正午
shōgo[ɕo̞ːɡo̞]
Midday in Japanese is 正午 (shōgo).
The term 正午 is most commonly used to mean noon, particularly in formal contexts such as news reports, official schedules or precise timekeeping. Other ways to describe the time of day include 真昼, which is used to describe the time when the sun is directly overhead and 昼時, which can be used interchangeably with 昼ごはん to refer to the time of day when people typically have lunch.
Did you know?
- The character 午 in 正午 comes from the Chinese zodiac, where it represents the 'Horse'. This is because the Horse is associated with the direction of south and the peak of the sun.
- Japanese culture has a traditional term 正午の鐘 meaning 'the noon bell'. Historically, temple bells signaled the midpoint of the day to synchronize community activities.
- The characters in 正午 literally mean 'correct' and 'noon', implying that noon is the 'exact' or 'right' center of the day.
Examples in context
- 会議は正午に始まります。The meeting will start at midday.
- みんな、昼ごはんを食べましょう！Everyone, let's have lunch!
- 正午に会議があります。shougo ni kaigi ga arimasu.There is a meeting at midday.
- 正午ちょうどに駅で会いましょう。shougo choudo ni eki de aimashou.Let's meet at the station at exactly midday.
Example conversation
Two coworkers are discussing a lunch appointment.
- 健太 Kenta正午にランチに行きませんか？shougo ni ranchi ni ikimasen ka?Would you like to go to lunch at midday?
- 美咲 Misakiいいですね、行きましょう。ii desu ne, ikimashou.That sounds good, let's go.
- 健太 Kenta美咲さんは何を食べたいですか？misaki-san wa nani o tabetai desu ka?What do you want to eat, Misaki?
- 美咲 Misakiイタリアンが食べたいです。itarian ga tabetai desu.I want to eat Italian.
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry 正午, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
