Learn Hardcore Japanese: asatte no ryokou ha hayai zikan ni hazimarimasu. - The trip the day after tomorrow starts early.

明後日 is read あさって and means “the day after tomorrow.” It’s an irregular reading—unlike most compound words, you don’t pronounce the Kanji individually (ミョウゴニチ).

Why is there a の between 明後日 and 旅行?

In Japanese, の links two nouns in a possessive or attributive way—much like English ’s or of. Here, 明後日 (the day after tomorrow) modifies 旅行 (trip), giving “the trip of the day after tomorrow” (i.e. the trip happening the day after tomorrow).

Why do we use the topic marker は after 旅行 instead of が?

The particle は sets 旅行 as the topic—what the sentence is about—and implies “As for the trip….” Using が would mark it as the subject from new or in focus, but here we’re commenting on an already-defined trip. は is more natural for “that trip” rather than introducing it for the first time.

What role does に play in 早い時間に始まります?

に marks a specific point in time. So 早い時間に means “at an early time.” If you dropped に, you’d need an adverb form like 早く (e.g. 早く始まります), which simply means “starts early/soon” without emphasizing a precise time slot.

Why is 早い used here instead of 速い?

Although both Kanji can translate as “fast,” they differ in nuance. 早い relates to time—“early”—while 速い relates to speed. Since we’re talking about starting at an early hour, 早い is the correct choice.

Could we say 明後日の旅行は早く始まります instead? How would that change the nuance?

Yes, 明後日の旅行は早く始まります is grammatical. Here 早く is an adverb meaning “early” or “soon.” It’s a bit more general—“starts early/soon”—whereas 早い時間に始まります pinpoints that it begins at a specific early time.

Can I use 開始します instead of 始まります? What’s the difference?

Both mean “to start,” but 始まる/始める is the common verb pair in everyday speech, especially intransitive 始まります (“something starts by itself”). 開始する is a Sino-Japanese compound that’s more formal or technical (often transitive, e.g. イベントを開始する). For a normal announcement about your trip, 始まります sounds more natural.

Instead of 明後日の旅行は早い時間に始まります, could we say 明後日、旅行は早い時間に始まります? What’s the difference?

Yes. In 明後日、旅行は早い時間に始まります, 明後日 stands alone as a time adverbial at the beginning (with a comma), and 旅行 remains the topic. In the original 明後日の旅行, the date is built into the noun phrase “the trip of the day after tomorrow.” Both convey the same basic info; the first separates time and topic more clearly, the second bundles them into one phrase.