How to read it

1870 minus 1868, the year Meiji began, plus one, gives 3: 明治3年. The shortcut Japanese people use: add 67 to a Meiji year and you have the last two digits of the Western year — 3 + 67 = 70. On paper it is M3: forms print the era options — 明・大・昭・平・令, or the letters M T S H R — beside the date box, and you circle one and write the number. One caveat: until 1873 Japan kept the lunisolar calendar, so 明治3年 actually began on the lunar new year, a few weeks into 1870, and ran into 1871. The one-to-one match between era years and Western years starts with Meiji 6, when 3 December Meiji 5 was followed by 1 January 1873.

Other years

• 1868明治元年
• 1869明治2年
• 1871明治4年
• 1872明治5年
• 1873明治6年
• 1874明治7年
• 1875明治8年

Every year of the Meiji era → · How the Japanese calendar works, and every year 1868–2050