How to read it

1984 minus 1926, the year Shōwa began, plus one, gives 59: 昭和59年. The shortcut Japanese people use: add 25 to a Shōwa year and you have the last two digits of the Western year — 59 + 25 = 84. On paper it is S59: 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 1984 turns 42 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 43.

1984 in the Chinese zodiac

1984 is the year of the Wood Rat (甲子). The zodiac year began on 2 February 1984.

Other years

• 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
• 1985昭和60年
• 1986昭和61年
• 1987昭和62年
• 1988昭和63年
• 1989平成元年

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