Months of the Year in Kanji: 一月 to 十二月

Short answer: the months of the year in Japanese are written 一月 二月 三月 四月 五月 六月 七月 八月 九月 十月 十一月 十二月, read いちがつ, にがつ, さんがつ, しがつ, ごがつ, ろくがつ, しちがつ, はちがつ, くがつ, じゅうがつ, じゅういちがつ and じゅうにがつ. Every name is a number plus 月, and in month names that 月 is always read がつ.

The twelve forms appear on the Agency for Cultural Affairs calendar sheet for Japanese language education for foreign residents, a_47_1.pdf (文化庁). Readings for 四, 七 and 九 follow the official jōyō kanji table (常用漢字表, 2010). Number kanji are covered in detail in Japanese numbers in kanji.

The twelve months in kanji

Month	Kanji	Reading
January	一月	いちがつ
February	二月	にがつ
March	三月	さんがつ
April	四月	しがつ
May	五月	ごがつ
June	六月	ろくがつ
July	七月	しちがつ
August	八月	はちがつ
September	九月	くがつ
October	十月	じゅうがつ
November	十一月	じゅういちがつ
December	十二月	じゅうにがつ

All of these number kanji and 月 are JLPT N5. Each has a page with a picture story, example words and animated stroke order; the stroke rules are in the kanji stroke order guide.

がつ, not げつ or つき

月 has three common readings, and the month names pick one of them:

Reading	Use	Example
がつ	named calendar month	三月 さんがつ (March)
げつ	Monday, and month as a unit in some compounds	月曜日 げつようび
つき	moon; month in everyday kun’yomi words	月 つき, 毎月 まいつき

So 月 is がつ in 一月, げつ in days of the week (月曜日), and つき when it means the moon on its own. That is the same on’yomi versus kun’yomi split explained in onyomi vs kunyomi.

Special readings: April, July, September

Three months keep a fixed older reading of the number:

• 四月 is しがつ (not よんがつ)
• 七月 is しちがつ (not なながつ)
• 九月 is くがつ (not きゅうがつ)

The 常用漢字表 lists し and よん for 四, しち and なな for 七, and く and きゅう for 九. Calendar months lock in し / しち / く. If you already know the number chart, treat these three as exceptions you simply memorise with the month list.

Calendar month vs duration

A named month on the calendar and a length of time use different readings of 月:

• 三月 (さんがつ): March (the third month of the year)
• 三か月 (さんかげつ): a period of three months

Duration takes げつ, often written with the counter か as か月 (or ヵ月 / ケ月). Keep the two apart: さんがつ points at a month on the calendar; さんかげつ counts how long something lasts. Other counters, including 日 for days, are covered in Japanese counters.

Asking which month

The question word is 何月 (なんがつ), “which month”. A simple exchange:

• 今は何月ですか。 (いまはなんがつですか) “What month is it now?”
• 十一月です。 (じゅういちがつです) “It is November.”

How calendars write the months

Everyday Japanese often mixes Arabic numerals with 月: 1月, 4月, 10月, 12月. The readings stay the same (いちがつ, しがつ, じゅうがつ, じゅうにがつ). Full kanji (一月, 四月) appear in formal writing, exams and teaching materials. Both spellings are the same words.

Dates also combine with the days of the week in kanji, so once you know numbers, months and weekdays you can read most calendar lines.

Practice the months

The number kanji and 月 are all JLPT N5, so they sit near the start of any beginner list. Try the N5 kanji quiz, browse the JLPT N5 kanji list, revisit Japanese numbers in kanji, and if kanji as a whole is still new, start with what is kanji or kanji to hiragana. Kanji Guide teaches every kanji with a picture story, readings and stroke order: open the study app in your browser or get the Kanji Guide iPhone app on the App Store.