Zodiac Sign and Chinese Zodiac Calculator (Japanese Eto) — Your Western star sign and your Chinese / Japanese zodiac animal from your date of birth
Enter your date of birth to get your Western star sign and your Chinese zodiac animal as used in Japan (eto, the same twelve animals counted from January 1) at the same time, with icons, date ranges and full lists of both. Useful for New Year cards and Japanese small talk.
Enter your birthday to see your star sign and your Japanese zodiac animal.
Zodiac Calculator: tips and things to know
- Western star signs follow the sun's position on your birthday; the Japanese zodiac (eto) follows your birth year.
- Japan uses the same twelve animals as the Chinese zodiac but counts by the calendar year, not the lunar new year, and the last animal is a boar rather than a pig.
- Your eto comes up constantly in Japan: on New Year cards (nengajo), in yakudoshi charts and as small talk.
How to use the Zodiac Calculator
Enter your date of birth
Choose the year, month and day.
See your star sign
The Western zodiac sign appears with its icon and date range.
See your eto
The Japanese zodiac animal for your birth year appears alongside.
The Japanese zodiac (eto)
Japan adopted the twelve-animal cycle from China: rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog and boar. Each year has one animal, and people say they are "born in the year of the dragon" (tatsu-doshi umare) the way Westerners mention a star sign.
Unlike China, Japan switches animals on January 1, so a January birthday belongs to the new year's animal. The twelfth animal is a boar (inoshishi) in Japan rather than a pig. Formally the cycle combines with ten "heavenly stems" into a 60-year cycle, which is why a 60th birthday (kanreki) is celebrated as a return to one's birth year.
Zodiac Calculator FAQ
What about birthdays on the boundary between two signs?
The exact date a sign changes can shift by a day depending on the year. The tool uses the standard date ranges.
How is the eto calculated?
From the Western year: the remainder of (year − 4) ÷ 12 picks the animal. 2024 was a dragon year.
Is the Japanese zodiac the same as the Chinese one?
Same animals, but Japan counts by calendar year rather than lunar new year, and uses a boar instead of a pig.