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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時いちじ
2時にじ
3時さんじ
4時よじ
5時ごじ
6時ろくじ
7時しちじ
8時はちじ
9時くじ
10時じゅうじ
11時じゅういちじ
12時じゅうにじ
Minutes
MinutesReading
1分いっぷん
2分にふん
3分さんぷん
4分よんぷん
5分ごふん
6分ろっぷん
7分ななふん
8分はっぷん
9分きゅうふん
10分じゅっぷん
20分にじゅっぷん
30分さんじゅっぷん
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.