Japanese Era (Nengo) Converter — Reiwa, Heisei, Showa
Convert between Western years and Japanese era years (Reiwa, Heisei, Showa, Taisho, Meiji), with exact handling of era-change dates.
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Why Japanese documents use era years
Official Japanese documents — driver's licenses, family registers, tax forms — often date events by imperial era (nengō) rather than the Western calendar: Reiwa 8 instead of 2026. Each era begins when an emperor accedes, so eras change mid-year: Heisei started on January 8, 1989 (January 1–7, 1989 was still Showa 64), and Reiwa started on May 1, 2019 (April 30 was Heisei 31). This converter handles those boundaries by exact date; if you only know the year, it shows both possibilities for boundary years.
Quick reference
| Era | Period | Formula |
|---|---|---|
| Reiwa | May 1, 2019 – | Reiwa N = N + 2018 |
| Heisei | Jan 8, 1989 – Apr 30, 2019 | Heisei N = N + 1988 |
| Showa | Dec 25, 1926 – Jan 7, 1989 | Showa N = N + 1925 |
| Taisho | Jul 30, 1912 – Dec 24, 1926 | Taisho N = N + 1911 |
| Meiji | 1868 – Jul 29, 1912 | Meiji N = N + 1867 |
The first year of an era is written 元年 (gannen, "origin year") rather than 1年.