How to read it

1980 minus 1926, the year Shōwa began, plus one, gives 55: 昭和55年. The shortcut Japanese people use: add 25 to a Shōwa year and you have the last two digits of the Western year — 55 + 25 = 80. On paper it is S55: 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 1980 turns 46 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 47.

1980 in the Chinese zodiac

1980 is the year of the Metal Monkey (庚申). The zodiac year began on 16 February 1980.

Other years

• 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
• 1981昭和56年
• 1982昭和57年
• 1983昭和58年
• 1984昭和59年
• 1985昭和60年

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