How to read it

2014 minus 1989, the year Heisei began, plus one, gives 26: 平成26年. The shortcut Japanese people use: subtract 12 from a Heisei year and you have the last two digits of the Western year — 26 − 12 = 14. On paper it is H26: 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 2014 turns 12 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 13.

2014 in the Chinese zodiac

2014 is the year of the Wood Horse (甲午). The zodiac year began on 31 January 2014.

Other years

• 2009平成21年
• 2010平成22年
• 2011平成23年
• 2012平成24年
• 2013平成25年
• 2015平成27年
• 2016平成28年
• 2017平成29年
• 2018平成30年
• 2019令和元年

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