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Lesson notes · Oct 28, 2026

Deadline in Japanese: 締め切しめきり (shimekiri) vs 期限きげん (kigen) vs 納期のうき, and the 機嫌きげん trap

Deadline in Japanese is 締め切しめきり (しめきり) — a deadline for submitting something, or the cutoff for accepting applications and entries.

English squeezes several ideas into "deadline." Japanese splits them: 締め切しめきり for the cutoff, 期限きげん for the limit date of a procedure, a payment or a validity period, 納期のうき for a delivery date. They overlap more than a textbook table suggests, so this article gives you the tendencies, the compound words you will actually see, and the particles and verbs that go with them.

The basics

What is the standard word for "deadline"?

締め切しめきり is the default word for a submission deadline or an entry cutoff. It comes from 締め切しめきる, "to close off." You will also see it written 締切しめきり (without okurigana, common on forms and notices) and 〆切せつ; all are read しめきり.

レポートの締め切しめきりは金曜日きんようびです。 — The deadline for the report is Friday. (です・ます style, standard) 応募おうぼ締め切しめきりはいつですか。 — When is the application deadline? (です・ます style, asking for information)

The pattern 締め切しめきりは+day+です is the sentence you will use most.

What is the difference between 締め切しめきり, 期限きげん, 納期のうき and 期日きじつ?

締め切しめきり stresses the moment the door closes. 期限きげん is broader: the date by which something must be done, or until which something stays valid. 納期のうき is the date or period by which goods or work must be delivered. 期日きじつ (きじつ) is a formal "appointed date," mostly in contracts and legal documents.

They overlap in submissions: 提出ていしゅつの締め切しめきり and 提出期限ていしゅつきげん are both normal. Which one you hear often depends on the setting, and forms and office notices tend to favour the 期限きげん compounds.

支払しはらい期限きげんは今月末こんげつすえです。 — The payment deadline is the end of this month. (です・ます style, bills and invoices) 納期のうきは来週らいしゅうの金曜日きんようびです。 — The delivery date is next Friday. (です・ます style, the date by which delivery must be made)

Expiry dates use fixed compounds with 期限きげん: 賞味期限しょうみきげん (しょうみきげん) is the best-before date on food, and 有効期限ゆうこうきげん (ゆうこうきげん) is the validity period of a card or coupon. These are set words, which is why 期限きげん appears there, not a rule that only 期限きげん can express expiry.

Which compound words should I learn first?

Learn the compounds, not just the base words. Each one tells you what kind of deadline you are talking about.

Compound Reading Typical use
提出期限ていしゅつきげん / 提出ていしゅつの締め切しめきり ていしゅつきげん Handing in homework, forms, documents
応募おうぼ締め切しめきり おうぼしめきり Contests, jobs, scholarships
申込期限もうしこみきげん もうしこみきげん Signing up for an event or service
支払しはらい期限きげん しはらいきげん Bills and invoices
有効期限ゆうこうきげん ゆうこうきげん Cards, coupons, passports
賞味期限しょうみきげん しょうみきげん Best-before date on food
納期のうき のうき Delivery date in business
期日きじつ きじつ Formal appointed date

The loanword デッドライン is also used, mainly in speech and business.

Which particle goes with a deadline: までに or まで?

As a tendency, use までに for "by X": one action that happens before the deadline. Use まで for "until X": a state or action that continues up to that point.

金曜日きんようびまでにレポートを出だしてください。 — Please submit the report by Friday. (polite request, one action before the deadline) 金曜日きんようびまで待まってください。 — Please wait until Friday. (polite request, waiting continues up to Friday)

Because まで can be read as continuous, use 金曜日きんようびまでに出だします to mark a deadline. までに normally includes that day; if the hour matters, say 金曜日きんようびの午後ごご5時じまでに. The safest way to name the deadline itself is 提出ていしゅつは金曜日きんようびまでです ("submission is by Friday").

Beyond the basics

Which verbs go with 締め切しめきり?

Japanese uses its own set of verbs, and they are worth learning as chunks.

