How to read it

1988 minus 1926, the year Shōwa began, plus one, gives 63: 昭和63年. The shortcut Japanese people use: add 25 to a Shōwa year and you have the last two digits of the Western year — 63 + 25 = 88. On paper it is S63: 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 1988 turns 38 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 39.

1988 in the Chinese zodiac

1988 is the year of the Earth Dragon (戊辰). The zodiac year began on 17 February 1988.

Other years

• 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
• 1989平成元年
• 1990平成2年
• 1991平成3年
• 1992平成4年
• 1993平成5年

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