How to read it

1987 minus 1926, the year Shōwa began, plus one, gives 62: 昭和62年. The shortcut Japanese people use: add 25 to a Shōwa year and you have the last two digits of the Western year — 62 + 25 = 87. On paper it is S62: 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 1987 turns 39 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 40.

1987 in the Chinese zodiac

1987 is the year of the Fire Rabbit (丁卯). The zodiac year began on 29 January 1987.

Other years

• 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
• 1988昭和63年
• 1989平成元年
• 1990平成2年
• 1991平成3年
• 1992平成4年

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