How to read it

1962 minus 1926, the year Shōwa began, plus one, gives 37: 昭和37年. The shortcut Japanese people use: add 25 to a Shōwa year and you have the last two digits of the Western year — 37 + 25 = 62. On paper it is S37: 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 1962 turns 64 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 65.

1962 in the Chinese zodiac

1962 is the year of the Water Tiger (壬寅). The zodiac year began on 5 February 1962.

Other years

• 1957昭和32年
• 1958昭和33年
• 1959昭和34年
• 1960昭和35年
• 1961昭和36年
• 1963昭和38年
• 1964昭和39年
• 1965昭和40年
• 1966昭和41年
• 1967昭和42年

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