In part two of our coverage on temporal counters, we’ll learn how to tell time and understand a little bit more about time in general.
Counters Covered in This Lesson
1. -jikan 時間
2. -ji 時
3. -fun(kan) 分（間）
4. -byō(kan) 秒（間）
5. -ban 晩
6. -ya/-yo 夜
-jikan 時間
The counter -jikan 時間 is used to count the number of hours. Do note that 4 must be read as “yo よ” with this counter.
| 1 | いちじかん | 2 | にじかん | 3 | さんじかん | 4 | よじかん |
| 5 | ごじかん | 6 | ろくじかん | 7 | ななじかん しちじかん | 8 | はちじかん |
| 9 | くじかん | 10 | じゅうじかん | 14 | じゅうよじかん | ? | なんじかん |
1. 羽田空港に行くのに4時間かかりました。
Haneda Kūkō ni iku no ni yojikan kakarimashita.
It took four hours to go to Haneda Airport.
2. 博物館で何時間過ごしましたか。
Hakubutsukan de nanjikan sugoshimashita?
How many hours did you spend at the museum?
3. スタートから8時間経過しています。
Sutāto kara hachijikan keika shite imasu.
Eight hours have passed since the start (of this).
4. 毎日、10時間の勉強を1年間続けました。
Mainichi, jūjikan no benkyō wo ichinenkan tsuzukemashita.
I have continued my ten-hour studies every day for a year.
5. 僕は毎週、アイヌ語を10時間｛くらい・ほど｝勉強しています。
Boku wa maishū, Ainugo wo jūjikan [kurai/hodo] benkyō shite imasu.
I’m studying Ainu for about ten hours every week.
6. 昨夜は久しぶりに8時間寝ました！
Sakuya wa hisashiburi ni hachijikan nemashita!
Last night, I slept eight years for the first time in a while!
7. あのファミレスも24時間営業をやめたんですね。
Ano famiresu mo nijūyojikan mo eigyō wo yameta n desu ne.
That family restaurant also quit their twenty-four service, huh.
-ji 時
| 0:00 | れいじ （零時） | 1:00 | いちじ | 2:00 | にじ |
| 3:00 | さんじ | 4:00 | よじ | 5:00 | ごじ |
| 6:00 | ろくじ | 7:00 | しちじ ななじ | 8:00 | はちじ |
| 9:00 | くじ | 10:00 | じゅうじ | 11:00 | じゅういちじ |
| 12:00 | じゅうにじ | 13:00 | じゅうさんじ | 14:00 | じゅうよじ |
| 15:00 | じゅうごじ | 16:00 | じゅうろくじ | 17:00 | じゅうしちじ じゅうななじ |
| 18:00 | じゅうはちじ | 19:00 | じゅうくじ | 20:00 | にじゅうじ |
| 21:00 | にじゅういちじ | 22:00 | にじゅうにじ | 23:00 | にじゅうさんじ |
| 24:00 | にじゅうよじ | ? | なんじ |
In Japan, military time is frequently used. Although phrases for “A.M” and “P.M” exist, we’ll first see how 0:00 through 24:00 are expressed with the counter -ji 時. Do note that 4 must be read as “yo よ” with this counter.
As 0:00 and 24:00 are synonymous, speakers will typically default to 0:00 to refer to midnight. In colloquial speech, the words zero ゼロ and nijūyon にじゅうよん often replace the above expressions to refer to midnight. Above, you’ll notice that nanaji ななじ and jūnanaji じゅうななじ are possible readings for 7:00 and 17:00 respectively. These readings are dialectical at best, or pronunciations only appropriate when making oneself as clear as possible, but they are not viewed as the ‘correct’ readings of these phrases.
8. 私たちは家族4人で8時に公園に行きました。
Watashitachi wa kazoku yonin de hachiji ni kōen ni ikimashita.
We went to the park at eight o’ clock as a family of four.
9. 14時に起こしてください。
Jūyoji ni okoshite kudasai.
Wake me up at 2 P.M.
12. 今、何時ですか。
Ima, nanji desu ka?
What time is it now?
13. ほとんどの社員が17時に退社した。
Hotondo no shain ga jūshichiji ni taisha shita.
Most of the company employees left work at 5 P.M.
14. 毎朝、NHK総合テレビの7時台のニュースを見ます。
Maiasa, enueichikē sōgō terebi no shichiji-dai no nyūsu wo mimasu.
Every morning, I watch the news from the 7 o’ clock hour on NHK General TV.
