How to read it

1982 minus 1926, the year Shōwa began, plus one, gives 57: 昭和57年. The shortcut Japanese people use: add 25 to a Shōwa year and you have the last two digits of the Western year — 57 + 25 = 82. On paper it is S57: 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 1982 turns 44 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 45.

1982 in the Chinese zodiac

1982 is the year of the Water Dog (壬戌). The zodiac year began on 25 January 1982.

Other years

• 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
• 1983昭和58年
• 1984昭和59年
• 1985昭和60年
• 1986昭和61年
• 1987昭和62年

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