How to read it

1976 minus 1926, the year Shōwa began, plus one, gives 51: 昭和51年. The shortcut Japanese people use: add 25 to a Shōwa year and you have the last two digits of the Western year — 51 + 25 = 76. On paper it is S51: 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 1976 turns 50 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 51.

1976 in the Chinese zodiac

1976 is the year of the Fire Dragon (丙辰). The zodiac year began on 31 January 1976.

Other years

• 1971昭和46年
• 1972昭和47年
• 1973昭和48年
• 1974昭和49年
• 1975昭和50年
• 1977昭和52年
• 1978昭和53年
• 1979昭和54年
• 1980昭和55年
• 1981昭和56年

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