How to read it

2012 minus 1989, the year Heisei began, plus one, gives 24: 平成24年. The shortcut Japanese people use: subtract 12 from a Heisei year and you have the last two digits of the Western year — 24 − 12 = 12. On paper it is H24: 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 2012 turns 14 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 15.

2012 in the Chinese zodiac

2012 is the year of the Water Dragon (壬辰). The zodiac year began on 23 January 2012.

Other years

• 2007平成19年
• 2008平成20年
• 2009平成21年
• 2010平成22年
• 2011平成23年
• 2013平成25年
• 2014平成26年
• 2015平成27年
• 2016平成28年
• 2017平成29年

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