How to read it

1986 minus 1926, the year Shōwa began, plus one, gives 61: 昭和61年. The shortcut Japanese people use: add 25 to a Shōwa year and you have the last two digits of the Western year — 61 + 25 = 86. On paper it is S61: 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 1986 turns 40 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 41.

1986 in the Chinese zodiac

1986 is the year of the Fire Tiger (丙寅). The zodiac year began on 9 February 1986.

Other years

• 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
• 1987昭和62年
• 1988昭和63年
• 1989平成元年
• 1990平成2年
• 1991平成3年

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