Japanese · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "明日" in Japanese?

Q: How do you pronounce 明日 in Japanese?

明日 is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /a.ɕi̥.ta/. It means “tomorrow.” a-shi-ta, three beats — and the middle vowel usually devoices, so it can sound like "ash-ta."

a-shi-ta, three beats — and the middle vowel usually devoices, so it can sound like "ash-ta."

明日 /a.ɕi̥.ta/

ashita

The crest is on the first, and the three units are cut identically. The middle beat is frequently voiceless, but it still occupies its full share of time — a native あした has an audible gap of hiss between two clear vowels rather than two syllables jammed together.

Listen: 明日

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Sound it out

a An open a, bright and short, filling one beat, with no glottal catch before it.

shi A light hiss on the hard palate whose i sits before a voiceless t — prime devoicing territory, so the vowel often disappears leaving only the hiss.

ta A dental t, damped down, opening onto a bright short a matching the first one.

Hear it in a sentence

また明日会いましょう。

Mata ashita aimashou.

See you tomorrow.

Listen: また明日会いましょう。

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また明日会いましょう ends with 会いましょう, five morae with a vowel pair at the start (a-i) and a long o at the end (sho-o). So after the whispered middle of 明日, the sentence asks for both a vowel separation and a vowel extension in the same word.

Where English speakers slip

Two habits collide: learners voice the shi fully, producing "a-SHEE-ta" with a stressed middle, or they overcorrect and drop the beat entirely, saying "ashta" in two counts. The target keeps three beats with the middle one whispered. Also match the two a vowels — English wants to weaken the second.