Japan follows the Western calendar and has a seven-day week. The Buddhist calendar brought the seven-day week to Japan approximately AD 800, with names for the days that corresponded to the Latin system.
Similarly to how weekday names in several European languages are based on what the Ancient Romans called the seven visible planets, namely the five visible planets, the sun, and the moon, the five visible planets in the Far East are named after the five Chinese elements (metal, wood, water, fire, earth.) . After all, the Japanese weekdays aren’t a pattern of ‘basic components’.
Throughout fact, they occur simultaneously with the days of the week used by the Ancient Greeks and Romans – even more so than modern English.
Below, I have compiled a list of the days of the week in Japanese:
| Days in Japanese | Pronunciation | In English |
|---|---|---|
| 日曜日 | Nichiyoubi | Sunday |
| 月曜日 | Getsuyoubi | Monday |
| 火曜日 | Kayoubi | Tuesday |
| 水曜日 | Suiyoubi | Wednesday |
| 木曜日 | Mokuyoubi | Thursday |
| 金曜日 | Kinyoubi | Friday |
| 土曜日 | Doyoubi | Saturday |
In conclusion, the seven-day week is thought to have originated in Mesopotamia or Egypt in ancient times. It’s unclear who was the first to name these days after the planets. It’s possible that the Greeks were the ones who handed it on to the Romans.
This naming was passed down from India to China. However, the exact route and timing are unknown.
Want more? Learn how to spell and pronounce months of the year in Japanese.
