生年月日
seinengappi
The Japanese phrase for "date of birth" is 生年月日 (seinengappi).
生年月日 refers to the date and year when something was born.
Meaning: date and year when something was born (noun)
Which one should you use?
While 生年月日 refers to the official date of birth, the term Tanjoubi is commonly used to mean "birthday."
How do you pronounce it?
seinengappi
Did you know?
- The character 生 (birth/life) can also be read as 'nama', which refers to 'raw' or 'fresh' food like 'nama-biiru' (draft beer).
- In Japan, official forms often require the date of birth to be written using the imperial era name instead of the Western calendar year.
- In Japanese business culture, asking for someone's 生年月日 is rarely done verbally and is almost exclusively reserved for written applications.
Examples in context
- 生年月日はいつ？What is your date of birth?This sentence is useful for asking someone for their date of birth using 生年月日.Tatoeba #1446302 by bunbuku, translation #703328 by papabear
- 生年月日をここに書いてください。Write [your] date of birth here, please.
- ここに生年月日を書いてください。Write down your date of birth here.Tatoeba #4562200 by Kiraness, translation #61733 by CK
- 2 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Ren is helping Misaki fill out a form at a clinic.
- 蓮 Ren美咲さん、ここに生年月日を書いてください。Misaki-san, koko ni seinen gappi o kaite kudasai.Misaki, please write your date of birth here.
- 美咲 Misakiはい、わかりました。Hai, wakarimashita.Okay, I understand.
- 蓮 Ren書き方はこれで大丈夫ですか？Kakikata wa kore de daijobu desu ka?Is this way of writing it okay?
- 美咲 Misakiはい、完璧です。Hai, kanpeki desu.Yes, it's perfect.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “date of birth” translations and entries 生年月日, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR, Wiktionary CC BY-SA 4.0.