締め切しめきりに間に合まにあいませんでした。 — I didn't make the deadline. (です・ます style, past; 間に合まにあう is "to be in time") 締め切しめきりを守まもってください。 — Please keep to the deadline. (polite request, 守まもる is "to keep / observe") もう締め切しめきりを過すぎています。 — The deadline has already passed. (です・ます style, a status report) 締め切しめきりが迫せまっています。 — The deadline is getting close. (です・ます style, 迫せまる is "to draw near") 締め切しめきりを延のばしてもらえませんか。 — Could you extend the deadline for me? (polite request; for time, 延のばす is the standard verb)

間に合まにあう describes the result (you were in time), 守まもる describes your effort (you kept the rule), and 過すぎる says the line is behind you. "Meet the deadline" is not 会あう: it is 間に合まにあう or 守まもる. For the full toolkit of asking for more time, see how to ask for a deadline extension in Japanese.

What is the 期限きげん vs 機嫌きげん trap?

期限きげん (きげん, a time limit) and 機嫌きげん (きげん, someone's mood) sound the same. If you learned 機嫌きげんがいい / 機嫌きげんが悪わるい early, your brain files きげん under "mood," and 期限きげん slips past you in spoken Japanese. The fix is to listen to the words around it.

今日きょうは父ちちの機嫌きげんがいいです。 — My dad is in a good mood today. (です・ます style, 機嫌きげん = mood) パスポートの有効期限ゆうこうきげんが切きれそうです。 — My passport is about to expire. (です・ます style, 期限きげん = time limit)

機嫌きげん partners with がいい, が悪わるい, を損そこねる (to put someone in a bad mood), を取とる (to appease someone, get on someone's good side). 期限きげん partners with が切きれる, が近ちかい, を守まもる, に間に合まにあう. Context and the surrounding words tell them apart. Ask yourself: is this a calendar word or a feelings word?

How do people say it in casual speech and anime?

Among friends, the sentence shrinks and the tone carries the feeling.

締め切しめきり、やばい。 — The deadline… this is bad. (casual, covers both "it's close" and "I won't make it") 賞味期限しょうみきげん切きれだよ、これ。 — This is past its best-before date, you know. (casual, said holding food) 締め切しめきり、いつだっけ? — When was the deadline again? (casual, 〜だっけ means "was it again?")

For a coupon you would say 有効期限ゆうこうきげん切きれ instead; 期限切きげんぎれれ alone just means "expired."

Stories about manga artists often play a looming 締め切しめきり and a waiting editor (担当たんとうさん, たんとうさん) for comedy. If you watch one, listen for 締め切しめきり、間に合まにあいそうですか ("will you make the deadline?") and the grim answer, 無理むりです.

Common mistakes

  • Thinking 期限きげん is wrong for submissions. 提出期限ていしゅつきげん is perfectly normal. The mistake is using the bare word 期限きげん for casual talk about homework, where 締め切しめきり is more usual.
  • Using 金曜日きんようびまで when you mean "by Friday." It may be understood, but 金曜日きんようびまでに is clearer for a single action.
  • Confusing 期限きげん with 機嫌きげん. Same reading, different meaning. Check the neighbours: 切きれる / 守まもる means 期限きげん, いい / 悪わるい means 機嫌きげん.
  • Translating "meet the deadline" literally. ×締め切しめきりに会あう. Use 締め切しめきりに間に合まにあう or 締め切しめきりを守まもる.
  • Reading 納期のうき as "how long it takes." 納期のうき is the date or period by which delivery must be made, not how long production takes.

Practice

Build each answer before opening it. Questions 3 and 4 are a pair: までに versus まで.

1. Your gym membership card is about to stop working. Which word names its limit date, 締め切しめきり or 期限きげん?

Show answer

期限きげん — a card has a validity period, and 有効期限ゆうこうきげん is the word for it. 締め切しめきり is about when acceptance closes.

2. Say "When is the deadline for the scholarship application?"

Show answer

奨学金しょうがくきんの応募おうぼ締め切しめきりはいつですか — 応募おうぼ締め切しめきり is a compound for "application deadline," and the pattern is 締め切しめきりは+いつですか。

3. Complete the sentence: 「木曜日もくようび( )メールを送おくります」 meaning "I will send the email by Thursday."

Show answer

までに — sending an email is one action completed before the line, so までに ("by") is the natural choice.

