Japan has a quite different year counting system from the rest of the world. It is called Nengo, and each era is associated with one Emperor. The year an emperor ascends the throne is the first year of a new era, and the era stays the same as long as the emperor reigns.
Era
|
Hieroglyph
|
The
beginning of the reign
|
Meiji
|
明治
|
1868
|
Taishou
|
大正
|
1912
|
Showa
|
昭和
|
1926
|
Heisei
|
平成
|
1989
|
So japanese year begins from first letter of Era and then year of the reign of the current emperor.
See the table below