二十日

Pattern visualization

Examples

1. 二十日に出発します。▶ —
   I depart on the 20th.
2. 二十日大根を植える。▶ —
   I plant radishes.

Collocations

Mnemonic

Hatsuka (二十日) means "the 20th of a month" or "twenty days" — 二十 (hatsu) + 日 (ka). It is a Japan-specific reading: in the Yamato-kotoba ladder days 1–10, plus 14, 20, 24, take -ka. Hatachi + ka contracts to hatsu-ka. The native Yamato "twenty" was "hata," surviving in hatachi (二十歳, age 20). The seijin-shiki (成人式, Coming-of-Age ceremony): on the second Monday of January, seijin no hi national holiday, those who recently turned 20 (now 18 after the 2022 civil-code change) gather at city hall in formal attire — furisode (long-sleeve kimono) for women, hakama for men. The seijin-shiki anchors Japan's life-event cluster: omiyamairi (newborn shrine visit), shichi-go-san (ages 3, 5, 7), seijin-shiki (18), wedding ceremonies. Vocabulary: hatsuka daikon (二十日大根, radish) named because the small daikon can be harvested 20 days after sprouting — a Japan-specific naming. Korean "iship-il" and Chinese 20 日 are flat; Japanese hatsuka preserves the yamato-kotoba historical layer.

Quick check

1. Current age threshold for seijin-shiki (成人式)?

   • 18 (after the 2022 civil-code amendment; the ceremony still mostly runs near age 20)
   • 20
   • 15
   • 25