How to Read Dates in Japanese Award Documents

Medals of Asia

In Japan, years are sometimes written in the Japanese era calendar which is based on the reign of the Emperor. For instance, the Western year 1968 is 43rd year of Showa era (which started in 1926). The name of the era is changed when the Emperor on the throne is replaced by another due to the death of His Majesty or abdication.

明治 = Meiji era / "enlightened rule" (1868-1912)

大正 = Taishō era / "great righteousness" (1912-1926)

昭和 = Shōwa era / "enlightened peace" (1926-1989)

平成 = Heisei era / "peace everywhere" (1989 - 2019)

令和 - Reiwa era/"beautiful harmony" (2019 - present time)

All we need now is three basic kanji

年 - year

月 - month

日 - day

and numerals

1 一

2 二

3 三

4 四

5 五

6 六

7 七

8 八

9 九

10 十

11 十一

12 十二

13 十三

14 十四

15 十五

16 十六

17 十七

18 十八

19 十九

20 二十 / 廿

21 二十一

22 二十二

23 二十三

24 二十四

25 二十五

26 二十六

27 二十七

28 二十八

29 二十九

30 三十 / 卅

31 三十一

et cetera.

Medals of Asia

The most commonly used date format in Japan is "Era - year - month - day", with the Japanese characters meaning "year", "month" and "day" inserted after the numerals.

Day (numeral) Month (numeral) Year (numeral) Era

日 (numeral) 月 (numeral) 年 (numeral) 和昭

日 (二十二) 月(一十) 年 (八十) 和昭

Day (22) Month (11) Year (18) Show era

November 22, 18th year of Showa epoch

November 22, 1943