How to read it

2042 minus 2019, the year Reiwa began, plus one, gives 24: 令和24年. The shortcut Japanese people use: add 18 to a Reiwa year and you have the last two digits of the Western year — 24 + 18 = 42. On paper it is R24: 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.

2042 in the Chinese zodiac

2042 is the year of the Water Dog (壬戌). The zodiac year began on 22 January 2042.

Other years

• 2037令和19年
• 2038令和20年
• 2039令和21年
• 2040令和22年
• 2041令和23年
• 2043令和25年
• 2044令和26年
• 2045令和27年
• 2046令和28年
• 2047令和29年

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