How to read it

1972 minus 1926, the year Shōwa began, plus one, gives 47: 昭和47年. The shortcut Japanese people use: add 25 to a Shōwa year and you have the last two digits of the Western year — 47 + 25 = 72. On paper it is S47: 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 1972 turns 54 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 55.

1972 in the Chinese zodiac

1972 is the year of the Water Rat (壬子). The zodiac year began on 15 February 1972.

Other years

• 1967昭和42年
• 1968昭和43年
• 1969昭和44年
• 1970昭和45年
• 1971昭和46年
• 1973昭和48年
• 1974昭和49年
• 1975昭和50年
• 1976昭和51年
• 1977昭和52年

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