Age and Kazoedoshi
First, there are Age and Kazoedoshi ways to count age.
Age is usually used to represent one year older on your birthday, and Kazoedoshi is used for traditional events such as Shichi-go-san.
Here, we will introduce how to calculate Age when you know your date of birth in the Western or Japanese calendar.
Age(満年齢,Man'nenrei)
Age is a counting method that counts the age at birth as 0 years old, and increases the age by one each time the next birthday is reached.
For example, if you were born on October 12, 2023, you will be 0 years old at birth, 1 year old on October 12, 2024, and 2 years old on October 12, 2025.
When answering a question about your age or writing it on your resume, etc., enter it with Age.
However, the exact way to count Age is to increase the age by one at the end of the day before the birthday (12:00 PM).
So if you were born on October 12th, your age will increase after October 11th.
The reason why those born on April 1st are included in the premature births in the school year is that the age has increased when March 31st ends.
Kazoedoshi(数え年)
Kazoedoshi is a counting method that counts a child as one year old when they are born, and increases their age by one each New Year's Day.
Usually, Age is used, so it is not very familiar, but there is a custom to use Kazoedoshi in longevity events such as Shichi-go-san, Kiju, and Beiju.
When calculating the Kazoedoshi, if the birthday is reached, it can be calculated by "full age + 1", and before the birthday, "full age + 2".
How to calculate your age if your date of birth is in the Western calendar
| If your birthday is this year |
Subtract the date of birth from the current year (2024) Example : If you were born in 1980 and have a birthday this year, then 2024-1980 makes you are 44 years old. |
|---|---|
| If your birthday doesn't come this year |
Subtract the date of birth from the current year (2024) and subtract 1 例 : If you were born in 1980 and your birthday is not this year, then 2024-1980-1 makes you 43 years old. |
Simple calculation
If you were born before the year 2000, you can easily calculate it by subtracting the year you were born from 2000 and adding the last two digits of the current year.
Example : If you were born in 1984, 2000 - 1984 = 16, so in the case of 2024 years, 24 + 16 = 40, subtract 1 if your birthday has not yet come, and 39 years old.