Pronunciation Note: NHK stands for “Nippon Hōsō Kyōkai 日本放送協会” and it is Japan’s national public broadcast organization. Many speakers alternatively pronounce NHK as “eneichikē.”
15. 零時にシャワーを浴びました。
Reiji ni shawā wo abimashita.
I took a shower at midnight?
16. 何時に開店しますか。
Nanji ni kaiten shimasu ka?
At what time do you open?
17. バスは何時に着きますか。
Basu wa nanji ni tsukimasu ka?
At what time does the bus arrive?
18. 9時に朝ご飯を食べて、12時に昼ご飯、17時に早めの夕食を取ることにしています。
Kuji ni asagohan wo tabete, jūniji ni hirugohan, jūshichiji ni hayame no yūshoku wo toru koto ni shite imasu.
I’m trying to eat breakfast at nine, lunch at twelve, and take an earlier dinner at five.
19. 私はたいてい7時に学校に行きます。
Watashi wa taitei shichiji ni gakkō ni ikimasu.
I generally go to school at seven.
20. 私は16時から晩ご飯の支度とお風呂の掃除をして、18時に晩ご飯を食べます。
Watashi wa jūrokuji kara bangohan no shitaku to ofuro no sōji wo shite, jūhachiji ni bangohan wo tabemasu.
I do preparations for dinner and clean the bath at four and then eat dinner at six.
A.M & P.M
A.M and P.M are replaced by six expressions that come first in a time phrase. They may either be used as nouns or adverbs. As nouns, they refer to the time of day.
| 5:00~11:00 | Gozen 午前/Asa 朝 | 12 PM | Hiru 昼 |
| 11:00~24:00 | Gogo 午後 | 17:00~24:00 | Yūgata 夕方 |
| 18:00~24:00 | Yoru 夜 | 12 AM~4 AM | Shin’ya 深夜 |
Word Note: This process can be simplified by simply using gozen 午前 for a.m and gogo 午後 for p.m.
21. 今日、私は朝7時に起きました。
Kyō, watashi wa asa shichiji ni okimashita.
I woke up today at seven in the morning.
22. グラウンドに昼12時に集合してください。
Guraundo ni hiru jūniji ni shūgō shite kudasai.
Please gather at the sports ground at twelve noon.
23. 夕方8時に帰宅しました。 (Written language)
Yūgata hachiji ni kitaku shimashita.
I returned home at eight in the evening.
24. 私は午前8時に出社しました。
Watashi wa gozen hachiji ni shussha shimashita.
I went/came to work at 8 A.M.
25. 午後10時になりました。
Gozen jūji ni narimashita.
It’s 10 P.M.
26. 夜9時放送です！
Yoru kuji hōsō desu!
This is a 9 P.M. broadcast!
27. 私は深夜3時に寝て、朝8時に起きる生活を続けています。
Watashi wa shin’ya sanji ni nete, asa hachiji ni okiru seikatsu wo tsuzukete imasu.
I continue my life of sleeping at 3 A.M. and waking up at 8 A.M.
When counting minutes in the sense of duration, you use -fun(kan) 分（間）. If you are expressing minutes as in time, you only use -fun 分. As such, below you’ll only see -fun 分 reflected in the chart. Just know that you can add -kan 間 so long as you’re not expressing the time.
| 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 はちふん |
| 9 | きゅうふん | 10 | じゅっぷん じっぷん | 100 | ひゃっぷん | ? | なんぷん |
28. 到着は、明日の朝6時45分です。
Tōchaku wa, asu no asa rokuji yonjūgofun desu.
My/our arrival will be at 6:45 tomorrow morning.
29. 初対面30分で結婚を決めた夫婦もいますよ。
Shotaimen sanjuppun de kekkon wo kimeta fūfu mo imasu yo.
There are also couples who decided to marry just from meeting each other for the first in thirty minutes.
30. 10分でお腹の脂肪を燃やすワークアウトをご紹介します。
Juppun de onaka no shibō wo moyasu wakuauto wo go-shōkai shimasu.
I will introduce to you a workout to burn stomach fat in ten minutes.
31. 20分（間）待ちました。
Nijuppun(kan) machimashita.
I waited for twenty minutes.
32. 予定通り、15:14に品川駅に到着しました。
Yotei-dōri, jūgoji jūyonpun ni Shinagawa-eki ni tōchaku shimashita.
As planned, I/we arrived at Shinagawa Station at 3:14 P.M.
