How to read it

2011 minus 1989, the year Heisei began, plus one, gives 23: 平成23年. The shortcut Japanese people use: subtract 12 from a Heisei year and you have the last two digits of the Western year — 23 − 12 = 11. On paper it is H23: 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 2011 turns 15 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 16.

2011 in the Chinese zodiac

2011 is the year of the Metal Rabbit (辛卯). The zodiac year began on 3 February 2011.

Other years

• 2006平成18年
• 2007平成19年
• 2008平成20年
• 2009平成21年
• 2010平成22年
• 2012平成24年
• 2013平成25年
• 2014平成26年
• 2015平成27年
• 2016平成28年

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