
八月 .
ハチガツ
September .
九月 .
クガツ
October .
十月 .
ジュウガツ
November .
十一月 .
ジュウイチガツ
December .
十二月 .
ジュウニガツ
Here is the list of the twelve months of the year to memorize, in Sino-Japanese pronunciation please. Note that for the months of April, July and September, we do pronounce in Sino-Japanese pronunciation. At least superstitions have no control over the names of the months.
If you happen to say « よんガツ », « ななガツ » and « キュウガツ » in front of a Japanese man, hopefully he will understand you. However, if you want to pass the JLPT, I’m pretty sure it will be considered a foul. So, in any case, try to pronounce « シガツ » to say « February », « シチガツ » to say « July » and « クガツ » to say « September ».
So, there is nothing complicated to memorize the months of the year in Japanese except that you must remember that the fourth month corresponds to April, that the seventh month corresponds to July, that the tenth month corresponds to October…
Of course, it is quite possible to write the names of the months of the year using the Arabic numerals.
January .
1月 .
イチガツ
February .
2月 .
ニガツ
March .
3月 .
サンガツ
April .
4月 .
シガツ
May .
5月 .
ゴガツ
June .
6月 .
ロクガツ
July .
7月 .
シチガツ
August .
8月 .
ハチガツ
September .
9月 .
クガツ
October .
10月 .
ジュウガツ
November .
11月 .
ジュウイチガツ
December .
12月 .
ジュウニガツ
And... the lesson is over. Yes, it’s over, we’ve seen the twelve months of the year. To learn by heart ! But if you don’t mind, you can read on to find out the traditional names of the months in Japanese below, very poetic names by the way.
The following is purely for your general culture, if you are interested, if you are curious to discover a new part of Japanese culture, this is your opportunity. Personally, I invite you to continue. Imagine you put out a traditional name during a chat, it’s always nice... if you come across a Japanese who knows the traditional names for months, which is not always the case. Otherwise, you can go directly to the next chapter.
If you’re still there, let’s go !
The traditional names of the months are purely Japanese and have a meaning that I display in quotes :
January .
睦月 .
むつき
→ « family reunion month »
February .
如月 .
きさらぎ
→ « warm clothes month »
March .
弥生 .
やよい
→ « vegetable renewal month »
April .
卯月 .
うづき
→ « deutzies flowering month »
May .
皐月 .
さつき
→ « rice sowing month »
June .
水無月 .
みなづき
→ « water month »
July .
文月 .
ふみづき
→ « rice ears month »
August .
葉月 .
はづき
→ « leaves fall month »
September .
長月 .
ながつき
→ « month of long nights »
October .
神無月 .
かんなづき
→ « month of the gods »
November .
霜月 .
しもつき
→ « frost month »
December .
師走 .
しわす
→ « month when even the masters are overwhelmed »
In 水無月 . みなづき, the character 無, which normally means “no (negation)”, is here an ateji, which is, used only for the sound “na”. In this name the “na” is currently a possessive item, so Minazuki means “ the water moon ” and not “the moon without water”, and some say it is in reference to irrigating rice fields. Some suggest that the name “moon without water ” would be more appropriate since this month is that of the end of the monsoon season.
In 神無月 . かんなづき, the character 無 here, maybe the same possessive article “na”, making this month “the moon of gods”). In the province of Izumo, the Shimane prefecture of these modern times, this is corrected by 神有月 or 神在月 (roughly “moon with the gods”), as it is believed that all the gods gather annually at the shrine of Izumo at this time.
師走 . しわす is the old name for the month of December. It literally means "the professor is running". In fact, in ancient Japan, teachers in no way did physical exercise since sport was reserved for the military (among others activities). But when the new year came, they were running to welcome this new year. It is a way of making good resolutions for the coming year.
The traditional names of the months are always used in literature, poetry, arts... and also in the opening paragraph of letters or during speeches where they will be preferred for their aesthetic beauty, their poetic side. This is all.
Introduction