How to read it

1945 minus 1926, the year Shōwa began, plus one, gives 20: 昭和20年. The shortcut Japanese people use: add 25 to a Shōwa year and you have the last two digits of the Western year — 20 + 25 = 45. On paper it is S20: 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 1945 turns 81 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 82.

1945 in the Chinese zodiac

1945 is the year of the Wood Rooster (乙酉). The zodiac year began on 13 February 1945.

Other years

• 1940昭和15年
• 1941昭和16年
• 1942昭和17年
• 1943昭和18年
• 1944昭和19年
• 1946昭和21年
• 1947昭和22年
• 1948昭和23年
• 1949昭和24年
• 1950昭和25年

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