Hatsuyume: Japan's First Dream of the Year and Ichi Fuji Ni Taka

Hatsuyume (初夢) is the first dream of the new year, and in Japan it is said to hint at your luck for the year ahead. The luckiest things to dream of are summed up in the saying ichi Fuji, ni taka, san nasubi: first Mount Fuji, second a hawk, third an aubergine.

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Hatsuyume: Japan's First Dream of the Year and Ichi Fuji Ni Taka

On 2 January, around the breakfast table or in a group chat, someone often asks hatsuyume mita? Did you have your first dream? It is a light, playful custom: few people take it seriously, but almost everyone knows the saying about Mount Fuji, a hawk and an aubergine, and dreaming of one of them makes a nice story. This guide explains which night counts as the first dream, gives the usual explanations for the three lucky images, and mentions the old custom of sleeping with a picture of a treasure ship under the pillow. Most of all, it teaches you how to talk about dreams in Japanese, which is trickier than it looks: you see a dream rather than have one, things appear in your dream with a special verb, and there are words for dreams that come true and dreams that mean the opposite. With these, a simple New Year question becomes a real conversation.

Hatsuyume is the first dream of the year, often the night of 1 to 2 January

Ichi Fuji, ni taka, san nasubi: Fuji, a hawk and an aubergine are lucky

In Japanese you see a dream: yume o miru, never yume o suru

Yume ni ~ ga dete kita means ~ appeared in my dream

The first dream in four lines

Hatsuyume is 初 (first) plus 夢 (dream). The question you will hear is short and casual, and the answer everyone hopes to give is one of the three images in the famous saying. Note that the numbers ichi, ni and san simply mean first, second and third here.

Four picture cards: a sleepy person waking up and stretching, a snow-capped Mount Fuji, a hawk with spread wings, and a shiny purple aubergine.
Did you have your first dream? Fuji, a hawk and an aubergine are the lucky answers.
JapaneseRomajiMeaning
初夢、見た？Hatsuyume, mita?Did you have your first dream?
一富士ichi Fujifirst: Mount Fuji
二鷹ni takasecond: a hawk
三茄子san nasubithird: an aubergine
縁起がいいengi ga iilucky, a good omen

In the saying, 茄子 is read nasubi, the older word. In everyday Japanese the vegetable is usually called nasu, so you buy nasu at the supermarket but recite san nasubi.

Which night counts?

People do not fully agree, and that is part of the fun. The most common view today is the night of 1 January. Some count the night of New Year's Eve, but many people stay up late or do not sleep at all that night. In the Edo period, the night of 2 January was also widely used.

JapaneseRomajiMeaning
初夢は元日の夜に見る夢です。Hatsuyume wa ganjitsu no yoru ni miru yume desu.Hatsuyume is the dream on the night of 1 January.
大晦日の夜だという人もいます。Ōmisoka no yoru da to iu hito mo imasu.Some people say it's New Year's Eve.
夢を見なかったかも。Yume o minakatta kamo.I might not have dreamt at all.
NightWho says soNote
31 December to 1 JanuarySome peopleMany people are up late or at a shrine
1 to 2 JanuaryThe most common view todayThe usual answer if you ask
2 to 3 JanuaryAn older customWidely used in the Edo period

Why Fuji, a hawk and an aubergine?

There are several explanations, and none is certain. The most popular use wordplay: Fuji sounds like buji, safe and well, and also like fushi, immortal, and it is Japan's highest mountain. The hawk, taka, sounds like takai, high, so it suggests rising in the world. The aubergine, nasu, sounds like the verb nasu, to achieve something. Another story says these were three famous things of the Suruga area, today's Shizuoka.

Some versions of the saying continue with a fourth and fifth item, such as a folding fan, which opens out like a growing fortune. Most people only know the first three.

JapaneseRomajiMeaning
富士山は日本一高い山です。Fujisan wa Nihon'ichi takai yama desu.Fuji is Japan's highest mountain.
鷹は高く飛びます。Taka wa takaku tobimasu.Hawks fly high.
茄子は「成す」に通じるそうです。Nasu wa "nasu" ni tsūjiru sō desu.Nasu reportedly echoes nasu, to achieve.
縁起物engimonolucky charm, good-luck object

Talking about dreams: the grammar

Japanese treats a dream as something you see. The verb is miru, and the dream is the object: yume o miru. To describe the content, put a plain-form clause before yume: sora o tobu yume, a dream of flying. To say that a person or thing appeared, use yume ni, in my dream, with deru or dete kuru, to come out.

JapaneseRomajiMeaning
変な夢を見た。Hen na yume o mita.I had a weird dream. (casual)
空を飛ぶ夢を見ました。Sora o tobu yume o mimashita.I dreamt I was flying.
夢に富士山が出てきた！Yume ni Fujisan ga dete kita!Mount Fuji appeared in my dream!
夢の中で、先生と話していました。Yume no naka de, sensei to hanashite imashita.In the dream, I was talking with my teacher.
全然覚えていない。Zenzen oboete inai.I don't remember it at all.

Notice the tense. The content clause stays in the plain present, tobu, even though the dream was last night; only the main verb, mita or mimashita, goes into the past.

