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Japanese used three calendar systems during imperial period.
First
was the “Era” calendar, based on the number of the years from the enthronement
of reigning emperor. Each emperor adopted particular era name which become his
posthumous name (during the rule he was known as simply “The Emperor”).
Second system was “Common Era” Western calendar, counting years from the birth of Jesus Christ. It’s almost universal use across the world made it necessary to know and use by the Japanese.
Third, “Imperial” calendar, counted years from the 11 February 660 BCE, when the legendary Jimmu become the First Emperor of Japan. Its’ use become more widespread since early 1930s.
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Era calendar Year of Meiji 1st 1868 2d 1869 3d 1870 4th 1871 5th 1872 6th 1873 7th 1874 8th 1875 9th 1876 10th 1877 11th 1878 12th 1879 13th 1880 14th 1881 15th 1882 16th 1883 17th 1884 18th 1885 19th 1886 20th 1887 21st 1888 22d 1889 23d 1890 24th 1891 25th 1892 26th 1893 27th 1894 28th 1895 29th 1896 30th 1897 31st 1898 32d 1899 33d 1900 34th 1901 35th 1902 36th 1903 37th 1904 38th 1905 39th 1906 40th 1907 41st 1908 42d 1909 43d 1910 44th 1911 45th 1912 |
Era calendar Year of Taisho 1st 1912 2d 1913 3d 1914 4th 1915 5th 1916 6th 1917 7th 1918 8th 1919 9th 1920 10th 1921 11th 1922 12th 1923 13th 1924 14th 1925 15th 1926
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Era calendar Year of Showa (Showa era lasted till 1989) 1st 1926 2d 1927 3d 1928 4th 1929 5th 1930 6th 1931 7th 1932 8th 1933 9th 1934 10th 1935 11th 1936 12th 1937 13th 1938 14th 1939 15th 1940 16th 1941 17th 1942 18th 1943 19th 1944
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Imperial calendar Western year Japanese year 1930 2590 1931 2591 1932 2592 1933 2593 1934 2594 1935 2595 1936 2596 1937 2597 1938 2598 1939 2599 1940 2600 1941 2601 1942 2602 1943 2603 1944 2604 1945 2605 |
Before 1926 the model number of weapons and equipment was indicated by the year of the reign in which the model was adopted (for example IJA LMG, introduced in 1923, was callied: “Type 11th year Light Machine Gun”, though “th year” is usually omitten during translation). Since 1926 the model has been numbered from what is assumed to be the date of the founding of the Japanese Empire. Only the last two digits of this number were used up to the year 1940 (for example “Type 91 Light Machine Gun” – note, that the word “year” was absent even in Japanese language name). Models adopted in 1940 were designated as “Type 100” by the IJA “Type 0” by the IJN. Models adopted in 1941 and after were designated “Type 1” and so on by both services.
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