How to read it

2001 minus 1989, the year Heisei began, plus one, gives 13: 平成13年. The shortcut Japanese people use: subtract 12 from a Heisei year and you have the last two digits of the Western year — 13 − 12 = 01. On paper it is H13: 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 2001 turns 25 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 26.

2001 in the Chinese zodiac

2001 is the year of the Metal Snake (辛巳). The zodiac year began on 24 January 2001.

Other years

• 1996平成8年
• 1997平成9年
• 1998平成10年
• 1999平成11年
• 2000平成12年
• 2002平成14年
• 2003平成15年
• 2004平成16年
• 2005平成17年
• 2006平成18年

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