寅年 – Tora Doshi 2022 is the Year of the Tiger

tiger relaxing

2022 is the year of the Tiger! Known as  Tora Doshi in Japanese. This is the third animal in the Chinese Zodiac. If you are interested to learn more you have come to the right place.

Writing Tora Doshi in Japanese Kanji

The Chinese Zodiac uses a special Kanji character for Tora Doshi. That Kanji is 寅年とらどし. The word for tiger in Japanese is . And means year. Usually, though, you write tiger in Japanese with a different Kanji character, 虎.  It may also just be written in Hiragana as とら or Katakana as トラ. You would write only when talking about the year of the tiger in the Chinese Zodiac.

https://japaneseuniverse.com/2024/02/18/pac-man-in-japaneseconcepts-behind-development-to-global-icon/

The animal symbols in the Chinese Zodiac mean more than just years. The Kanji, also represents direction and time. That is, the 30 degrees to the North of East, or Eastern North-East. and the time period of the day from 4 am to 6 am. Before today’s current way of representing time, people in Japan used the Chinese Zodiac to tell time and direction.

Which Birth Years are Tora Doshi?

If you were born in any of these years, then you are Tora doshi.

1902, 1914, 1926, 1938, 1950, 1962, 1974, 1986, 1998, 2010, 2022

So, now you know more about Tora Doshi. If you are interested in learning more about the Japanese Language, I have a post below where I reviewed what I think is the most comprehensive guide to Japanese Grammar.

2,110 Pages, No Word Wasted – A Dictionary of Japanese Grammar, Reviewed

Or, I have several other posts on this blog talking about various topics on the Japanese Language. Happy New Year!

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