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Japan Know How

Japanese Era Converter

Convert Gregorian dates to Japanese era years from Meiji to Reiwa and convert era years back.

The Japanese calendar counts years twice. Alongside the Western year, official paperwork — tax forms, the family register, driving licences — uses the era name, gengō 元号: 2026 is 令和8年, Reiwa 8. Enter a date of birth and this page gives the era, the year within it, the letter-and-number form used on forms, and your age counted the Japanese way. Every year from 1868 to 2050 has its own page below, and so does each of the five modern eras.

Since 1868 an era has changed only when the emperor changes: one reign, one name, 一世一元. Before that, eras were renamed to mark a good omen or shake off a bad one — the 1860s alone saw five. Under the modern rule there have been just five in more than 150 years: Meiji, Taishō, Shōwa, Heisei and Reiwa. The emperor is also known by his era name after his death, which is why “Emperor Meiji” and “the Meiji era” are the same word.

How the conversion works

The year within an era is the Western year minus the year the era began, plus one — and the first year is written 元年, gannen, never 1年. Japanese people use shortcuts: add 25 to a Shōwa year and you have the last two digits of the Western year (Shōwa 50 = 1975); subtract 12 from Heisei (Heisei 30 = 2018); add 18 to Reiwa (Reiwa 8 = 2026). The catch is the four years that belong to two eras at once — 1912, 1926, 1989 and 2019 — where the right answer depends on the day. The converter handles those, and the year pages explain them.

The five modern eras

EraFromToYears
明治 Meijienlightened rule1868 (proclaimed 23 October)30 July 191245
大正 Taishōgreat righteousness30 July 191225 December 192615
昭和 Shōwaenlightened harmony25 December 19267 January 198964
平成 Heiseiachieving peace8 January 198930 April 201931
令和 Reiwabeautiful harmony1 May 2019present8

Every year from 1868 to 2050

Four years belong to two eras at once — 1912, 1926, 1989 and 2019 — and their pages say which one applies to a given date.

How the Japanese calendar works

A Japanese calendar on a wall carries more year-counts than a Western one, and they run on different clocks. The Western year is there. The era year — 令和 and a number — is what goes on forms. The zodiac animal 干支 heads the year and turns on 1 January in Japan, though the Chinese zodiac year it came from turns on the lunar new year weeks later. None of these replace each other; a single page of a Japanese calendar shows all of them.

Two more things on that page surprise visitors. Printed calendars mark each day with one of six labels, rokuyō 六曜 — 大安 is the lucky one weddings are booked on, 仏滅 the one they are not, and the cycle is arithmetic, not astronomy. And the year that organises Japanese life is neither of the above: the fiscal and school year starts on 1 April, so a company's 2026 and a schoolchild's 2026 both end in March.

Before 1873 the whole thing ran on a lunisolar calendar, which is why dates before that year do not line up with Western ones and why Meiji 5 was eleven months long. The converter above handles everything from 1868 on; the year pages say which era applies to which day.

The other tools

Japanese era dates from Meiji to Reiwa

Japanese forms, certificates and historical records often identify a year by the reigning era. The first year is written gannen rather than “year one,” and transition years can belong to two eras depending on the exact date. The converter uses the official transition date for each modern era.

Reading an era date

Reiwa 6 is written 令和6年, while Heisei 31 ended on April 30, 2019 and Reiwa began the next day. Enter a full date for an exact result; use reverse conversion when a Japanese document gives only the era name and number.