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Everyday Japanese · Beginner

Time in Japanese

Convert a clock time or duration into Japanese with kana, romaji and audio. Learn よじ, しちじ, くじ and the changing minute readings.

  1. Choose clock time or duration.

  2. Set the hours or number of minutes.

  3. Read and listen to the result.

9時半

くじはん

kujihan

12369
Hours
HourReading
1いちじ
2にじ
3さんじ
4よじ
5ごじ
6ろくじ
7しちじ
8はちじ
9くじ
10じゅうじ
11じゅういちじ
12じゅうにじ
Minutes
MinutesReading
1いっぷん
2にふん
3さんぷん
4よんぷん
5ごふん
6ろっぷん
7ななふん
8はっぷん
9きゅうふん
10じゅっぷん
20にじゅっぷん
30さんじゅっぷん
A little understanding goes a long way

Make sense of what you’re practicing

01

Time and duration differ

三時 is three o’clock; 三時間 is a duration of three hours. Switch modes to compare a time of day with how long an activity takes.

02

Special hour readings

Four o’clock is よじ, seven is しちじ and nine is くじ. This tool uses a 24-hour clock, which is useful for reading schedules without AM/PM ambiguity.

03

Minutes and half past

分 changes between ふん and ぷん: one minute is いっぷん, three is さんぷん and six is ろっぷん. At 30 minutes, 半 can replace 三十分: 九時半 means 9:30.