Calendar

The Imperial Calendar
How works the traditional Japanese calendar.Notation
How do we express dates in Japan.National holidays
All the Japanese national holidays.Vocabulary
The key word of this section in Japanese.

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, 30^th and will set the Heisei era to an end still living.

Summary chronology of the Japanese eras

Dates	Name in English	Name in Japanese
Until 399	Prehistory	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 - 1198	Antiquity	古代 KODAI
400 - 707	Yamato Period	大和時代 YAMATO JIDAI
707 - 781	Nara Period	奈良時代 NARA JIDAI
781 - 1198	Heian Period	平安時代 HEIAN JIDAI
1198 - 1611	feodal Period (Middle age)	中世 CHŪSEI
1185 - 1333	Kamakura Period	鎌倉時代 KAMAKURA JIDAI
1333 - 1573	Muromachi Period	室町時代 MUROMACHI JIDAI
1573 - 1603	Azuchi Momoyama Period	安土桃山時代 AZUCHI MOMOYAMA JIDAI
1611 - 1867	Premodern Period	近世 KINSEI
1603 - 1867	Edo Period	江戸時代 JIDAI
1868 - Now	Modern Period - Contemporary Period	近代・現代 KINDAI - GENDAI
1868 - 1912	Meiji Era	明治時代 MEIJI JIDAI
1912 - 1926	Taishō Era	大正時代 TAISHŌ JIDAI
1926 - 1989	Shōwa Era	昭和時代 SHŌWA JIDAI
1989 - 2019	Heisei Era	平成時代 HEISEI JIDAI
2019 - Now	Reiwa Era	令和時代 REIWA JIDAI

Correspondence between western calendar and the imperial calendar

Western year	Era	Year in the era	Age
1868	Meiji	1	155
1869	Meiji	2	154
1870	Meiji	3	153
1871	Meiji	4	152
1872	Meiji	5	151
1873	Meiji	6	150
1874	Meiji	7	149
1875	Meiji	8	148
1876	Meiji	9	147
1877	Meiji	10	146
1878	Meiji	11	145
1879	Meiji	12	144
1880	Meiji	13	143
1881	Meiji	14	142
1882	Meiji	15	141
1883	Meiji	16	140
1884	Meiji	17	139
1885	Meiji	18	138
1886	Meiji	19	137
1887	Meiji	20	136
1888	Meiji	21	135
1889	Meiji	22	134
1890	Meiji	23	133
1891	Meiji	24	132
1892	Meiji	25	131
1893	Meiji	26	130
1894	Meiji	27	129
1895	Meiji	28	128
1896	Meiji	29	127
1897	Meiji	30	126
1898	Meiji	31	125
1899	Meiji	32	124
1900	Meiji	33	123
1901	Meiji	34	122
1902	Meiji	35	121
1903	Meiji	36	120
1904	Meiji	37	119
1905	Meiji	38	118
1906	Meiji	39	117
1907	Meiji	40	116
1908	Meiji	41	115
1909	Meiji	42	114
1910	Meiji	43	113
1911	Meiji	44	112

1912	Taishō	1	111
1913	Taishō	2	110
1914	Taishō	3	109
1915	Taishō	4	108
1916	Taishō	5	107
1917	Taishō	6	106
1918	Taishō	7	105
1919	Taishō	8	104
1920	Taishō	9	103
1921	Taishō	10	102
1922	Taishō	11	101
1923	Taishō	12	100
1924	Taishō	13	99
1925	Taishō	14	98

1926	Shōwa	1	97
1927	Shōwa	2	96
1928	Shōwa	3	95
1929	Shōwa	4	94
1930	Shōwa	5	93
1931	Shōwa	6	92
1932	Shōwa	7	91
1933	Shōwa	8	90
1934	Shōwa	9	89
1935	Shōwa	10	88
1936	Shōwa	11	87
1937	Shōwa	12	86
1938	Shōwa	13	85
1939	Shōwa	14	84
1940	Shōwa	15	83
1941	Shōwa	16	82
1942	Shōwa	17	81
1943	Shōwa	18	80
1944	Shōwa	19	79
1945	Shōwa	20	78
1946	Shōwa	21	77
1947	Shōwa	22	76
1948	Shōwa	23	75
1949	Shōwa	24	74
1950	Shōwa	25	73
1951	Shōwa	26	72
1952	Shōwa	27	71
1953	Shōwa	28	70
1954	Shōwa	29	69
1955	Shōwa	30	68
1956	Shōwa	31	67
1957	Shōwa	32	66
1958	Shōwa	33	65
1959	Shōwa	34	64
1960	Shōwa	35	63
1961	Shōwa	36	62
1962	Shōwa	37	61
1963	Shōwa	38	60
1964	Shōwa	39	59
1965	Shōwa	40	58
1966	Shōwa	41	57
1967	Shōwa	42	56
1968	Shōwa	43	55
1969	Shōwa	44	54
1970	Shōwa	45	53
1971	Shōwa	46	52
1972	Shōwa	47	51
1973	Shōwa	48	50
1974	Shōwa	49	49
1975	Shōwa	50	48
1976	Shōwa	51	47
1977	Shōwa	52	46
1978	Shōwa	53	45
1979	Shōwa	54	44
1980	Shōwa	55	43
1981	Shōwa	56	42
1982	Shōwa	57	41
1983	Shōwa	58	40
1984	Shōwa	59	39
1985	Shōwa	60	38
1986	Shōwa	61	37
1987	Shōwa	62	36
1988	Shōwa	63	35

