Japanese era to Gregorian date converter
Useful for reading birth dates on Japanese documents such as residence cards and work certificates written with era years.
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How to use it
- Enter era, era year, month and day.
- The result appears straight away and updates as you edit.
- Copy the result, or copy a link that keeps the same values to share it.
How it is calculated
Gregorian year = era year + era offset (Meiji 1867, Taisho 1911, Showa 1925, Heisei 1988, Reiwa 2018), then the date is checked to fall between the era start and the next era start.
Example
Inputs: Era = Reiwa (令和), Era year = 8, Month = 10. October, Day = 1. Result: Gregorian date: Thursday, October 1, 2026 (2026-10-01); Weekday: Thursday; Written out: 1 October 2026.
Limits and caveats
- It starts at Meiji 6 (1873), since earlier Japanese dates used lunisolar months.
- Month and day are read as Gregorian, as on modern documents.
Questions about this tool
Why is Heisei 31 in May rejected?
Heisei ended on 30 April 2019; 1 May 2019 is Reiwa 1.
What year is Showa 64?
1989, and it lasted only 7 days, from 1 to 7 January; Heisei began on 8 January.
Are Japanese months the same as Gregorian ones?
Yes, since 1873: month 10 is October, and only the year name and number change.