How to read it

1872 minus 1868, the year Meiji began, plus one, gives 5: 明治5年. The shortcut Japanese people use: add 67 to a Meiji year and you have the last two digits of the Western year — 5 + 67 = 72. On paper it is M5: 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: Meiji 5 began on the lunar new year, 9 February 1872, and was cut short — the 3rd day of its 12th month was declared 1 January Meiji 6, 1873, and Japan has used the Western calendar ever since. It is the only era year of barely eleven months.

Other years

• 1868明治元年
• 1869明治2年
• 1870明治3年
• 1871明治4年
• 1873明治6年
• 1874明治7年
• 1875明治8年
• 1876明治9年
• 1877明治10年

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