How to read it

1930 minus 1926, the year Shōwa began, plus one, gives 5: 昭和5年. The shortcut Japanese people use: add 25 to a Shōwa year and you have the last two digits of the Western year — 5 + 25 = 30. On paper it is S5: 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. Someone born in 1930 turns 96 in 2026. In kazoedoshi 数え年 — the traditional count that starts at one at birth and adds a year every New Year — they are 97.

1930 in the Chinese zodiac

1930 is the year of the Metal Horse (庚午). The zodiac year began on 30 January 1930.

Other years

• 1925大正14年
• 1926昭和元年
• 1927昭和2年
• 1928昭和3年
• 1929昭和4年
• 1931昭和6年
• 1932昭和7年
• 1933昭和8年
• 1934昭和9年
• 1935昭和10年

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