2023 is the Year of the Rabbit!
Please learn about the Japanese Zodiac, will you?
The Chinese
animal zodiac (eto) was introduced in Japan around the third to
the fourth century.
It
was mainly employed as a way of indicating the day, month, year,
time of the day, orientation in space, as well as the order in a sequence of
events in a symbolical form.
As
there are twelve animals in the zodiac, it is also referred to
as juni-shi ("the twelve branches", with
juni meaning "twelve" in Japanese), as the cycle rotates every twelve
years. The animal of the year changes on January first.
Below
are the Japanese names of each zodiac animal.
2023
is a Usagi-doshi, or Year of the Rabbit.
子 (Ne): Rat
丑 (Ushi): Ox
寅 (Tora): Tiger
卯 (U): Rabbit
辰 (Tatsu): Dragon
巳 (Mi): Snake
午 (Uma): Horse
未 (Hitsuji): Sheep
申 (Saru): Monkey
酉 (Tori): Rooster
戌 (Inu): Dog
