Year of the Dragon

It’s now 2012 January 1. 明けましておめでとうございます！ (“Happy New Year!”)

2012 is 「辰年」 (the “Year of the Dragon”) according to the Chinese zodiac which is popular in many Asian countries, including Japan.

If you want to know what year you were born in according to the Chinese zodiac, check on this chart.

The chart above translates the year “animals” into English…but they can be translated slightly differently too.
For example, ネズミ年 (Year of the Rat) can also be called “Year of the Mouse”.

I prefer to translate them as such:
+ 子年 : Year of the Mouse
+ 丑年 : Year of the Ox (or Cow)
+ 寅年　: Year of the Tiger
+ 兔年 : Year of the Rabbit
+ 辰年 : Year of the Dragon (this year)
+ 巳年 : Year of the Snake
+ 午年 : Year of the Horse
+ 未年 : Year of the Sheep (or Ram)
+ 申年 : Year of the Monkey
+ 酉年 : Year of the Rooster (or Chicken)
+ 戌年 : Year of the Dog
+　亥年 : Year of the Wild Boar (or Pig)