1989 in Japanese
千九百八十九
Updated May 2026
The year of the Showa-to-Heisei transition
NUMERAL
1,989
KANJI
千九百八十九
HIRAGANA
せんきゅうひゃくはちじゅうきゅう
ROMAJI
sen-kyū-hyaku-hachi-jū-kyū
Year context
Showa 64 / Heisei 1 (昭和64年・平成元年). Emperor Hirohito (Showa) died on 7 January 1989. His son Akihito ascended the throne and the era name changed to Heisei from 8 January 1989. The first seven days of 1989 are technically Showa 64; the rest of the year is Heisei 1. Heisei-era arithmetic: Heisei 1 = 1989, so Heisei 30 = 2018, and the era ended on 30 April 2019.
Real sentence examples
一九八九年は平成元年です (sen-kyū-hyaku-hachi-jū-kyū-nen wa heisei gan-nen desu): 1989 is the first year of Heisei.
昭和六十四年は一月七日まででした (shouwa rok-jū-yon-nen wa ichi-gatsu nano-ka made deshita): Showa 64 lasted until 7 January (only one week).
Pronunciation and morphology notes
1989 spans two imperial eras. Showa 64 lasted only one week (1 to 7 January). Heisei 1 (平成元年, heisei gan-nen, “first year of Heisei”) began on 8 January. The character 元 (gan) is used for “first year of an era” rather than the regular kanji 一. Japanese documents from that year may use either Showa or Heisei depending on date.
Related numbers
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