二十
にじゅう
hepburn nijuu
twenty, 20
Part of speech · numeral
Pattern visualization
Examples
- 私は二十歳です。I am twenty years old.
- 二十人くらい来ました。About 20 people came.
Collocations
二十 (nijuu, 20)二十歳 (hatachi / nijuu-sai, age 20)二十日 (hatsuka, 20th day)二十代 (nijuudai, 20s age range)成人式 (seijinshiki, coming-of-age)
Mnemonic
Nijuu (二十) = 2 × 10 = 20. A core Japanese milestone — nijuu-sai (or the native reading hatachi) is the seijin (adult) age. Japan lowered the legal age of majority to 18 in 2022, but socially 20 remains the true milestone. Seijinshiki (coming-of-age ceremony) is held on the second Monday of January (Seijin no Hi national holiday) for newly 20-year-olds — women in furisode (long-sleeve kimono for unmarried women), men in hakama, gathered at city halls. Drinking and smoking remain legal at 20 (unchanged despite the majority shift). Hatsuka (二十日) is the irregular reading for "20th day." Korean "seu-mu sal / i-sip se" parallels plus the seijinshiki social ritual is Japan-specific.
Quick check
Two readings of 二十歳 (age 20)?