How to read it

1971 minus 1926, the year Shōwa began, plus one, gives 46: 昭和46年. The shortcut Japanese people use: add 25 to a Shōwa year and you have the last two digits of the Western year — 46 + 25 = 71. On paper it is S46: 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 1971 turns 55 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 56.

1971 in the Chinese zodiac

1971 is the year of the Metal Boar (辛亥). The zodiac year began on 27 January 1971.

Other years

• 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
• 1972昭和47年
• 1973昭和48年
• 1974昭和49年
• 1975昭和50年
• 1976昭和51年

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