How to read it

1981 minus 1926, the year Shōwa began, plus one, gives 56: 昭和56年. The shortcut Japanese people use: add 25 to a Shōwa year and you have the last two digits of the Western year — 56 + 25 = 81. On paper it is S56: 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 1981 turns 45 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 46.

1981 in the Chinese zodiac

1981 is the year of the Metal Rooster (辛酉). The zodiac year began on 5 February 1981.

Other years

• 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
• 1982昭和57年
• 1983昭和58年
• 1984昭和59年
• 1985昭和60年
• 1986昭和61年

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