How to read it

1946 minus 1926, the year Shōwa began, plus one, gives 21: 昭和21年. The shortcut Japanese people use: add 25 to a Shōwa year and you have the last two digits of the Western year — 21 + 25 = 46. On paper it is S21: 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 1946 turns 80 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 81. That makes 2026 a celebration year: 80 is sanju 傘寿, because 傘 in shorthand looks like 八十.

1946 in the Chinese zodiac

1946 is the year of the Fire Dog (丙戌). The zodiac year began on 2 February 1946.

Other years

• 1941昭和16年
• 1942昭和17年
• 1943昭和18年
• 1944昭和19年
• 1945昭和20年
• 1947昭和22年
• 1948昭和23年
• 1949昭和24年
• 1950昭和25年
• 1951昭和26年

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