* There are two words for four, the classic is SHI, but this to the Japanese sounds the same as the word for "death", and so it is regarded as unlucky. YON, is often used instead, but not always.
** Like the number 4, numbers 7 and 9 have alternate pronounciations, but as far as I know, it is personal preference as to which you use.
Dates
To expresse a date you use the following format "era name", "number of year in that era", "number of month" and finally "number of the day". So for example the 28th of June 2005 would appear as:
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平静十七年六月二十八日
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HEISEI JŪ NANA NEN ROKU GETSU NI JŪ HACHI KA
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"Achieving Peace" ten seven year six moon two ten eight day
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June 28th 2005
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"HEISEI" is the name of the current era or NENGO, and means "Achieving Peace". 2005 was the "seventh year" (NANA NEN) of that era. June being the sixth month, ROKU GATSU (six - month), and finally the day being the 28th, that is NI JŪ HACHI KA (two - ten - eight - day).
Note that before the end of the EDO period in 1868, these era names or NENGO, were decided upon in a wide variety of ways, often revolving around some kind of great event. After the MEIJI restoration in 1868, their duration was revised to being the same as that of the Emporers reign. Both today and in the past the name change happens immediately, so when the previous Emporer died on January 7th 1989 that day became the last one of SHOWA. When on the following day the new Emporer ascended the throne, the current era of HEISEI began. The previous day was the 7th day of the 1st month of the 64th year of SHOWA, whereas the day of Emporer Akihito's ascention was the 8th day of the 1st month of the first year of HEISEI.
As historically the Japanese didn't follow the western callender, but rather the Chinese one, it meant that the new year began in early February. Likewise the year was broken into lunar months and so the character GETSU "moon" is used, although nowadays it is also said as GATSU to distinguish it as a calender month in the modern sense. Some years of the old callender had 12 moons, while others had 13.
Below in the first table are shown the KANJI characters for the current era, year, month and day. While in the second are those for the specif ic modern months. After that are two tables listing the era names and year numbers matched to their western counterparts.
For the KANJI and their years for NENGO from 1201 through to 1989, go to Richard Steins sword web site by clicking
HERE
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平成
HEISEI
"high-say"
Achieving Peace
(the current era)
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年
NEN
"nane"
year
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月
GETSU
"gay-t'zoo"
moon
GATSU
"gah-t'zoo"
month of the year
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日
KA
"kah"
the counter for days
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Easy Refference Months Of The Year
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一月
one month
1ST Month
January
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二月
two month
2ND Month
February
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三月
three month
3RD Month
March
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四月
four month
4TH Month
April
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五月
five month
5TH Month
May
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六月
six month
6TH Month
June
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七月
seven month
7TH Month
July
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八月
eight month
8TH Month
August
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九月
nine month
9TH Month
September
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十月
ten month
10TH Month
October
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十一月
ten one month
11TH Month
November
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十二月
ten two month
12TH Month
December
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NENGO Conversion Tables
So you can write your birthday and other dates here are the NENGO since December 26th 1926. For the KANJI and their years for NENGO from 1201 through to 1989, go to Richard Steins sword web site by clicking
HERE
.
SHOWA: December 26th 1926 - January 7th 1989
| SHOWA 1 = 1926*
| SHOWA 2 = 1927
| SHOWA 3 = 1928
| SHOWA 4 = 1929
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| SHOWA 5 = 1930
| SHOWA 6 = 1931
| SHOWA 7 = 1932
| SHOWA 8 = 1933
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| SHOWA 9 = 1934
| SHOWA 10 = 1935
| SHOWA 11 = 1936
| SHOWA 12 = 1937
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| SHOWA 13 = 1938
| SHOWA 14 = 1939
| SHOWA 15 = 1940
| SHOWA 16 = 1941
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| SHOWA 17 = 1942
| SHOWA 18 = 1943
| SHOWA 19 = 1944
| SHOWA 20 = 1945
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| SHOWA 21 = 1946
| SHOWA 22 = 1947
| SHOWA 23 = 1948
| SHOWA 24 = 1949
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| SHOWA 25 = 1950
| SHOWA 26 = 1951
| SHOWA 27 = 1952
| SHOWA 28 = 1953
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| SHOWA 29 = 1954
| SHOWA 30 = 1955
| SHOWA 31 = 1956
| SHOWA 32 = 1957
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| SHOWA 33 = 1958
| SHOWA 34 = 1959
| SHOWA 35 = 1960
| SHOWA 36 = 1961
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| SHOWA 37 = 1962
| SHOWA 38 = 1963
| SHOWA 39 = 1964
| SHOWA 40 = 1965
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| SHOWA 41 = 1966
| SHOWA 42 = 1967
| SHOWA 43 = 1968
| SHOWA 44 = 1969
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| SHOWA 45 = 1970
| SHOWA 46 = 1971
| SHOWA 47 = 1972
| SHOWA 48 = 1973
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| SHOWA 49 = 1974
| SHOWA 50 = 1975
| SHOWA 51 = 1976
| SHOWA 52 = 1977
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| SHOWA 53 = 1978
| SHOWA 54 = 1979
| SHOWA 55 = 1980
| SHOWA 56 = 1981
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| SHOWA 57 = 1982
| SHOWA 58 = 1983
| SHOWA 59 = 1984
| SHOWA 60 = 1985
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| SHOWA 61 = 1986
| SHOWA 62 = 1987
| SHOWA 63 = 1988
| SHOWA 64 = 1989**
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Notes: *December 26th 1926. **January 7th 1989.
HEISEI: January 8th 1989 - Present
| HEISEI 1 = 1989
| HEISEI 2 = 1990
| HEISEI 3 = 1991
| HEISEI 4 = 1992
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| HEISEI 5 = 1993
| HEISEI 6 = 1994
| HEISEI 7 = 1995
| HEISEI 8 = 1996
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| HEISEI 9 = 1997
| HEISEI 10 = 1998
| HEISEI 11 = 1999
| HEISEI 12 = 2000
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| HEISEI 13 = 2001
| HEISEI 14 = 2002
| HEISEI 15 = 2003
| HEISEI 16 = 2004
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HEISEI 17 = 2005
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HEISEI 18 = 2006
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HEISEI 19 = 2007
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HEISEI 20 = 2008
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HEISEI 21 = 2009
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HEISEI 22 = 2010
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HEISEI 23 = 2011
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HEISEI 24 = 2012
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HEISEI 25 = 2013
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HEISEI 26 = 2014
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HEISEI 27 = 2015
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HEISEI 28 = 2016
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HEISEI 29 = 2017
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HEISEI 30 = 2018
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HEISEI 31 = 2019
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HEISEI 32 = 2020
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