今朝
けさ
kesa
= this morning
Kesa (今朝) means “this morning” and it appears in daily conversation with remarkable frequency — from the moment someone mentions what they had for breakfast to a news anchor opening the morning broadcast.
Kesa is a compact time expression meaning “this morning.” It functions as a noun-adverb and typically opens a sentence or clause to anchor the action in the morning hours of the current day: Kesa, nani tabeta? (What did you eat this morning?). It pairs naturally with past-tense verbs to describe completed morning actions, and with present-progressive forms when talking about something that began this morning and is still ongoing. Related time words include kyou (今日, today), ashita no asa (明日の朝, tomorrow morning), and maiasa (毎朝, every morning). The word’s brevity — just two syllables — makes it one of the most efficient time markers in Japanese.
A subtle reading trap: kesa is not read as imasa or koncho — it has an irregular reading that is simply kesa. Learners should memorize it as a unit. Also, kesa refers only to the morning of today; for “this morning” referring to a past day, Japanese speakers use sono hi no asa (that day’s morning) instead.
今朝 uses 今 (ima, now/this) and 朝 (asa, morning). The kanji 朝 shows the sun rising above grass with a moon visible, capturing the exact transition from night to day — the moment that defines morning. Combined with 今, it points to the morning of the very day you are speaking.
Everyday use
今朝は電車が遅れてギリギリ間に合った。
Kesa wa densha ga okurete girigiri ma ni atta.
The train was delayed this morning and I barely made it in time.
Casual / Social Media
今朝のカフェラテ最高だった☕ あのお店また行きたい
Kesa no kafe rate saikou datta ☕ Ano omise mata ikitai
This morning’s café latte was amazing ☕ I want to go back to that place
Formal / Cultural context
今朝届いた報告書をもとに、午後の会議で説明いたします。
Kesa todoita houkokusho wo moto ni, gogo no kaigi de setsumei itashimasu.
I will present at this afternoon’s meeting based on the report that arrived this morning.
Morning carries a particular significance in Japanese daily life. The concept of asa no shigoto (morning work) and the discipline of waking early — often tied to the proverb hayaoki wa sanmon no toku (“the early bird earns three coins”) — means that kesa often sets a productive, purposeful tone for a conversation. Mentioning what you did kesa often signals that you were up early and got things done, a subtle signal of diligence.
In Japanese morning news culture, the phrase kesa no nyuusu (this morning’s news) is a ritual anchor for millions of viewers. Morning variety programs — asadora serialized dramas and news-wide shows — structure an enormous part of Japanese daily life around the shared experience of morning, making kesa a word that connects individual routine to collective national rhythm.