How to read it

2038 minus 2019, the year Reiwa began, plus one, gives 20: 令和20年. The shortcut Japanese people use: add 18 to a Reiwa year and you have the last two digits of the Western year — 20 + 18 = 38. On paper it is R20: 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. This is a projection. An era lasts as long as the emperor reigns, so a year after 2026 carries its Reiwa number only provisionally; a new era would restart the count at gannen from the day it began.

2038 in the Chinese zodiac

2038 is the year of the Earth Horse (戊午). The zodiac year began on 4 February 2038.

Other years

• 2033令和15年
• 2034令和16年
• 2035令和17年
• 2036令和18年
• 2037令和19年
• 2039令和21年
• 2040令和22年
• 2041令和23年
• 2042令和24年
• 2043令和25年

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