Western or Japanese Era Years on a Japanese Résumé? Consistency Rules and the Education Section

Either is fine, as long as you're consistent

There's no rule about whether to use Western or Japanese era years. Unless told otherwise, use whichever you prefer. The problem is a document that mixes them, with the birth date in the era system, education in Western years and the date line back in the era system. The reader can't sort the years into order on the spot, and your history becomes hard to follow.

• Use the same format on your résumé (rirekisho), career history (shokumu keirekisho) and cover letter. Changing it from page to page stands out when they're read together.
• If the employer specifies a format, follow it. If the form has Showa, Heisei and Reiwa printed on it, use era years.
• If you're unsure, Western years are the safe choice. Differences between years are easy to calculate, and they work as they are at foreign-affiliated companies and firms with overseas business.
• If you use era years, write 令和元年 (Reiwa gannen), not 令和1年. 元年 is the correct form for the first year of an era.
• Abbreviations like H31.4 or S58.4.1 appear in internal notes, but write them in full on a résumé.

How to write the tricky years

Era changes happen partway through a year, so some Western years contain two eras. Get these wrong and your history can look as if the years are off.

For example, if you entered a school in April 2019 and something else happened in May 2019, the era system gives two different eras: Heisei 31, April for the entry and Reiwa 1, May for the other event. Different eras in the same year is the correct way to write it, and there's no need to force them to match. Years that span an era change are also covered in how to convert between era and Western years.

The Japanese Era Converter takes a date and works out the era, checking the changeover day. Enter April 30 and May 1, 2019 and you get Heisei 31 and Reiwa 1 separately. Choose an era and year and it gives the Western year, which also helps when converting a Showa-era birth date.

Working out school entry and graduation years

If you write years from memory, your education history can end up a year off. Calculating them from your birth date is more reliable. In Japanese schools, people born from April 2 to April 1 of the next year are in the same grade.

1. 1

   Find your elementary school entry year from your birth date

   If you were born from April 2 to December 31, you entered elementary school in April of your birth year plus 7. If you were born from January 1 to April 1 (known as hayaumare), you entered in April of your birth year plus 6.

2. 2

   Build up from there

   Add 6 to the elementary entry year for junior high entry, 9 for high school and 12 for university. Graduation is in March, 3 years after entry (4 years for university).

3. 3

   Add any gap years, repeated years or leave

   If you spent a year preparing to retake entrance exams, shift every year after high school graduation by one. Forget this and you'll leave an unexplained gap between graduating and joining a company.

4. 4

   Check against your school records

   Compare with your diploma, student ID or transcript. Even if the calculation is right, a transfer or a different term system can change the actual dates.

The date and age fields

• In the date field, write the date you submit: the mailing date, the interview date if you bring it in person, or the sending date for email. It isn't the date you wrote it.
• The age field is your actual age on the submission date, not the traditional kazoe count. If you update the date but not the age, the two can conflict once you've passed a birthday.
• Write your birth date in the same system as the other years. A résumé with only the birth date in the era system is a very common sight.
• In your career history, give employment periods down to the month, such as April 2021 to March 2024. Years alone don't show how many months you were there.
• After closing your work history with the phrase meaning "to the present", write 以上 ("end") on the last line. Don't simply leave the section blank.

You can check your actual age, kazoe age and the weekday you were born with the Age & Anniversary Counter. Enter your birth date to see your age, days until your next birthday, kazoe age, zodiac animal, star sign and an approximate school grade all at once, so you can cross-check both the age field and the education section there. The difference from kazoe age is covered in how to calculate age.

Checklist before submitting

1. 1

   Search for and list every year

   If you're working digitally, search for the character 年 and scan the results for a mix of Western and era years. This is more reliable than reading from the top by eye.

2. 2

   Check the years run in ascending order

   Confirm that your education and work years run from oldest to newest without reversing. The more job changes you've had, the easier the order slips.

3. 3

   Prepare an explanation for any gaps

   Making years consistent reveals gaps of a year or more. A gap isn't a problem in itself, but assume you'll be asked and prepare an explanation.

4. 4

   Check the length of your motivation statement

   See how much of the box you've filled. Below about 80%, the empty space stands out, and if it overflows, it's hard to read. You can adjust the length using the same approach as character counts for entry sheets.

An inconsistent year format costs you points regardless of how good your content is. It's hard to notice right after you finish writing, so print it or save it as a PDF, step away from the screen, and read it again. Inconsistencies are easier to find after a break than in one continuous read.

FAQ

Which is correct on a résumé, Western or Japanese era years?

Either is fine. There's no rule, and employers accept both unless they specify otherwise. What's important is keeping the format the same across your résumé, career history and cover letter. A mix, such as an era birth date and Western education years, makes your history harder to follow. If you're unsure, Western years are the safe choice since the differences are easy to calculate. If the employer's form has Showa, Heisei and Reiwa printed on it, use era years.

Is 2019 written as Heisei 31 or Reiwa 1?

It depends on the date. January 1 to April 30, 2019 is Heisei 31, and May 1 to December 31 is Reiwa 1. The era changed on May 1, so the first and latter parts of 2019 have different eras. If you have both an April school entry and a May event, the era system gives two eras, Heisei 31 April and Reiwa 1 May, and that's the correct way to write it. Also note that Reiwa 1 is written 令和元年, not 令和1年.

How do I work out entry and graduation years I can't remember?

You can calculate them from your birth date. If you were born from April 2 to December 31, you entered elementary school in April of your birth year plus 7. If you were born from January 1 to April 1, it's your birth year plus 6. From that entry year, junior high starts 6 years later, high school 9 years later and university 12 years later, and you graduate in March 3 years after entry (4 years for university). Shift everything later for any gap years or repeated years.

What date goes in the date field on a résumé?

The date you submit it: the mailing date, the interview date if you bring it in person, or the sending date for email. It isn't the date you wrote it. When you reuse a résumé, the old date often gets left behind, so change it as soon as you copy the file. Update the age field to your actual age on the submission date as well. If you've passed a birthday and the age is old, it will contradict your birth date.