1989	Heisei	1	34
1990	Heisei	2	33
1991	Heisei	3	32
1992	Heisei	4	31
1993	Heisei	5	30
1994	Heisei	6	29
1995	Heisei	7	28
1996	Heisei	8	27
1997	Heisei	9	26
1998	Heisei	10	25
1999	Heisei	11	24
2000	Heisei	12	23
2001	Heisei	13	22
2002	Heisei	14	21
2003	Heisei	15	20
2004	Heisei	16	19
2005	Heisei	17	18
2006	Heisei	18	17
2007	Heisei	19	16
2008	Heisei	20	15
2009	Heisei	21	14
2010	Heisei	22	13
2011	Heisei	23	12
2012	Heisei	24	11
2013	Heisei	25	10
2014	Heisei	26	9
2015	Heisei	27	8
2016	Heisei	28	7
2017	Heisei	29	6
2018	Heisei	30	5
2019	Heisei	31	4

2019	Reiwa	31	4
2020	Reiwa	32	3
2021	Reiwa	33	2
2022	Reiwa	34	1
2023	Reiwa	35	0

Change of era

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

Year	End of era	Beginning of era
1912	45^th year of Meiji era until July, 29^th	1^st year of Taishō era from July, 30^th
1926	15^th year of Taishō era until December, 24^th	1^st year of Shōwa era from December, 25^th
1989	64^th year of Shōwa era until January, 7^th	1^st year of Heisei era from January, 8^th
2019	31^th year of Heisei era until April, 29^th	1^st year of Reiwa era from Avril, 30^th

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

Dates	Name in English	Name in Japanese
01 January	GANJITSU	New year's Day
02 January	KYÛJITSU	Compensation day
09 January	SEIJIN NO HI	Majority Day
11 February	KENKOKU KINENBI	National Foundation Day
23 February	TENNÔ TANJÔBI	Birthday of the Emperor
21 March	SHUNBUN NO HI	Vernal Equinox Day
22 March	KYÛJITSU	Compensation day
29 April	SHÔWA NO HI	Birthday of Emperor Hirohito
30 April	KYÛJITSU	Compensation day
03 May	KEMPÔ KINENBI	Constitution Memorial Day
04 May	MIDORI NO HI	Greenery Day
05 May	KODOMO NO HI	Children's Day
17 July	UMI NO HI	Marine Day
18 September	KEIRÔ NO HI	Respect for the Aged Day
22 September	SHÛBUN NO HI	Autumnal Equinox Day
23 September	KYÛJITSU	Compensation day
09 October	TAIIKU NO HI	Health and Sports Day
03 November	BUNKA NO HI	Culture Day
04 November	KYÛJITSU	Compensation day
23 November	KINRÔ KANSHA NO HI	Labor Thanksgiving Day
24 November	KYÛJITSU	Compensation day

2024

Dates	Name in English	Name in Japanese
01 January	GANJITSU	New year's Day
08 January	SEIJIN NO HI	Majority Day
11 February	KENKOKU KINENBI	National Foundation Day
12 February	KYÛJITSU	Compensation day
23 February	TENNÔ TANJÔBI	Birthday of the Emperor
20 March	SHUNBUN NO HI	Vernal Equinox Day
21 March	KYÛJITSU	Compensation day
29 April	SHÔWA NO HI	Birthday of Emperor Hirohito
30 April	KYÛJITSU	Compensation day
03 May	KEMPÔ KINENBI	Constitution Memorial Day
04 May	MIDORI NO HI	Greenery Day
05 May	KODOMO NO HI	Children's Day
06 May	KYÛJITSU	Compensation day
15 July	UMI NO HI	Marine Day
16 September	KEIRÔ NO HI	Respect for the Aged Day
22 September	SHÛBUN NO HI	Autumnal Equinox Day
23 September	KYÛJITSU	Compensation day
14 October	TAIIKU NO HI	Health and Sports Day
03 November	BUNKA NO HI	Culture Day
04 November	KYÛJITSU	Compensation day
23 November	KINRÔ KANSHA NO HI	Labor Thanksgiving Day
24 November	KYÛJITSU	Compensation 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"..
Imperial calendar	皇紀 (こうき) KŌKI Abbreviated name.
Era	年号 (ねんごう) NENGŌ In the common language.
Era	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
1^st 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.