How to say "New year" in Japanese
If you are wondering what's the Japanese word for "New year" you've come to the right place!
the Japanese word for "New year" is "Nenshi", written in japanese as "年始".
Here's a more detailed explanation:
The Japanese noun '年始 (ねんし)' refers to the beginning of the new year, typically encompassing the first few days or weeks of January. It is often associated with traditional celebrations, greetings, and customs. For example: I will visit my relatives at the beginning of the year「年始に親戚を訪ねます」(ねんしにしんせきをたずねます). The company holds a meeting at the start of the year「会社は年始に会議を開きます」(かいしゃはねんしにかいぎをひらきます). This term is commonly used in formal contexts and is distinct from '正月 (しょうがつ)', which specifically refers to the New Year's holiday period.
The Kanji are characters that represent meanings. As you can see, this word is made up of 2 Kanji:
The kanji "年" means "Year" and can be read as "Nen" and "Toshi". And The kanji "始" means "Begin" and can be read as "Shi" and "Haji".
Now, let's make sure you understand this word the other way around too.
What does "Nenshi" mean in japanese?
"Nenshi" means "New year" .
To learn more about the kanji in this word, checkout this pages:
What is the Kanji for year?What is the Kanji for begin?If you also want to learn how to write this word in Japanese, you can checkout this page:
How to write "New year" in Japanese
To make really sure you learn this word, I've prepared an interactive lesson for you. You are going to learn the readings and meanings of this word and of the characters that comprise it.
But first, you need to know a little bit about Hiragana and Katakana.
Hiragana and katakana are japanese syllabaries, this means that each character represents a syllable.
This are the characters you need to know for this lesson:
The hiragana "ね" is read as "ne". The hiragana "ん" is read as "n". The hiragana "と" is read as "to". The hiragana "し" is read as "shi". The hiragana "は" is read as "ha". And The hiragana "じ" is read as "ji".
About kanji, you need to know that most Kanji have two types of readings: Kunyomi, based on native japanese pronunciation. And onyomi, based on chinese pronunciation.