Numbers, days and the week in kanji

A third script, and why Japanese needs it

Kana write sound; kanji write meaning. A character such as 山 says “mountain” whatever you call it, which is why the same character serves the native word やま and the borrowed reading さん in a place name. Japanese needs them because the language is full of short words that sound alike: written in kana alone, a sentence has to be read twice; written with kanji, the eye finds the content words at a glance.

The numbers you already say, now written

一二三四五六七八九十 are the same numbers you learnt in kana, and the first three are simply that many strokes. They appear on price tags, on floor buttons, in dates and in the names of the days, and they are read exactly as you already read them. Learning them costs nothing but the shapes, because the sounds are already yours.

三月十日は日ようびですThe tenth of March is a Sunday.

金ようびのよるは木のしたであいましょうOn Friday evening let us meet under the tree.