How to read it

1997 minus 1989, the year Heisei began, plus one, gives 9: 平成9年. The shortcut Japanese people use for the 1990s: add 88 to a Heisei year and you have the last two digits of the Western year — 9 + 88 = 97. On paper it is H9: 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 1997 turns 29 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 30.

1997 in the Chinese zodiac

1997 is the year of the Fire Ox (丁丑). The zodiac year began on 7 February 1997.

Other years

• 1992平成4年
• 1993平成5年
• 1994平成6年
• 1995平成7年
• 1996平成8年
• 1998平成10年
• 1999平成11年
• 2000平成12年
• 2001平成13年
• 2002平成14年

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