Chinese Zodiac
Zodiac Compatibility: Four Triangles and Six Clashes
The famous pairings come from the geometry of a twelve-point circle, not from anything about the animals. How the system works, how seriously it is taken, and where to stop.
Japan Know How archive
Category: Chinese Zodiac
Your animal sign and its element, with the floating Lunar New Year handled properly – the detail that makes most calculators wrong for January and early February birthdays. Sign profiles, year tables, compatibility, and how Japan’s own eto calendar differs from the Chinese one.
Chinese Zodiac
Japan’s Eto vs the Chinese Zodiac: Four Real Differences
Japan starts the zodiac year on 1 January, calls the eighth sign a sheep and the twelfth a boar - and has one combination that cut the national birth rate by a quarter.
Chinese Zodiac
The Five Elements and the Sixty-Year Cycle
Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water: how to find yours from the last digit of the year, why the cycle is sixty and not twelve, and where the elements turn up in daily Japanese.
Chinese Zodiac
Born in January or February? Your Zodiac Sign May Be Wrong
The zodiac year begins at Lunar New Year, which moves by nearly a month. Roughly one birthday in seven is in the window where year-only calculators get it wrong.
Chinese Zodiac
The Chinese Zodiac Years, Explained Properly
Twelve animals, five elements and a year that does not start on 1 January. The full system, the arithmetic to work out any year, and why 2026 is a Fire Horse.