{"id":107432,"date":"2023-05-02T11:30:21","date_gmt":"2023-05-02T15:30:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/learn\/days-of-the-week-in-japanese\/"},"modified":"2025-06-20T02:56:31","modified_gmt":"2025-06-20T06:56:31","slug":"days-of-the-week-in-japanese","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/japanese\/days-of-the-week-in-japanese\/","title":{"rendered":"Days of the Week in Japanese and Their Etymology"},"content":{"rendered":"

Knowing the days of the week in Japanese is a key part of building your core vocabulary.\u00a0Without the days of the week, you would have a hard time talking about any kind of past<\/a>, present<\/a> or future event<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Study this guide to help you memorize how to spell and write the days of the week in Japanese and find useful resources to practice your skills.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Days of the Week in Japanese<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t
English<\/th>Romaji<\/th>Kanji<\/th>Hiragana<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Monday<\/td>Getsuy\u00f4bi<\/td>\u6708\u66dc\u65e5<\/td>\u3052\u3064\u3088\u3046\u3073<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Tuesday<\/td>Kayoubi<\/td>\u706b\u66dc\u65e5<\/td>\u304b\u3088\u3046\u3073<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Wednesday<\/td>Suiyoubi\t<\/td>\u6c34\u66dc\u65e5<\/td>\u3059\u3044\u3088\u3046\u3073<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Thursday<\/td>Mokuyoubi<\/td>\u6728\u66dc\u65e5 <\/td>\u3082\u304f\u3088\u3046\u3073<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Friday<\/td>Kinyoubi<\/td>\u91d1\u66dc\u65e5<\/td>\u304d\u3093\u3088\u3046\u3073<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Saturday<\/td>Doyoubi<\/td>\u66dc\u65e5<\/td>\u3069\u3088\u3046\u3073<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Sunday<\/td>Nichiyoubi\t<\/td>\u65e5\u66dc\u65e5<\/td>\u306b\u3061\u3088\u3046\u3073<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n

\u6708\u66dc\u65e5 (\u3052\u3064\u3088\u3046\u3073) \u2014 Monday<\/h3>\n

In Japanese, Monday is written as \u6708\u66dc\u65e5, which translates to “Moon Day” in English.<\/p>\n

\u706b\u66dc\u65e5 (\u304b\u3088\u3046\u3073) \u2014 Tuesday<\/h3>\n

In Japanese, Tuesday\u2019s name is \u706b\u66dc\u65e5, which means “Fire Day” in English.<\/p>\n

Each day of the week corresponds to a celestial body, so Tuesday corresponds with Mars.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u6c34\u66dc\u65e5 (\u3059\u3044\u3088\u3046\u3073) \u2014 Wednesday<\/h3>\n

In Japanese, Wednesday is written as \u6c34\u66dc\u65e5, which means “Water Day\u201c in English.<\/p>\n

The celestial body corresponding to this day is Mercury or \u6c34\u661f (\u3059\u3044\u305b\u3044).<\/p>\n

\u6728\u66dc\u65e5 (\u3082\u304f\u3088\u3046\u3073) \u2014 Thursday<\/h3>\n

In Japanese, Thursday is written as \u6728\u66dc\u65e5, which translates to “Wood Day.”<\/p>\n

Thursday got its Japanese name from the word \u6728\u661f (\u3082\u304f\u305b\u3044), which means Jupiter.<\/p>\n

\u91d1\u66dc\u65e5 (\u304d\u3093\u3088\u3046\u3073) \u2014 Friday<\/h3>\n

Friday is written as \u91d1\u66dc\u65e5, which appropriately means the “Gold Day.”<\/p>\n

This beautiful name comes from the goddess Venus, \u91d1\u661f (\u304d\u3093\u305b\u3044).<\/p>\n

\u66dc\u65e5 (\u3069\u3088\u3046\u3073) \u2014 Saturday<\/h3>\n

Saturday in Japanese is \u571f\u66dc\u65e5, which means “Ground Day” in English.<\/p>\n

It got its Japanese name just like it got its English name, from Saturn, \u571f\u661f (\u3069\u305b\u3044).<\/p>\n

\u65e5\u66dc\u65e5 (\u306b\u3061\u3088\u3046\u3073) \u2014 Sunday<\/h3>\n

Sunday is written as \u65e5\u66dc\u65e5, which means “Sun Day.”\u00a0It\u2019s identical to Sunday in English, it\u2019s just in Japanese!<\/p>\n

More About the Japanese Days of the Week<\/h2>\n

The names of the individual days in Japanese can be split into two parts<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The beginning of the word is different for each day, while the end part remains identical no matter what day of the week.<\/p>\n

Every day ends in\u00a0\u66dc\u65e5 (\u3088\u3046\u3073), which basically means “day.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

When writing the days of the week in Japanese, it\u2019s common to just write\u00a0the first kanji<\/a>, the part that describes the day.<\/p>\n

Instead of writing out the whole word for “Monday,” \u6708\u66dc\u65e5 (\u3052\u3064\u3088\u3046\u3073), you can write just \u6708.<\/p>\n

If you want to learn the days of the week quickly, you can watch this video<\/a> that will guide you through the pronunciation.\u00a0<\/p>\n

If you better memorize words with cute music, you can watch this video where Cyber Bunny sings the ‘Days of the Week’ song:<\/p>\n

<\/lite-youtube><\/p>\n

You can also use native content like movies<\/a>, books and music to see how native speakers pronounce the days of the week.\u00a0<\/p>\n

FluentU<\/a> is a great resource for this as well since it teaches you Japanese through video clips with real Japanese native speakers.

FluentU<\/strong> takes authentic videos\u2014like music videos, movie trailers, news and inspiring talks\u2014and turns them into personalized language learning lessons.<\/p>\r\n

<\/p>\r\n

You can try FluentU for free for 2 weeks. Check out the website or download the iOS app<\/a> or Android app.<\/a><\/p>\r\n

P.S. Click here to take advantage of our current sale! (Expires at the end of this month.)<\/a><\/i>\r\n<\/p>\r\n \r\n\r\n \"FluentU\r\n

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