How to read it

1978 minus 1926, the year Shōwa began, plus one, gives 53: 昭和53年. The shortcut Japanese people use: add 25 to a Shōwa year and you have the last two digits of the Western year — 53 + 25 = 78. On paper it is S53: 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 1978 turns 48 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 49.

1978 in the Chinese zodiac

1978 is the year of the Earth Horse (戊午). The zodiac year began on 7 February 1978.

Other years

• 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
• 1979昭和54年
• 1980昭和55年
• 1981昭和56年
• 1982昭和57年
• 1983昭和58年

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