Translation question and hope someone can answer it too

[raevin]

日本はにじゅうよん時ですか。

I got to thinking, and am wondering if Japan is based on the 24-hour system, or 12-hour system (a.k.a.: do they usually use A.M./P.M. for time, or no). I'm hoping the above is the correct way to ask it, and that someone can tell me if they do or not.

Thank you!

(I tried it for giggles on Google's translator, and got this response: "Japan is YUUYONJINDESUKA o'clock.", so, I'm assuming I'm right, lol. Probably would've helped if I did the numbers in kanji, but I don't know all of them yet.)

[keatonatron]

Sure, it's fine if you want to ask "Is Japan midnight?"

The first problem is that 24時 means 24 o'clock. You probably mean 24時間 which means "24 hours".

Although, even if you fixed that you'd still end up with "Is Japan 24 hours?"

Japan is not hours, it is a country.

If you want to ask if they use the 24-hour system, you need to add that to the sentence. The word for system is 制度 (せいど), and if you want to use it to create the name of a system, you usually just add 制 to the end (i.e. 24時間制). The easiest to understand sentence would be "Does Japan use a 24-hour system?", but using は to assume the listener understands your intentions will probably work as well (e.g. 日本は24時間制ですか？)

[tōkai devotee]

I've seen places, particularly pubs use the 24 hour clock and in fact state their closing time as 24:00, instead of 0:00. And some places even go beyond the 24 hour clock!! It's not uncommon to see a closing time of 26:00! Are there more hours in a day in Japan than other countries!?!

[raevin]

I've seen places, particularly pubs use the 24 hour clock and in fact state their closing time as 24:00, instead of 0:00. And some places even go beyond the 24 hour clock!! It's not uncommon to see a closing time of 26:00! Are there more hours in a day in Japan than other countries!?!

Well, in theory, closing @ 26:00 makes sense...it's just a different way to say 2:00, so...yeah, lol.

[astaroth]

I've seen places, particularly pubs use the 24 hour clock and in fact state their closing time as 24:00, instead of 0:00. And some places even go beyond the 24 hour clock!!

Well in the US there is 12am and 12pm (I always thought US doesn't like 0 for some reasons ) that makes sense (at least to go beyond 24 up to 24:59). Though for most Europeans that would sound funny, like 12am

[Yudan Taiteki]

TV schedules also sometimes go over 24 hours and have shows at 27:30 or the like.

[keatonatron]

I've always thought going past 24:00 is an amazing idea.

What if you say "Tuesday at 5 past midnight"? Is that 5 minutes after becoming Tuesday, or 5 minutes after Tuesday's night time (i.e. Wednesday morning)? With the other system, you can specify 0:05 or 24:05, and it's easy to understand.