Quarter and Half
Like English, there are other phrases that can accompany “o’clock” phrases that roughly indicate minutes. For instance, using -han 半 refers to “half past.” There are also phrases that equate to “quarter past” and “quarter to.” However, unlike English, they simply indicate that a certain time has either already past or hasn’t past respectively.
| Half Past (...:30) | -han 半 |
| (Quarter) Past (...:15) | -sugi 過ぎ |
| (Quarter) To (...:15) | -mae 前 |
When counting seconds in the sense of duration, you use -byō(kan) 秒（間）. If you are expressing seconds as in time, you only use -byō 秒. As such, below you’ll only see -byō 秒 reflected in the chart. Just know that you can add -kan 間 so long as you’re not expressing the time.
| 1 | いちびょう | 2 | にびょう | 3 | さんびょう | 4 | よんびょう |
| 5 | ごびょう | 6 | ろくびょう | 7 | ななびょう | 8 | はちびょう |
| 9 | きゅうびょう | 10 | じゅうびょう | 20 | にじゅうびょう | ? | なんびょう |
36. 一分でも一秒でもいいから。
Ippun demo ichibyō demo ii kara.
I don’t care if it’s just for a minute or even a second.
37. 30秒間瞬き禁止！
Sanjūbyō matataki kinshi!
Blinking prohibited for 30 seconds!
38. トンネルを通過するのに10秒かかりました。
Ton’neru wo tsūka suru no ni jūbyō kakarimashita.
It took ten seconds to pass through the tunnel.
39. 後100秒の間に何個の積み木を片付けられるか試してみてください。
Ato hyakubyō no aida ni nanko no tsumiki wo katazukerareru ka tameshite mite kudasai.
Try seeing how many building blocks you can put up in the 100 seconds left.
-ban 晩
-ban 晩 is used to count nights, but it is only used for the following numbers. Typically, this counter is used to count nights as in “stays.” As such, you ought to replace it with -haku 泊 when not literally counting nights once you pass 2.
| 1 | ひとばん | 2 | ふたばん | 3 | みばん | ? | いくばん |
Usage Note: Miban みばん is only used in the set phrase mikka miban 三日三晩, which means “three days and three nights.”
40. 避難所に一晩泊まりました。
Hinanjo ni hitoban tomarimashita.
I stayed one night at the shelter.
41. 今回は家族6人で二晩泊まりました。
Konkai wa kazoku rokunin de futaban tomarimashita.
This time, we stayed two nights as a family of six.
42. 二晩徹夜したよ。
Futaban tetsuya shita yo.
I stayed up for two nights.
43. 二晩で痛みもなくなった。
Futaban de itami mo nakunatta.
The pain also went away in two nights.
44. 強いショックを受けて一晩で白髪になった。
Tsuyoi shokku wo ukete hitoban de shiraga ni natta.
I received a great shock and became gray-haired in a night.
45. 一晩で熱が下がりました。
Hitoban de netsu ga sagarimashita.
My fever went down in one night.
-ya/-yo 夜
The word for night is yoru 夜. To count nights in a literal fashion, you use the counter -ya 夜. For 1 and 2, there is also the counter -yo 夜; however, it is limited to the written language and seldom used in the spoken language.
| 1 | いちや ひとよ | 2 | にや ふたよ | 3 | さんや | 4 | よんや |
| 5 | ごや | 6 | ろくや | 7 | ななや | 8 | はちや |
| 9 | きゅうや | 10 | じゅうや | 11 | じゅういちや | ? | なんや |
46. 一夜が明けた。
Ichiya ga aketa.
The following morning dawned.
Literally: One night ended.
47. 男性は雪が積もった穴の底で5夜過ごした。
Dansei wa yuki ga tsumotta ana no soko de goya sugoshita.
The man spent five nights at the bottom of a whole covered by snow.
48. 硬いベッドマットで3夜過ごした経験があります。
Katai beddomatto de san’ya sugoshita keiken ga arimasu.
I’ve had the experience of spending three nights on a hard bedmat.
49. 旅の荷物を整理して10夜過ごした部屋を後にした。
Tabi no nimotsu wo seiri shite jūya sugoshita heya wo ato ni shita.
I gathered up my luggage to my journey and left the room I had spent ten nights in.
50. 秋の一夜をゆったりと過ごしてみませんか。
Aki no hitoyo wo yuttari to sugoshite mimasen ka?
Why not spend an autumn night at ease?