Japanese Era Converter (Wareki ↔ Western Year)

Japan counts years by imperial era (gengō) as well as by the Western calendar: 2026 is Reiwa 8 (令和8年). Official forms, residence cards, contracts and many documents use the era year, and the first year of an era is written 元年 (gannen). This converter turns any date from 1873 or any year from 1868 into its Japanese era year and back, handles the years in which two eras meet, and adds the traditional zodiac year (干支).

How to use this tool

1. Choose what to convert: a date, a Western year, or an era year.
2. Enter the date or year, or pick the era and its year number.
3. Read the Japanese form (for example 令和8年11月9日) or the Western year.
4. Use the table to look up any year from 1868 to now.

Formula

Era year = Western year − first year of the era + 1 · Western year = first year of the era + era year − 1

An era changes on a specific day, so a year in which an emperor changed belongs to two eras: 1989 is Shōwa 64 until 7 January and Heisei 1 from 8 January. Era start dates: Meiji 23 October 1868 (applied to the whole of 1868), Taishō 30 July 1912, Shōwa 25 December 1926, Heisei 8 January 1989 and Reiwa 1 May 2019. The zodiac year follows the 60-year cycle with 1984 = 甲子.

Example

9 November 2026 is 令和8年11月9日（月）, Reiwa 8, a 丙午 (hinoe-uma, Fire Horse) year. Shōwa 64 is 1989, but only from 1 to 7 January; 8 January 1989 was the first day of Heisei (平成元年). 30 April 2019 was Heisei 31 and 1 May 2019 the first day of Reiwa.