How to read it

1964 minus 1926, the year Shōwa began, plus one, gives 39: 昭和39年. The shortcut Japanese people use: add 25 to a Shōwa year and you have the last two digits of the Western year — 39 + 25 = 64. On paper it is S39: 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 1964 turns 62 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 63.

1964 in the Chinese zodiac

1964 is the year of the Wood Dragon (甲辰). The zodiac year began on 13 February 1964.

Other years

• 1959昭和34年
• 1960昭和35年
• 1961昭和36年
• 1962昭和37年
• 1963昭和38年
• 1965昭和40年
• 1966昭和41年
• 1967昭和42年
• 1968昭和43年
• 1969昭和44年

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