How to read it

1952 minus 1926, the year Shōwa began, plus one, gives 27: 昭和27年. The shortcut Japanese people use: add 25 to a Shōwa year and you have the last two digits of the Western year — 27 + 25 = 52. On paper it is S27: 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 1952 turns 74 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 75.

1952 in the Chinese zodiac

1952 is the year of the Water Dragon (壬辰). The zodiac year began on 27 January 1952.

Other years

• 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
• 1953昭和28年
• 1954昭和29年
• 1955昭和30年
• 1956昭和31年
• 1957昭和32年

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