今日
きょう
kyou
= today; this day
今日 (kyou) means today — one of the most essential words in any language. But Japanese learners quickly discover its complication: the kanji 今日 looks like it should be read ‘konnichi’ (as in こんにちは, konnichiwa), but when it means ‘today’ as a noun it’s read ‘kyou.’ This is one of Japanese’s irregular readings, and understanding it is fundamental to everyday conversation.
Kyou (今日) means today, this day. Usage: 今日は何曜日ですか？(kyou wa nanyoubi desu ka? — What day of the week is it today?), 今日中に (kyou-juu ni — by/within today), 今日から (kyou kara — from today, starting today), 今日まで (kyou made — until today). Related time words: 昨日 (kinou — yesterday), 明日 (ashita — tomorrow), 明後日 (asatte — the day after tomorrow), 今朝 (kesa — this morning), 今夜 (kon’ya — tonight).
The irregular reading is the main challenge: 今日 = kyou (today), not ‘konnnichi.’ But こんにちは uses the same kanji with a different grammatical function — 今日は in その context means ‘as for this day.’ Japanese learners often encounter this early and find it puzzling. The solution: when 今日 is used as the subject or topic of a sentence as a time reference, read it as ‘kyou.’ When it’s part of the greeting こんにちは, the reading reflects a different grammatical structure.
今日 combines 今 (ima/kon/kin — now, this) + 日 (hi/nichi — day, sun). The expected reading would be ‘konnichi’ (as in こんにちは — good afternoon/hello, literally ‘this day, as for…’), but when used as a noun for ‘today’ it’s read ‘kyou’ — an irregular kun’yomi reading. The two-character compound takes this special reading that must simply be memorized. Similarly: 今朝 (kesa — this morning, irregular reading) and 今年 (kotoshi — this year, irregular reading).
Everyday use
今日は早く帰れそうだから、夕飯一緒に食べよう。
Kyou wa hayaku kaeresou dakara, yuuhan issho ni tabeyou.
It looks like I can get home early today, so let’s eat dinner together.
Casual / Social Media
今日から本気出す！！…と毎月言ってる気がするけど今回は本当に
Kyou kara honki dasu!! …to maitsuki itteru ki ga suru kedo konkai wa hontou ni
Starting today I’ll get serious!! …feels like I say this every month but this time for real
Formal / Cultural context
「今日」のような時間副詞は日本語において高い使用頻度を示し、文における時制・アスペクト情報の主要な担い手となる。特に日本語は形態的時制が過去・非過去の二項対立のみを示すため、「今日」「明日」「昨日」等の時間副詞が現実の時間的位置づけを明示する機能的役割を担う。また「今日」の変則的訓読み（きょう）はknow（連読み）と呼ばれる変則読みの典型例として初級日本語教育で教授される。
‘Kyou’ no you na jikan fukushi wa Nihongo ni oite takai shiyou hindo wo shimeshi, bun ni okeru jisei asupekuto jouhou no shuuyou na ninai-te to naru. Toku ni Nihongo wa keitaiteki jisei ga kako hi-kako no nikoutairitsu nomi wo shimesu tame, ‘kyou’ ‘ashita’ ‘kinou’ tou no jikan fukushi ga genjitsu no jikanteki ichizuke wo meiji suru kinouteki yakuwari wo ninau. Mata ‘kyou’ no hensokkuteki kun’yomi (kyou) wa chokusetsu-yomi to yobareru hensokkuyomi no tenkei-rei toshite shokyuu Nihongo kyouiku de kyouju sareru.
Time adverbs like ‘kyou’ show high usage frequency in Japanese and serve as primary carriers of tense and aspect information in sentences. Since Japanese morphological tense only shows a binary past/non-past distinction, time adverbs like ‘kyou,’ ‘ashita,’ and ‘kinou’ carry the functional role of explicitly indicating real-world temporal positioning. The irregular kun’yomi reading of ‘kyou’ is also taught as a typical example of irregular readings in beginner Japanese education.
今日 appears in one of the most iconic Japanese words: こんにちは (konnichiwa — hello/good afternoon). The etymology is 今日は… (Kyou wa… — As for today…), an abbreviated form of a greeting like ‘As for today, how are you?’ The は (wa) in こんにちは is the topic-marking particle, not the hiragana for ha. This greeting exemplifies how Japanese time-awareness — anchoring conversation in the present moment — is embedded in the language’s most fundamental expressions.
The concept of 今日 (today) connects to a deeper value in Japanese culture: 一日一日を大切に (ichi-nichi ichi-nichi wo taisetsu ni — treasure each day, one day at a time). This attitude is related to the Buddhist-influenced Japanese concept of 無常 (mujo — impermanence): each day is finite and unique. The famous seasonal greeting system (時候の挨拶, jikou no aisatsu) — where letters begin with a reference to the current season’s weather — places today within the flow of the year, emphasizing presence in the current moment as a cultural value.
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