Japanese Era Years Explained: Converting Reiwa, Heisei and Showa to Western Years
Japanese documents often write years by imperial era: 令和8年 instead of 2026. Driving licenses, residence cards, bank forms and government paperwork still use them, so it's worth knowing how to convert.
The current eras
| Era | Began | Western year = |
|---|---|---|
| Reiwa 令和 (R) | 1 May 2019 | Reiwa year + 2018 |
| Heisei 平成 (H) | 8 January 1989 | Heisei year + 1988 |
| Showa 昭和 (S) | 25 December 1926 | Showa year + 1925 |
| Taisho 大正 (T) | 30 July 1912 | Taisho year + 1911 |
| Meiji 明治 (M) | 1868 | Meiji year + 1867 |
So 2026 is Reiwa 8, and Heisei 10 is 1998.
Year one is "gannen"
The first year of an era is written 元年 (gannen) rather than 1年. 令和元年 is 2019.
The tricky part: transition years
Eras change on a specific day, not on 1 January. 1989 is partly Showa 64 (1–7 January) and partly Heisei 1; 2019 is Heisei 31 until 30 April and Reiwa 1 from 1 May. A birthday in early January 1989 is Showa 64 — a common mistake on forms. Converting a full date, not just a year, avoids it.
Converting
The Japanese era converter works both ways: enter a Western date to get the era date, or an era and year to get the Western year. It also shows the sexagenary (eto) year with its zodiac animal, a table of era start dates, and how old someone born in that year turns this year.
Where it's used
- Official forms, the koseki family register, residence cards and driving licenses.
- Many banks, hospitals and insurers.
- Business documents increasingly use Western years, but both appear side by side.
Need an exact age from a date of birth? Use the age calculator.