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The Imperial Calendar

Japan uses two different calendars to count years, the western calendar and the Imperial Calendar. The western calendar is the most commonly used in everyday life, but the Imperial calendar is still used very often in administrative documents.

The Imperial Calendar groups years under eras, that are grouped under periods and sub-periods.
Changes in periods correspond mainly to changes or governments, as well as their places of establishment.

Eras correspond to the reign of each emperor, from the beginning of its reign until his death.
For the first time in the history of the imperial lineage, the Emperor Akihito will abdicate on April, 30th and will set the Heisei era to an end still living.

Summary chronology of the Japanese eras
DatesName in EnglishName in Japanese
Until 399Prehistory先史時代 SENSHIJIDAI
According to the Shinto religion, the lineage of the emperors starts in -600BC, with the legendary Emperor Jinmu, direct descendant of Amaterasu, goddess of the Sun.
400 - 1198Antiquity古代 KODAI
400 - 707Yamato Period大和時代 YAMATO JIDAI
707 - 781Nara Period奈良時代 NARA JIDAI
781 - 1198Heian Period平安時代 HEIAN JIDAI
1198 - 1611feodal Period (Middle age)中世 CHŪSEI
1185 - 1333Kamakura Period鎌倉時代 KAMAKURA JIDAI
1333 - 1573Muromachi Period室町時代 MUROMACHI JIDAI
1573 - 1603Azuchi Momoyama Period安土桃山時代 AZUCHI MOMOYAMA JIDAI
1611 - 1867Premodern Period近世 KINSEI
1603 - 1867Edo Period江戸時代 JIDAI
1868 - NowModern Period - Contemporary Period近代・現代 KINDAI - GENDAI
1868 - 1912Meiji Era明治時代 MEIJI JIDAI
1912 - 1926Taishō Era大正時代 TAISHŌ JIDAI
1926 - 1989Shōwa Era昭和時代 SHŌWA JIDAI
1989 - 2019Heisei Era平成時代 HEISEI JIDAI
2019 - NowReiwa Era令和時代 REIWA JIDAI
Correspondence between western calendar and the imperial calendar
Western yearEraYear in the eraAge
1868Meiji1155
1869Meiji2154
1870Meiji3153
1871Meiji4152
1872Meiji5151
1873Meiji6150
1874Meiji7149
1875Meiji8148
1876Meiji9147
1877Meiji10146
1878Meiji11145
1879Meiji12144
1880Meiji13143
1881Meiji14142
1882Meiji15141
1883Meiji16140
1884Meiji17139
1885Meiji18138
1886Meiji19137
1887Meiji20136
1888Meiji21135
1889Meiji22134
1890Meiji23133
1891Meiji24132
1892Meiji25131
1893Meiji26130
1894Meiji27129
1895Meiji28128
1896Meiji29127
1897Meiji30126
1898Meiji31125
1899Meiji32124
1900Meiji33123
1901Meiji34122
1902Meiji35121
1903Meiji36120
1904Meiji37119
1905Meiji38118
1906Meiji39117
1907Meiji40116
1908Meiji41115
1909Meiji42114
1910Meiji43113
1911Meiji44112
1912Taishō1111
1913Taishō2110
1914Taishō3109
1915Taishō4108
1916Taishō5107
1917Taishō6106
1918Taishō7105
1919Taishō8104
1920Taishō9103
1921Taishō10102
1922Taishō11101
1923Taishō12100
1924Taishō1399
1925Taishō1498
1926Shōwa197
1927Shōwa296
1928Shōwa395
1929Shōwa494
1930Shōwa593
1931Shōwa692
1932Shōwa791
1933Shōwa890
1934Shōwa989
1935Shōwa1088
1936Shōwa1187
1937Shōwa1286
1938Shōwa1385
1939Shōwa1484
1940Shōwa1583
1941Shōwa1682
1942Shōwa1781
1943Shōwa1880
1944Shōwa1979
1945Shōwa2078
1946Shōwa2177
1947Shōwa2276
1948Shōwa2375
1949Shōwa2474
1950Shōwa2573
1951Shōwa2672
1952Shōwa2771
1953Shōwa2870
1954Shōwa2969
1955Shōwa3068
1956Shōwa3167
1957Shōwa3266
1958Shōwa3365
1959Shōwa3464
1960Shōwa3563
1961Shōwa3662
1962Shōwa3761
1963Shōwa3860
1964Shōwa3959
1965Shōwa4058
1966Shōwa4157
1967Shōwa4256
1968Shōwa4355
1969Shōwa4454
1970Shōwa4553
1971Shōwa4652
1972Shōwa4751
1973Shōwa4850
1974Shōwa4949
1975Shōwa5048
1976Shōwa5147
1977Shōwa5246
1978Shōwa5345
1979Shōwa5444
1980Shōwa5543
1981Shōwa5642
1982Shōwa5741
1983Shōwa5840
1984Shōwa5939
1985Shōwa6038
1986Shōwa6137
1987Shōwa6236
1988Shōwa6335
1989Heisei134
1990Heisei233
1991Heisei332
1992Heisei431
1993Heisei530
1994Heisei629
1995Heisei728
1996Heisei827
1997Heisei926
1998Heisei1025
1999Heisei1124
2000Heisei1223
2001Heisei1322
2002Heisei1421
2003Heisei1520
2004Heisei1619
2005Heisei1718
2006Heisei1817
2007Heisei1916
2008Heisei2015
2009Heisei2114
2010Heisei2213
2011Heisei2312
2012Heisei2411
2013Heisei2510
2014Heisei269
2015Heisei278
2016Heisei287
2017Heisei296
2018Heisei305
2019Heisei314
2019Reiwa314
2020Reiwa323
2021Reiwa332
2022Reiwa341
2023Reiwa350
Change of era

As new reigns usually don't start on January, 1st, it is common that the first year of an era is the last year of the preceding era.

