How to read it

1949 minus 1926, the year Shōwa began, plus one, gives 24: 昭和24年. The shortcut Japanese people use: add 25 to a Shōwa year and you have the last two digits of the Western year — 24 + 25 = 49. On paper it is S24: 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 1949 turns 77 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 78. That makes 2026 a celebration year: 77 is kiju 喜寿, because the cursive form of 喜 looks like 七十七.

1949 in the Chinese zodiac

1949 is the year of the Earth Ox (己丑). The zodiac year began on 29 January 1949.

Other years

• 1944昭和19年
• 1945昭和20年
• 1946昭和21年
• 1947昭和22年
• 1948昭和23年
• 1950昭和25年
• 1951昭和26年
• 1952昭和27年
• 1953昭和28年
• 1954昭和29年

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