How to read it

1963 minus 1926, the year Shōwa began, plus one, gives 38: 昭和38年. The shortcut Japanese people use: add 25 to a Shōwa year and you have the last two digits of the Western year — 38 + 25 = 63. On paper it is S38: 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 1963 turns 63 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 64.

1963 in the Chinese zodiac

1963 is the year of the Water Rabbit (癸卯). The zodiac year began on 25 January 1963.

Other years

• 1958昭和33年
• 1959昭和34年
• 1960昭和35年
• 1961昭和36年
• 1962昭和37年
• 1964昭和39年
• 1965昭和40年
• 1966昭和41年
• 1967昭和42年
• 1968昭和43年

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