How to read it

1975 minus 1926, the year Shōwa began, plus one, gives 50: 昭和50年. The shortcut Japanese people use: add 25 to a Shōwa year and you have the last two digits of the Western year — 50 + 25 = 75. On paper it is S50: 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 1975 turns 51 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 52.

1975 in the Chinese zodiac

1975 is the year of the Wood Rabbit (乙卯). The zodiac year began on 11 February 1975.

Other years

• 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
• 1976昭和51年
• 1977昭和52年
• 1978昭和53年
• 1979昭和54年
• 1980昭和55年

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