How to read it

1950 minus 1926, the year Shōwa began, plus one, gives 25: 昭和25年. The shortcut Japanese people use: add 25 to a Shōwa year and you have the last two digits of the Western year — 25 + 25 = 50. On paper it is S25: 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 1950 turns 76 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 77.

1950 in the Chinese zodiac

1950 is the year of the Metal Tiger (庚寅). The zodiac year began on 17 February 1950.

Other years

• 1945昭和20年
• 1946昭和21年
• 1947昭和22年
• 1948昭和23年
• 1949昭和24年
• 1951昭和26年
• 1952昭和27年
• 1953昭和28年
• 1954昭和29年
• 1955昭和30年

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