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From: mcb@styx.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.misc
Subject: Re: Counting years
Message-ID: <20804@styx.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 27-Aug-86 20:38:37 EDT
Article-I.D.: styx.20804
Posted: Wed Aug 27 20:38:37 1986
Date-Received: Fri, 29-Aug-86 19:34:34 EDT
References: <1408@tektools.UUCP> <6018@fortune.UUCP> <142@csustan.UUCP>
Reply-To: mcb@styx.UUCP (Michael C. Berch)
Distribution: net
Organization: Lawrence Livermore Laboratory, Livermore CA
Lines: 27
Summary: Jewish and Japanese year counting

In article <142@csustan.UUCP> smdev@csustan.UUCP (Scott Hazen Mueller) writes:
> . . .  
> The Jewish calendar is an obscure little thing (with a year currently
> in the 5-or-6 thousands) based on lunar cycles.  Certain holidays, such as
> Passover and, by definition, Easter (the first Sunday after the first night
> of Passover) are based on this lunar calendar [...]

Not obscure; merely lunar. (Though the occasional "leap months" do tend
to make calculation more interesting.) The current Jewish year is
something like 5742. Somebody will no doubt definitively correct this.

> Also, if anyone out there lives someplace where they don't/didn't use the
> so-called "Common Era" (or "Christian Era") and would like to comment based
> on experience, I'm sure we're all interested in hearing from you.

When I was in Japan last year I noticed that counting of years was about 
equally divided between the western system (A.D.) and the traditional 
Japanese system which is based on the tenure of the emperor. The current year
is (I believe) Showa 61. ("Showa", meaning "harmony", is the ceremonial
name of the current emperor known to westerners as Hirohito.) Most of
the credit card & cash register receipts, etc. showed the date as 60/11/15,
60/XI/15, or 11/15/60 (this was November 1985), but many people spoke
of the date as 1985.

Michael C. Berch
ARPA: mcb@lll-tis-b.ARPA
UUCP: {ihnp4,dual,sun}!lll-lcc!styx!mcb