How to read it

1951 minus 1926, the year Shōwa began, plus one, gives 26: 昭和26年. The shortcut Japanese people use: add 25 to a Shōwa year and you have the last two digits of the Western year — 26 + 25 = 51. On paper it is S26: 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 1951 turns 75 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 76.

1951 in the Chinese zodiac

1951 is the year of the Metal Rabbit (辛卯). The zodiac year began on 6 February 1951.

Other years

• 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
• 1952昭和27年
• 1953昭和28年
• 1954昭和29年
• 1955昭和30年
• 1956昭和31年

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