YearEnd of eraBeginning of era
191245th year of Meiji era until July, 29th1st year of Taishō era from July, 30th
192615th year of Taishō era until December, 24th1st year of Shōwa era from December, 25th
198964th year of Shōwa era until January, 7th1st year of Heisei era from January, 8th
201931th year of Heisei era until April, 29th1st year of Reiwa era from Avril, 30th
Notation
  • As in most cases in Asian countries, dates are always written in the order Year - Month - Day.

Most common long format: 2023年09月21日

Most common short format: 2023.09.21

  • Names of eras are usually composed of 2kanji.

Long format with era name: 平成35年09月21日

Short format with era name: H35.09.21

For the most recent eras, Unicode characters have been created: Meiji, Taishō, Shōwa, Heisei. A character has also been reserved for the Reiwa era.
However, they are not often used. The first letter of the era name are more commonly used instead (M, T, S, H, R).

  • Week days are often abbreviated to the first character: 月, 火, 水, 木, 金, 土, 日

Long format with week day: 2023年09月21日(木)

Short format with week day: 2023.09.21(木)

National holidays

National holidays that fall on a Sunday are followed by a "compensation" day.

2023

DatesName in EnglishName in Japanese
01 JanuaryGANJITSUNew year's Day
02 JanuaryKYÛJITSUCompensation day
09 JanuarySEIJIN NO HIMajority Day
11 FebruaryKENKOKU KINENBINational Foundation Day
23 FebruaryTENNÔ TANJÔBIBirthday of the Emperor
21 MarchSHUNBUN NO HIVernal Equinox Day
22 MarchKYÛJITSUCompensation day
29 AprilSHÔWA NO HIBirthday of Emperor Hirohito
30 AprilKYÛJITSUCompensation day
03 MayKEMPÔ KINENBIConstitution Memorial Day
04 MayMIDORI NO HIGreenery Day
05 MayKODOMO NO HIChildren's Day
17 JulyUMI NO HIMarine Day
18 SeptemberKEIRÔ NO HIRespect for the Aged Day
22 SeptemberSHÛBUN NO HIAutumnal Equinox Day
23 SeptemberKYÛJITSUCompensation day
09 OctoberTAIIKU NO HIHealth and Sports Day
03 NovemberBUNKA NO HICulture Day
04 NovemberKYÛJITSUCompensation day
23 NovemberKINRÔ KANSHA NO HILabor Thanksgiving Day
24 NovemberKYÛJITSUCompensation day

2024

DatesName in EnglishName in Japanese
01 JanuaryGANJITSUNew year's Day
08 JanuarySEIJIN NO HIMajority Day
11 FebruaryKENKOKU KINENBINational Foundation Day
12 FebruaryKYÛJITSUCompensation day
23 FebruaryTENNÔ TANJÔBIBirthday of the Emperor
20 MarchSHUNBUN NO HIVernal Equinox Day
21 MarchKYÛJITSUCompensation day
29 AprilSHÔWA NO HIBirthday of Emperor Hirohito
30 AprilKYÛJITSUCompensation day
03 MayKEMPÔ KINENBIConstitution Memorial Day
04 MayMIDORI NO HIGreenery Day
05 MayKODOMO NO HIChildren's Day
06 MayKYÛJITSUCompensation day
15 JulyUMI NO HIMarine Day
16 SeptemberKEIRÔ NO HIRespect for the Aged Day
22 SeptemberSHÛBUN NO HIAutumnal Equinox Day
23 SeptemberKYÛJITSUCompensation day
14 OctoberTAIIKU NO HIHealth and Sports Day
03 NovemberBUNKA NO HICulture Day
04 NovemberKYÛJITSUCompensation day
23 NovemberKINRÔ KANSHA NO HILabor Thanksgiving Day
24 NovemberKYÛJITSUCompensation day

Vocabulary
Western calendar西暦 (せいれき) SEIREKI
Imperial calendar神武天皇即位紀元 (じんむ てんのう そくい きげん) JINMU TENNŌ SOKUI KIGEN
  • Complete name, lit. "Calendar following the enthronement of the Emperor Jinmu"..
  • 皇紀 (こうき) KŌKI
  • Abbreviated name.
  • Era年号 (ねんごう) NENGŌ
  • In the common language.
  • 元号 (げんごう) GENGŌ
  • More technical term.
  • Period時代 (じだい) JIDAI
    Change of era改元 (かいげん) KAIGEN
    1st year of an era元年 (がんねん) GANNEN
  • The first year is generally written in kanji rather that with the figure 1.
  • National holiday祝日 (しゅくじつ) SHUKUJITSU
    Holiday休日 (きゅうじつ) KYŪJITSU
  • Non-working day.
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    Kazoku Ecrire le japonais
    Kazoku
    Ecrire le japonais
    Kazoku Ecrire le japonais