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	158
1869	Meiji	2	157
1870	Meiji	3	156
1871	Meiji	4	155
1872	Meiji	5	154
1873	Meiji	6	153
1874	Meiji	7	152
1875	Meiji	8	151
1876	Meiji	9	150
1877	Meiji	10	149
1878	Meiji	11	148
1879	Meiji	12	147
1880	Meiji	13	146
1881	Meiji	14	145
1882	Meiji	15	144
1883	Meiji	16	143
1884	Meiji	17	142
1885	Meiji	18	141
1886	Meiji	19	140
1887	Meiji	20	139
1888	Meiji	21	138
1889	Meiji	22	137
1890	Meiji	23	136
1891	Meiji	24	135
1892	Meiji	25	134
1893	Meiji	26	133
1894	Meiji	27	132
1895	Meiji	28	131
1896	Meiji	29	130
1897	Meiji	30	129
1898	Meiji	31	128
1899	Meiji	32	127
1900	Meiji	33	126
1901	Meiji	34	125
1902	Meiji	35	124
1903	Meiji	36	123
1904	Meiji	37	122
1905	Meiji	38	121
1906	Meiji	39	120
1907	Meiji	40	119
1908	Meiji	41	118
1909	Meiji	42	117
1910	Meiji	43	116
1911	Meiji	44	115

1912	Taishō	1	114
1913	Taishō	2	113
1914	Taishō	3	112
1915	Taishō	4	111
1916	Taishō	5	110
1917	Taishō	6	109
1918	Taishō	7	108
1919	Taishō	8	107
1920	Taishō	9	106
1921	Taishō	10	105
1922	Taishō	11	104
1923	Taishō	12	103
1924	Taishō	13	102
1925	Taishō	14	101

1926	Shōwa	1	100
1927	Shōwa	2	99
1928	Shōwa	3	98
1929	Shōwa	4	97
1930	Shōwa	5	96
1931	Shōwa	6	95
1932	Shōwa	7	94
1933	Shōwa	8	93
1934	Shōwa	9	92
1935	Shōwa	10	91
1936	Shōwa	11	90
1937	Shōwa	12	89
1938	Shōwa	13	88
1939	Shōwa	14	87
1940	Shōwa	15	86
1941	Shōwa	16	85
1942	Shōwa	17	84
1943	Shōwa	18	83
1944	Shōwa	19	82
1945	Shōwa	20	81
1946	Shōwa	21	80
1947	Shōwa	22	79
1948	Shōwa	23	78
1949	Shōwa	24	77
1950	Shōwa	25	76
1951	Shōwa	26	75
1952	Shōwa	27	74
1953	Shōwa	28	73
1954	Shōwa	29	72
1955	Shōwa	30	71
1956	Shōwa	31	70
1957	Shōwa	32	69
1958	Shōwa	33	68
1959	Shōwa	34	67
1960	Shōwa	35	66
1961	Shōwa	36	65
1962	Shōwa	37	64
1963	Shōwa	38	63
1964	Shōwa	39	62
1965	Shōwa	40	61
1966	Shōwa	41	60
1967	Shōwa	42	59
1968	Shōwa	43	58
1969	Shōwa	44	57
1970	Shōwa	45	56
1971	Shōwa	46	55
1972	Shōwa	47	54
1973	Shōwa	48	53
1974	Shōwa	49	52
1975	Shōwa	50	51
1976	Shōwa	51	50
1977	Shōwa	52	49
1978	Shōwa	53	48
1979	Shōwa	54	47
1980	Shōwa	55	46
1981	Shōwa	56	45
1982	Shōwa	57	44
1983	Shōwa	58	43
1984	Shōwa	59	42
1985	Shōwa	60	41
1986	Shōwa	61	40
1987	Shōwa	62	39
1988	Shōwa	63	38

1989	Heisei	1	37
1990	Heisei	2	36
1991	Heisei	3	35
1992	Heisei	4	34
1993	Heisei	5	33
1994	Heisei	6	32
1995	Heisei	7	31
1996	Heisei	8	30
1997	Heisei	9	29
1998	Heisei	10	28
1999	Heisei	11	27
2000	Heisei	12	26
2001	Heisei	13	25
2002	Heisei	14	24
2003	Heisei	15	23
2004	Heisei	16	22
2005	Heisei	17	21
2006	Heisei	18	20
2007	Heisei	19	19
2008	Heisei	20	18
2009	Heisei	21	17
2010	Heisei	22	16
2011	Heisei	23	15
2012	Heisei	24	14
2013	Heisei	25	13
2014	Heisei	26	12
2015	Heisei	27	11
2016	Heisei	28	10
2017	Heisei	29	9
2018	Heisei	30	8
2019	Heisei	31	7

2019	Reiwa	31	7
2020	Reiwa	32	6
2021	Reiwa	33	5
2022	Reiwa	34	4
2023	Reiwa	35	3
2024	Reiwa	36	2
2025	Reiwa	37	1
2026	Reiwa	38	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: 2026年01月23日

Most common short format: 2026.01.23

Names of eras are usually composed of 2kanji.

Long format with era name: 平成38年01月23日

Short format with era name: H38.01.23

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: 2026年01月23日（金）

Short format with week day: 2026.01.23(金)

National holidays

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

2026

Dates	Name in English	Name in Japanese
01 January	GANJITSU	New year's Day
12 January	SEIJIN NO HI	Majority Day
11 February	KENKOKU KINENBI	National Foundation 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
20 July	UMI NO HI	Marine Day
21 September	KEIRÔ NO HI	Respect for the Aged Day
23 September	SHÛBUN NO HI	Autumnal Equinox Day
24 September	KYÛJITSU	Compensation day
12 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

2027

Dates	Name in English	Name in Japanese
01 January	GANJITSU	New year's Day
11 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
19 July	UMI NO HI	Marine Day
20 September	KEIRÔ NO HI	Respect for the Aged Day
22 September	SHÛBUN NO HI	Autumnal Equinox Day
23 September	KYÛJITSU	Compensation day
11 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.