How to read it

2004 minus 1989, the year Heisei began, plus one, gives 16: 平成16年. The shortcut Japanese people use: subtract 12 from a Heisei year and you have the last two digits of the Western year — 16 − 12 = 04. On paper it is H16: 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 2004 turns 22 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 23.

2004 in the Chinese zodiac

2004 is the year of the Wood Monkey (甲申). The zodiac year began on 22 January 2004.

Other years

• 1999平成11年
• 2000平成12年
• 2001平成13年
• 2002平成14年
• 2003平成15年
• 2005平成17年
• 2006平成18年
• 2007平成19年
• 2008平成20年
• 2009平成21年

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