Japanese Era Year Converter (Reiwa / Heisei / Showa)

How to Use

Pick a direction. Western → Era takes a Gregorian date (year, month, day) and tells you which Japanese era it falls in plus the era year. Era → Western takes an era name and era year and returns the Gregorian year. Month and day matter in transition years (1989, 2019) because eras end and begin on specific dates, not on New Year's Day.

What Is the Era System

Japan uses two parallel calendars: the Gregorian (西暦, seireki) system used globally, and the era system (和暦, wareki) that counts years from the accession of each emperor. The current era is Reiwa, which began on 1 May 2019. Prior eras in the modern period are Heisei (1989-2019), Showa (1926-1989), Taisho (1912-1926), and Meiji (1868-1912). Era names are still required on many official forms, receipts, and legal documents in Japan.

Output Formats

Japanese output uses 元年 for the first year of an era (e.g., 令和元年 instead of 令和1年, per official convention). Romaji output uses the era's Latin-letter name (e.g., Reiwa 6). Short form uses a single letter (R / H / S / T / M) plus the era year, which is common on forms and databases where space is tight.

Era Boundaries

Reiwa: 2019-05-01 onwards. Heisei: 1989-01-08 to 2019-04-30. Showa: 1926-12-25 to 1989-01-07. Taisho: 1912-07-30 to 1926-12-24. Meiji: 1868-10-23 to 1912-07-29. These dates are historical facts and do not change. A new era would need to be added in the future, but existing ones are fixed.

Common Use Cases

• Filling out Japanese forms, resumes (履歴書), and government documents that require era dates.
• Converting your or a family member's birth year between the two calendars.
• Reading historical records, newspapers, or official announcements that use only era dates.
• Writing software for the Japanese market that needs to emit or parse era years.
• Teaching and learning about Japanese history and the modern era transitions.

Tips

• 1989 is special: January 1-7 is Showa 64, January 8 onwards is Heisei 1 (平成元年).
• 2019 is special: January 1 to April 30 is Heisei 31, May 1 onwards is Reiwa 1 (令和元年).
• The first year of an era is written as 元 (gan) rather than 1 in formal Japanese — e.g., 令和元年 not 令和1年.
• Pre-Meiji dates (before October 1868) are not supported — older eras had shorter, less standardized cycles.
• The short form (R, H, S, T, M) is widely used on Japanese forms and databases where space is limited.

Privacy

All conversions happen in your browser. The dates you enter are never sent to any server or stored anywhere.