[Japanese] Jikan-chan! It’s Time! Clocks & Time Reading!

Yuki: ね、カオコちゃん、今何時? (Ne, Kaoko-chan, ima nan ji?) - Hey, Kaoko-chan. What time is it now?

Kaoko: 十一時五分だよ。 (Juu ichi ji go fun da yo.) - It’s fifty past eleven.

In this lecture, I, Kaoko-sama… will be teaching how to read times in Japanese, and many few other things. I have posted a post about numbers and counting, so I hope you’ve already read them, or you’ve already know how to count from zero to hundred (and that’s fair enough).

Reading time in Japanese is very simple. Like saying 5 o’clock, you’ll just have to add ji, after the number: go ji (five o’clock), roku ji (six o’clock), nana ji (seven o’clock), etc.

Anyway, let’s learn everything in order!

Reading Your Watch!

How to say [number] o’clock again? Simple! Just add時 (ji) after the specific number:

English	漢字 - Kanji	Romāji
01:00	一時	ichi ji
02:00	二時	ni ji
03:00	三時	san ji
04:00	四時	yo ji (not yon ji)
05:00	五時	go ji
06:00	六時	roku ji
07:00	七時	nana ji
08:00	八時	hachi ji
09:00	九時	kyuu ji
10:00	十時	juu ji
11:00	十一時	juu ichi ji
12:00	十二時	juu ni ji

See! It’s very simple, right? 

Kaoko: 何時ですか? (Nan ji desu ka?) - What time is, it?

Yuki: 十二時ですよ。 (Juu ni ji desu yo.) -It’s 12 o’clock.

And! For minutes, you add 分 (fun/pun):

English	漢字 – Kanji	Romāji
1 minute	一分	ippun
2 minutes	二分	ni fun
3 minutes	三分	san pun
4 minutes	四分	shi fun
5 minutes	五分	go fun
6 minutes	六分	roppun
7 minutes	七分	nana fun
8 minutes	八分	happun
9 minutes	九分	kyuu fun
10 minutes	十分	juppun
11 minutes	十一分	juu ippun
12 minutes	十二分	juu ni fun
13 minutes	十三分	juu san pun
14 minutes	十四分	juu shi fun
15 minutes	十五分	juu go hun
16 minutes	十六分	juu roppun
17 minutes	十七分	juu nana fun
18 minutes	十八分	juu happun
19 minutes	九分	kyuu fun
20 minutes	二十分	ni juppun
21 minutes	二十一分	ni juu ippun
etc.	etc.	etc.

Note:

For 30 minutes, it is preferred to use 半 (han) E.g. 04:30 (yo ji han), 05:30 (go ji han), etc.

And! As for seconds, you add 秒 (byou):

English	漢字 – Kanji	Romāji
1 second	一秒	ichi byou
2 seconds	二秒	ni byou
3 seconds	三秒	san byou
4 seconds	四秒	yon byou
5 seconds	五秒	go byou
6 seconds	六秒	roku byou
7 seconds	七秒	nana byou
8 seconds	八秒	hachi byou
9 seconds	九秒	kyuu byou
10 seconds	十秒	juu byou
11 seconds	十一秒	juu ichi byou
12 seconds	十二秒	juu ni byou
13 seconds	十三秒	juu san byou
14 seconds	十四秒	juu yon byou
15 seconds	十五秒	juu go byou
etc.	etc.	etc.

E.g. 02:21:43 (ni ji ni juppun yon juu san byou.)

Fun Example 1:-

Hizashi: ああ、お腹が空いた。何時ご飯に食べましょうかな、お母さん? (Aah, onaka ga suita. Itsu gohan ni tabemashou ka na, Okaa-san?) - Ahh, I’m hungry. When shall we eat, mother?

Mother: もう少し。(Mou shikoshi.) - Just a little bit.

Kaoko: 何時！? (Itsu!?) -> When?!

Mother: もう！少しって言ったでしょう? (Mou! sukoshi tte itta deshou?) - Geez! I said a little bit, didn’t I?

Kaoko: だから何時！? (Dakara itsu!?) - So when?

Mother (looks at the time): 十一時五十八分迄。(Juu ichi ji go juu happun made.) - Until 11:58.

Kaoko: 永すぎじゃないの。(Naga sugi ja nai no.) - Isn’t that too long!?

Mother : うるさい！ (Urusai!) - Shut up!

Fun Example 2:-

Akemi: ね、カオコちゃん。あんた、何時寝てんの? (Ne, Kaoko-chan. Anta, itsu neten no?) -> Say, Kaoko-chan. What time do you sleep?

Kaoko: 二時ぐらい。(Ni ji gurai.) -> Around two o’clock.

Akemi: それは元気ないよ。じゃ、何時起きるの?  (Sore wa genki nai yo. Ja, itsu okiru no?) -> It’s not healthy, you know. Then, when do you wake up?

Kaoko: はっきりしてないけど。ふつうは８時が９時あたりに起きる。(Hakkiri shite nai kedo. Futsū wa 8-ji ga 9-ji-atari ni okiru.) -> Dunno, it depends. But, usually I wake up around 8 or 9 o’clock.

Akemi: 目覚まし時計使っていますか？ (Mezamashi tokei tsukatte nai no?) -> You don’t put an alarm?