Words for good, bad and true dreams

A few dream words come up whenever people talk about hatsuyume. Masayume is a dream that comes true, and sakayume is a dream whose meaning is the opposite of what happened in it, which is the standard comfort after a bad dream. Yume also means a dream for the future, as in English, so the same word covers sleeping and hoping.

JapaneseRomajiMeaning
正夢になるといいね。Masayume ni naru to ii ne.I hope it comes true.
それは逆夢だよ。Sore wa sakayume da yo.That's a dream that means the opposite.
悪夢を見ました。Akumu o mimashita.I had a nightmare.
夢占いで調べてみよう。Yume uranai de shirabete miyō.Let's look it up in dream reading.
今年の夢は日本に住むことです。Kotoshi no yume wa Nihon ni sumu koto desu.My dream this year is to live in Japan.

In the Edo period, people slept with a picture of a takarabune, a treasure ship carrying the Seven Lucky Gods, under their pillow to bring a good first dream. A few shrines still hand out such pictures at New Year, and you may see them on sale as decorations.

Mini dialogue: breakfast on 2 January

Hatsuyume talk usually happens at breakfast on the 2nd or in the first chats with friends. It is light and teasing, and a funny dream is as welcome as a lucky one.

A Japanese family and their young foreign guest laugh over breakfast at a low table in the morning sun, the guest describing something with wide arms.
Breakfast on 2 January: a funny dream is as good a story as a lucky one.
JapaneseRomajiMeaning
ねえ、初夢見た？Nē, hatsuyume mita?Host sister: Hey, did you have your first dream?
見たよ。夢に大きな鳥が出てきた。Mita yo. Yume ni ōkina tori ga dete kita.You: I did. A big bird appeared in it.
えー、それ鷹じゃない？Ē, sore taka ja nai?Host sister: No way, wasn't it a hawk?
わからない。でも、高く飛んでいたよ。Wakaranai. Demo, takaku tonde ita yo.You: Not sure. But it was flying high.
じゃあ、縁起がいいね！Jā, engi ga ii ne!Host sister: Then it's a lucky sign!
正夢になるといいな。Masayume ni naru to ii na.You: I hope it comes true.

Tell Mocchi your dream

Ask Mocchi /grammar yume ni ~ ga dete kuru to see how the pattern works with people, animals and places, then write your own first dream in three sentences and send it with /correct. Mocchi explains every change, keeps track of whether you still slip into yume o shita, and brings that point back in a later review.

To make the word order automatic, play Sentence Builder and rebuild sentences such as sora o tobu yume o mimashita from shuffled chunks.

Common learner mistakes

  • Saying yume o shita or yume ga atta. The natural verb is miru: yume o mita.
  • Putting the content clause in the past: sora o tonda yume. Keep it in the present: sora o tobu yume.
  • Saying yume de Fujisan ga dete kita. With dete kuru, the usual particle is ni: yume ni Fujisan ga dete kita. Use yume no naka de for actions inside the dream.
  • Taking hatsuyume too seriously. It is a playful custom, and most people only half remember their dream.
  • Reading 三茄子 as san nasu. In the saying, it is san nasubi.
Key points

A practical way to improve

Use hatsuyume to practise telling a short story in the past tense. First, say the saying aloud until it is smooth: ichi Fuji, ni taka, san nasubi. Second, describe a real or invented dream in three sentences, using yume o mita, yume ni ~ ga dete kita and yume no naka de. Third, practise reacting to someone else's dream: sore wa engi ga ii ne for a lucky one and sakayume da yo for a bad one. Ask Mocchi, Unihongo's study assistant, to explain the dream patterns and correct your three sentences, then tell your dream to AI Sensei and answer the Sensei's follow-up questions.

  1. 1

    Choose one clear goal

    Focus each session on a situation or skill you can actually use.

  2. 2

    Practice actively

    Say complete answers aloud instead of only reading or recognizing Japanese.

  3. 3

    Review and repeat

    Keep useful corrections and revisit the same skill until it feels natural.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Which night is hatsuyume?

Today most people say the first dream is the one you have on the night of 1 January, waking on the 2nd. Some people count the night of New Year's Eve, and in the past the night of 2 January was also common. It is a playful custom, so people rarely argue about it.

What does ichi Fuji, ni taka, san nasubi mean?

It means first Mount Fuji, second a hawk, third an aubergine, the three luckiest things to see in your first dream. Popular explanations link Fuji to safety and greatness, the hawk to rising high and the aubergine, nasu, to the verb nasu, to achieve. Another story connects all three to the Shizuoka area. The origin is not certain.

How do you say I had a dream in Japanese?

Say yume o mita, literally I saw a dream, or politely yume o mimashita. Do not say yume o shita. To say what was in it, use ~ yume o mita, as in sora o tobu yume o mita, I dreamt I was flying, or yume ni ~ ga dete kita, ~ appeared in my dream.

What if my first dream was a bad one?

Most people laugh it off. Some say it was a sakayume, a dream that means the opposite of what you saw, so a bad dream can even be good news. Nobody expects you to worry about it.

Describe your first dream in natural Japanese

Mocchi, Unihongo's study assistant, can show you the patterns for talking about dreams, then correct a few sentences about your own first dream and explain each fix.

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