Calendar

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):

* January - (ichigatsu)
* February - (nigatsu)
* March - (sangatsu)
* April - (shigatsu)
* May - (gogatsu)
* June - (rokugatsu)
* July - (shichigatsu)
* August - (hachigatsu)
* September - (kugatsu)
* October - (jūgatsu)
* November - (jūichigatsu)
* December - (jūnigatsu)

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, contemporary television shows and movies set in the Edo period or earlier.

The name of month: (pronunciation, literal meaning)

* January - (mutsuki, affection month)
* February - (kisaragi or kinusaragi, changing clothes)
* March - (yayoi, new life; the beginning of spring)
* April - (uzuki, u-no-hana month; the u-no-hana is a flower, genus Deutzia)
* May - (satsuki, fast month)
* June - (minatsuki or minazuki, month without water — the na is actually a possessive particle)
* July - (fumizuki, book month)
* August - (hazuki, leaf month)
* September - (nagatsuki, long month)
* October - (kaminazuki or kannazuki, month without gods or kamiarizuki, month with gods – used only in Izumo province, where all the gods are believed to gather in October for an annual meeting at the Izumo Shrine).
* November - (shimotsuki, frost month)
* December - (shiwasu, priests run; it is named so because priests are busy making end of the year prayers and blessings.)

Subdivisions of the month

Japan uses a seven-day week, aligned with the Western calendar. The seven day week, with names for the days corresponding directly to those used in Europe, was brought to Japan around 800 AD. The system was used for astrological purposes and little else until 1876, shortly after Japan officially adopted the Western calendar. Fukuzawa Yukichi was a key figure in the decision to adopt this system as the source for official names for the days of the week. The names come from the five visible planets, which in turn are named after the five Chinese elements (wood, fire, earth, metal, water), and from the moon and sun (yin and yang).

Romanization ~~~Element~~~Western name
nichiyōbi~~~Sun~~~ Sunday
getsuyōbi ~~~ Moon ~~~ Monday
kayōbi ~~~ Fire ~~~Tuesday
suiyōbi ~~~ Water ~~~ Wednesday
mokuyōbi ~~~Wood ~~~ Thursday
kin'yōbi ~~~Metal/Gold ~~~Friday
doyōbi ~~~ Earth ~~~ Saturday

Japan also divides the month roughly into three 10-day periods. Each is called a jun . The first is jōjun; the second, chūjun; the last, gejun. These are frequently used to indicate approximate times, for example, "the temperatures are typical of the jōjun of April"; "a vote on a bill is expected during the gejun of this month."