Kaoko: あたし、寝る前に必ず目覚まし時計を十個も点検するの。 (Atashi, neru mae ni kanarazu mezamashi tokei wo juu-ko mo tenken suru no.) -> I adjust 10 alarms before I go to sleep.

Akemi: 十個も？！ (Juu-ko mo!?) ->Ten alarms?!

Kaoko: ええ。 (Ee.) -> Yeah.

Akemi: 十個も？！ (JUU-KO MO!?) -> TEN ALARMS!?

Kaoko: ええ。なる音もすごい（らしい -> 抗告からな）。住民を起こすものの、あたしを起こすことができない（笑）。(Ee. Naru oto mo sugoi (rashii -> koukoku kara na) Atashi wo okosu koto ga dekinai wa (warai).) -> Yeah. It rings really hard you know, or so I’ve heard (from the complaints). Although it awakens the whole neighbourhood, it doesn’t wake me up (laughs).

Akemi: …

Fun Example 3:

A Random Old Lady With Heavy Makeup (passing by and saw a corpse in the hallway): キャアアアアア！ 死骸！死骸！君の御嬢ちゃん、警察と救急車を呼んっで！ (Kyaaaaaa! Shigai! Shigai! Kimi no ojou-chan, keisatsu to kyuukyuusha wo yonde!) - Kyaaaaaa! A corpse! There’s a dead body ! You girl over there, call the police and the ambulance!

*the girl over there turns around*

Kaoko: 私すか? (Watashi su ka?) - You mean me ?

The Random Old Lady With Heavy Makeup: ええ！早く！ (Ee! Hayaku!) - Yes, you ! Hurry up !

Kaoko: 分-分かった！。。。救急車！ 警察！こちに来い！(Wa-wakatta! …KYUUKYUUSHA!!! KEISATSU!!! Kochi ni koi!) - Go-got it! …AMBULANCE! POLICE! Come over here !

The Random Old Lady With Heavy Makeup: ... 

*the random old lady with heavy makeup hit the girl over there with a bag *

The Random Old Lady With Heavy Makeup: 然う言う意味じゃないわよ！この屎尼！携帯を！ (Sou iu imi na ai wa yo ! Kono kuso ama! Keitai wo!) - I didn’t mean it that way, you damn bitch! Give me your phone !

*the girl over there gives her phone to the random old lady with heavy makeup *

*the random old lady with heavy makeup phoned the police and they came*

Inspector Midori: 死亡したのは? (Shibou shita no wa?) - What is the estimated time of death ?

Officer Takagi: 男が死亡したのは九時三十五分から十時四十分間。(Otoko ga shibou shita no wa kyuu ji san juu go hun kara juu ji yon juppun aida.) - The woman’s time of death was between 09:35 AM and 10:45 AM .

Inspector Midori (turns around to the two major witnesses): So you two were the one who discovered the body. Arai-kun and… Ze Randomu Orudo Reedy Weze Hiavi Meekuappu-san ?

Kaoko: Not me . I am just a girl passing by  who happened to be yelled at  by a random old lady . She told me to phone the police and the ambulance .

The Random Old Lady With Heavy Makeup: You saw a dead body and just ignored it !? What kind of heart do you have ?!

Kaoko: ... It is a pain in the ass so … I didn’t want to be dragged in (laughs ).

It is continued in here.

How Much Time Has Passed (Time Period)?

Now that we have learned how to read times, let’s move on to the next stage: Time Periods.

Just add ‘間’ (kan) after [number] 時 (ji) and/or [number] 分 (fun):

• 三時間の前にお母さんは病院に行きました。(San-jikan no mae ni Okaa-san wa byouin ni ikimashita.) -> Three hours ago, mother went to the hospital. 

• A: 何時迄寝てるの？ (Itsu made neteru no?) - For how long are you keeping on sleeping? 
• B: あと五分間。(Ato go-fun kan.) - Give me five minutes.

Clock Kinds (and few related other things):

• 時計/ときはかり (tokiharaki - watch; clock; timepiece)
• 土圭/とけい (tokei - watch; clock; timepiece)
• 目覚し時計/めざましとけい (mezamashi tokei - alarm clock) 
• からくり時計/からくりとけい (karakuri tokei - automaton clock; marionette clock)
• カレンダクロック (karendak kurokku - calendar clock)
• 水時計/みずどけい (mizu dokei - water clock)
• 零時/れいじ (reiji -12 o'clock (midnight))
• 鳩時計/はとどけい (hato dokei - cuckoo clock)
• 電波時計/でんぱどけい (denba dokei - radio clock)
• 掛け時計/かけどけい (kake dokei - wall clock)
• 体内時計/たいないどけい (taikai dokei - biological clock)
• 電気時計/でんきどけい (denki dokei - electric clock)
• 五月蝿い時計/うるさいとけい (urusai tokei - annoying clock)
• 朝/あさ (asa - morning)
• 昼/ひる (hiru - noon; midday; daytime)
• 夜/よる (yoru - evening; night)

Bonus! Clock GIFs (I made)!

これは五月蝿い時計です。

(Kore wa urusai tokei desu.)

This is the annoying clock.

Author’s Note: Phew, this was another tiring lesson I had wrote. Well, I hope you have benefitted and enjoyed the lecture at the same time! I’ll add more things once I remember what’s missing. Ja, mata ato de ne!