Changes

yyyy年mm月dd日, where 年 is the counter for years, 月 for months and 日 for days. Thus 13 September, 2008 would be written as 2008年9月13日.

yyyy年mm月dd日, where 年 is the counter for years, 月 for months and 日 for days. Thus 13 September, 2008 would be written as 2008年9月13日.

Sometimes, instead of the Western year being used, the year of the current [[Akihito|Emperor's]] reign is used. Thus, 2008 could be written as Heisei (平成) 20, or to use the date format above: 平成20年9月13日. To arrive at a Western date, based on a era, you take the commencement date of the era (1989 in the case of Heisei), subtract 1 (as 1989 would be year 1 of Heisei, not year 0) and add the number of years of the era. Thus Heisei 20 = 1989 - 1 + 20 = 2008. The specific eras will be discussed in more detail below.

Sometimes, instead of the Western year being used, the year of the current [[Akihito|Emperor's]] reign is used. Thus, 2008 could be written as Heisei (平成) 20, or to use the date format above: 平成20年9月13日. To arrive at a Western date, based on an era, you take the commencement date of the era (1989 in the case of Heisei), subtract 1 (as 1989 would be year 1 of Heisei, not year 0) and add the number of years of the era. Thus Heisei 20 = 1989 - 1 + 20 = 2008. The specific eras will be discussed in more detail below.

==Days of the Week==

==Days of the Week==

The '''Japanese Era System''' is a common calendar scheme used in Japan, which identifies a year by the combination of the Japanese era name (''Nengō'' 年号, meaning "year name") and the year number within the era.  

The '''Japanese Era System''' is a common calendar scheme used in Japan, which identifies a year by the combination of the Japanese era name (''Nengō'' 年号, meaning "year name") and the year number within the era.  

For example, the year 2008 is [[Akihito|Heisei]] 20, written as 平成20. Sometimes an era name is  expressed with the first letter of the romanized name. For example, S50 would mean [[Hirohito|Shōwa]] 50, or 1975.

For example, the year 2008 is [[Akihito|Heisei]] 20, written as 平成20年. Sometimes an era name is  expressed with the first letter of the romanized name. For example, S50年 would mean [[Hirohito|Shōwa]] 50, or 1975.

===Calculating Year Periods===

===Calculating Year Periods===