Yakudoshi & Happosagari Checker
Enter your birth year and gender to check Japanese unlucky years (yakudoshi: pre-, main, post-, and great-unlucky) and happosagari. Covers up to 30 years ahead.
Upcoming Yakudoshi & Happosagari
| Year | Kazoe Age | Yakudoshi | Happosagari (八方塞がり) |
|---|---|---|---|
| [[ row.year ]][[ labels.year_suffix ]] This Year | [[ row.kazoe ]][[ labels.kazoe_unit ]] | [[ yakuLabel(row.yaku) ]] — | [[ row.happosagari ? '●' : '' ]] |
2026 Yakudoshi Birth Years
Male
| Birth Year | Kazoe Age | Type | Happosagari (八方塞がり) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 平成15年 |
24 | Pre-unlucky (前厄) | |
| 2002 平成14年 |
25 | Main unlucky (本厄) | |
| 2001 平成13年 |
26 | Post-unlucky (後厄) | |
| 1986 昭和61年 |
41 | Great unlucky – Pre (大厄・前厄) | |
| 1985 昭和60年 |
42 | Great unlucky – Main (大厄・本厄) | |
| 1984 昭和59年 |
43 | Great unlucky – Post (大厄・後厄) | |
| 1967 昭和42年 |
60 | Pre-unlucky (前厄) | |
| 1966 昭和41年 |
61 | Main unlucky (本厄) | |
| 1965 昭和40年 |
62 | Post-unlucky (後厄) |
Female
| Birth Year | Kazoe Age | Type | Happosagari (八方塞がり) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 平成21年 |
18 | Pre-unlucky (前厄) | |
| 2008 平成20年 |
19 | Main unlucky (本厄) | ● |
| 2007 平成19年 |
20 | Post-unlucky (後厄) | |
| 1995 平成7年 |
32 | Great unlucky – Pre (大厄・前厄) | |
| 1994 平成6年 |
33 | Great unlucky – Main (大厄・本厄) | |
| 1993 平成5年 |
34 | Great unlucky – Post (大厄・後厄) | |
| 1991 平成3年 |
36 | Pre-unlucky (前厄) | |
| 1990 平成2年 |
37 | Main unlucky (本厄) | ● |
| 1989 平成元年 |
38 | Post-unlucky (後厄) | |
| 1967 昭和42年 |
60 | Pre-unlucky (前厄) | |
| 1966 昭和41年 |
61 | Main unlucky (本厄) | |
| 1965 昭和40年 |
62 | Post-unlucky (後厄) |
What Are Yakudoshi (Unlucky Years) and Happo-fusagari?
Yakudoshi (厄年) is a Japanese folk belief that treats certain ages, falling at turning points in life, as periods when misfortune is more likely. For men the principal unlucky years are 25, 42 and 61 by the traditional count; for women 19, 33 and 37. The years immediately before and after are also observed, as maeyaku and atoyaku. A man's 42nd and a woman's 33rd are singled out as taiyaku, the great unlucky year. This tool takes a birth year and gender and shows both your status this year and a list covering the next thirty years.
The point to keep in mind is that yakudoshi is counted in kazoedoshi, not in completed age. Kazoedoshi treats the year of birth as age one and adds a year at each New Year, so you grow a year older when the calendar turns even if your birthday has not yet come round. Happo-fusagari, shown alongside, is a year in which fortune is said to stagnate under kyusei kigaku (nine-star astrology) — a separate system of thought from yakudoshi.
How to Check Your Yakudoshi
- Enter your birth year and gender Enter the birth year as a calendar year and choose a gender. The ages that count as yakudoshi differ between men and women, so the selection is required.
- Check your status this year Your kazoedoshi age is shown, along with whether it falls on a yakudoshi or a happo-fusagari year. If it does, you also see whether it is maeyaku, honyaku or atoyaku.
- See what lies ahead A list running thirty years forward is displayed, so you can see in advance when your next yakudoshi arrives.
Tips for getting more out of it
- Yakudoshi uses kazoe-doshi (counting age), where you are 1 year old at birth and gain a year every New Year's Day. Kazoe age = current year − birth year + 1.
- The most significant yakudoshi are the great unlucky year (大厄): age 42 for men and age 33 for women. Many people visit shrines for purification rituals during these years.
- Happosagari (八方塞がり) occurs once every 9 years, when your natal nine-star occupies the central palace in the year chart (based on the Japanese nine-star ki cycle).
- Yakudoshi and happosagari have no scientific basis, but many Japanese people use them as reminders to take extra care of their health and lifestyle during these transitional years.
When a Yakudoshi Check Comes in Handy
Deciding when to have a purification rite
You can see which of the three years — maeyaku through atoyaku — you fall on, and plan when to visit a shrine accordingly.
Keeping track of your family's yakudoshi
Enter each family member's birth year and you can see who reaches a yakudoshi and when. It gives you a cue for a word of encouragement or a celebration.
Thinking about the timing of a major decision
When you are weighing a turning point such as a job change or buying a home, and you are someone who takes this into account, it gives you something to work from in adjusting the timing.
Seeing where it overlaps with happo-fusagari
A yakudoshi and a happo-fusagari year can coincide. Because you can check both at once, you can know about it in advance.
Yakudoshi Terms Explained
- Kazoedoshi
- A way of counting age that treats the year of birth as age one and adds a year at each New Year's Day. Yakudoshi is determined by this count.
- Honyaku
- The central year of a yakudoshi period. For men it falls at kazoedoshi 25, 42 and 61; for women at 19, 33 and 37.
- Maeyaku and Atoyaku
- The years immediately before and after honyaku. Together with honyaku they make up a three-year span treated as calling for care.
- Taiyaku
- The year regarded as the heaviest among the yakudoshi. It refers to a man's 42nd and a woman's 33rd.
- Happo-fusagari
- A year in which, under nine-star astrology, every direction is said to carry an obstacle. It rests on a system separate from yakudoshi.
- Yakubarai
- A prayer rite received at a shrine or temple to ward off misfortune. Custom generally has it received between the New Year and Setsubun in early February.
FAQ
Side Note — The Surprising Origin of Yakudoshi
One theory holds that the character 厄 (yaku, "unlucky") was originally 役 (yaku, "duty"), referring to the ages at which people took on significant social roles. Shouldering such responsibilities was considered physically and mentally taxing — hence the association with difficult years.
The male great-unlucky age of 42 sounds like 死に (shini, "death") in Japanese, and the female age of 33 sounds like 散々 (sanzan, "terrible"). While lacking scientific backing, wordplay like this may have reinforced the superstition over centuries.
During the Edo period (1603–1868), many books on yakudoshi were published and purification rituals became widely practiced among commoners. Today, millions of Japanese people still visit shrines during the New Year period to seek protection from unlucky years.