How to read it

1985 minus 1926, the year Shōwa began, plus one, gives 60: 昭和60年. The shortcut Japanese people use: add 25 to a Shōwa year and you have the last two digits of the Western year — 60 + 25 = 85. On paper it is S60: 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 1985 turns 41 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 42. The kazoedoshi number is the one that counts for yakudoshi 厄年, the traditional unlucky years — and 42 is one of them for men, which is why shrines sell so many protective charms to people born in 1985 this year.

1985 in the Chinese zodiac

1985 is the year of the Wood Ox (乙丑). The zodiac year began on 20 February 1985.

Other years

• 1980昭和55年
• 1981昭和56年
• 1982昭和57年
• 1983昭和58年
• 1984昭和59年
• 1986昭和61年
• 1987昭和62年
• 1988昭和63年
• 1989平成元年
• 1990平成2年

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