How to read it

1969 minus 1926, the year Shōwa began, plus one, gives 44: 昭和44年. The shortcut Japanese people use: add 25 to a Shōwa year and you have the last two digits of the Western year — 44 + 25 = 69. On paper it is S44: 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 1969 turns 57 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 58.

1969 in the Chinese zodiac

1969 is the year of the Earth Rooster (己酉). The zodiac year began on 17 February 1969.

Other years

• 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
• 1970昭和45年
• 1971昭和46年
• 1972昭和47年
• 1973昭和48年
• 1974昭和49年

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