How to read it

1974 minus 1926, the year Shōwa began, plus one, gives 49: 昭和49年. The shortcut Japanese people use: add 25 to a Shōwa year and you have the last two digits of the Western year — 49 + 25 = 74. On paper it is S49: 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 1974 turns 52 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 53.

1974 in the Chinese zodiac

1974 is the year of the Wood Tiger (甲寅). The zodiac year began on 23 January 1974.

Other years

• 1969昭和44年
• 1970昭和45年
• 1971昭和46年
• 1972昭和47年
• 1973昭和48年
• 1975昭和50年
• 1976昭和51年
• 1977昭和52年
• 1978昭和53年
• 1979昭和54年

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