4. Complete the sentence: 「木曜日もくようび( )ここで待まちます」 meaning "I will wait here until Thursday."

Show answer

まで — waiting continues up to Thursday, so まで ("until") fits. Question 3 is a single action (までに); this is a lasting one (まで).

5. A friend says 「今日きょうは先生せんせいの機嫌きげんがいいね」. Is it about a time limit?

Show answer

No — 機嫌きげん means mood, and がいい is its classic partner. It means "The teacher is in a good mood today, huh?"

6. How do you say "I couldn't make the deadline"?

Show answer

締め切しめきりに間に合まにあいませんでした — "make it in time" is 間に合まにあう. Translating "meet" as 会あう gives a wrong sentence.

7. A client says the goods must arrive by the 20th. Which word names that date, 納期のうき or 締め切しめきり?

Show answer

納期のうき — 納期のうき is the date or period by which goods or work must be delivered. 締め切しめきり would point to a cutoff for someone submitting something.

8. Your teacher says 「締め切しめきりが迫せまっていますよ」. What does this tell you?

Show answer

The deadline is getting close — 迫せまる means to draw near. It is a warning that time is short, not a statement that the deadline has passed (that would be 過すぎる).

9. Ask a classmate "When was the deadline again?" in casual speech.

Show answer

締め切しめきり、いつだっけ? — 〜だっけ is the casual "was it again?" for something you half-remember, and it drops ですか.

10. Say "I'll pay by the end of this month."

Show answer

今月末こんげつすえまでに払はらいます — paying is one action completed before the line, so までに. The limit itself would be called 支払しはらい期限きげん.

If someone else misses their deadline, see how to send a polite reminder in Japanese. If you are late because of workload, busy in Japanese covers the words for it.

FAQ

Is 締切しめきり without the り the same word? Yes, both are read しめきり. Dropping the り is a written shortcut you see on forms and posters.

How do I type 〆切せつ? Enter しめきり and look for 〆切せつ among the conversion candidates, or type しめ and pick 〆.

How do I say "the deadline is tomorrow"? 締め切しめきりは明日あしたです is complete and polite. Casually, 締め切しめきり、明日あしただよ is natural.

How do I say a submission period, not just the deadline? Use 〜から〜まで for the window: 1日から10日かまで応募おうぼを受け付うけつけています ("we accept entries from the 1st to the 10th"). まで is correct here because the window stays open the whole time.

Is 提出期限ていしゅつきげん more formal than 提出ていしゅつの締め切しめきり? Both are normal. 提出期限ていしゅつきげん appears often on forms and notices; 提出ていしゅつの締め切しめきり is common in everyday talk. Either is fine in an email.

Vocabulary from this article

Tap the block to select all of it, then copy. In Anki: File → Import, note type Basic, separator Tab.

締め切り	しめきり — deadline, cutoff for submissions
期限	きげん — time limit, expiry, validity period
納期	のうき — delivery date (business)
期日	きじつ — appointed date (formal)
機嫌	きげん — mood
賞味期限	しょうみきげん — best-before date
有効期限	ゆうこうきげん — period of validity, expiry
支払期限	しはらいきげん — payment deadline
提出期限	ていしゅつきげん — submission deadline
申込期限	もうしこみきげん — sign-up deadline
応募締め切り	おうぼしめきり — application deadline
間に合う	まにあう — to be in time, to make it
守る	まもる — to keep, to observe
過ぎる	すぎる — to pass, to go past
迫る	せまる — to draw near
延ばす	のばす — to extend, to postpone

I'm Yuuki, a Japanese teacher based in Tokyo. I've taught on italki as a Top 1% teacher and watched over 1,500 anime, so most of the example sentences on this blog come from lines I've actually heard students ask about. For practice with feedback, Book a trial lesson · $13, or work through Japanese practice exercises first.

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Sources: the author's own lessons and standard reference grammars.

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