How to read it

1965 minus 1926, the year Shōwa began, plus one, gives 40: 昭和40年. The shortcut Japanese people use: add 25 to a Shōwa year and you have the last two digits of the Western year — 40 + 25 = 65. On paper it is S40: 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 1965 turns 61 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 62.

1965 in the Chinese zodiac

1965 is the year of the Wood Snake (乙巳). The zodiac year began on 2 February 1965.

Other years

• 1960昭和35年
• 1961昭和36年
• 1962昭和37年
• 1963昭和38年
• 1964昭和39年
• 1966昭和41年
• 1967昭和42年
• 1968昭和43年
• 1969昭和44年
• 1970昭和45年

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