Japanese Era & Zodiac Lookup

Enter a Gregorian year, or how many years ago, to instantly find the matching Japanese era name, Japanese calendar year, zodiac sign, and historical period.

Tips

  • Use the "Look up by years ago" tab to instantly find out, for example, "what year was 50 years ago and which era was it?" It's also handy for planning reunions or anniversaries.
  • The zodiac cycle repeats every 12 years. You can use this to find the zodiac sign for your own birth year or a family member's.
  • For years that fall within the Nanbokucho period (1336-1392), the Southern Court's era name is shown first as the officially recognized one. The Northern Court's era name is also available for historical reference.
  • If you want to browse a full list of era names, the companion tool List of Japanese Era Names is handy - it lists every era from the year 648 onward.
  • The supported range is from 645 (the Taika era) to the present. Entering a year before 645 will display an out-of-range message.

Frequently Asked Questions

Japan's first era name was Taika, established in the year 645. Since then, aside from a few historical gaps, the era system has continued uninterrupted through to the current Reiwa era.

It refers to the very first year after an era begins. For example, "Reiwa Gannen" (Reiwa Year 1) refers to 2019, the year Reiwa began; from "Reiwa 2" onward, years are counted normally.

In Japan, the zodiac sign is used to describe a person's birth year and as a motif for New Year's greeting cards, and it's also tied to traditional customs such as calculating yakudoshi (unlucky ages). The same sign comes around again every 12 years.

In 1911 (Meiji 44), the Japanese government officially recognized the Southern Court as legitimate, and current academic consensus likewise treats the Southern Court's era names as the official ones.
ツールくん

Side Note - Why "Kanreki" Lines Up With the Zodiac

The zodiac (juunishi, the 12 animal signs) completes a cycle every 12 years, but the term "eto" originally referred to a set of 60 combinations known as "jikkan junishi" - pairing the 10 celestial stems (ko, otsu, hei...) with the 12 zodiac signs (rat, ox, tiger...). Combining the two produces 60 distinct patterns, and it takes 60 years for the combination from one's birth year to come full circle - that milestone is called "kanreki" (還暦), the 60th birthday celebration. This tool only displays the 12 zodiac signs, but the tradition of celebrating kanreki around the 60th year (in the traditional East Asian age count) traces back to this 60-year cycle.

The reason an era name and its Gregorian year can appear to line up unevenly is that era changes often happen partway through a year. For example, the change from Showa to Heisei took place on January 8, 1989: January 1-7, 1989 still counted as Showa 64, while January 8 onward became Heisei Year 1. This tool determines the era based on "the era in effect on January 1" rather than "the era that covers most of the year."

The reason two parallel sets of era names existed during the Nanbokucho (Northern and Southern Courts) period is that in 1336, Emperor Go-Daigo fled to Yoshino (in present-day Nara Prefecture) and established the Southern Court, which coexisted alongside the Northern Court in Kyoto. For the 56 years until the two courts were reunified in 1392, Japan effectively had two era names in use at the same time.

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