How to read it

2040 minus 2019, the year Reiwa began, plus one, gives 22: 令和22年. The shortcut Japanese people use: add 18 to a Reiwa year and you have the last two digits of the Western year — 22 + 18 = 40. On paper it is R22: 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.

2040 in the Chinese zodiac

2040 is the year of the Metal Monkey (庚申). The zodiac year began on 12 February 2040.

Other years

• 2035令和17年
• 2036令和18年
• 2037令和19年
• 2038令和20年
• 2039令和21年
• 2041令和23年
• 2042令和24年
• 2043令和25年
• 2044令和26年
• 2045令和27年

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