East Asian Age Reckoning is a system that originated in China which is used to calculate the age of a person. Soon countries that were inspired by China like Japan, Korea, Vietnam also started using their system of calculating age. As the origin is the same, some of these age systems may be confused with each other. For instance, the Japanese Age and Korean Age of a person may appear to be the same, yet are different in their way.
Japanese Age vs Korean Age
The main difference between the Japanese Age and the Korean Age is that the Japanese Age system is classified into the Traditional and Modern Age systems. The traditional system calculates the newborn baby as one year old and adds one year on every new year. On the other hand, Korea has a single age system. They follow a particular formula to calculate their age.
Japanese Age is highly calculated using the Traditional Japanese Age system popularly known as Kazoe or Kazoedoshi. It is highly different from the Western age as they prefer adding a year to the age on the midnight before their birthday. According to the Japanese system, a person’s age increases on New year’s night. We have to be cautious of the fact that the year is added according to the traditional Japanese calendar and not the Gregorian Calendar.
On the other hand, the Korean Age is calculated through the Korean Age system. The Korean Age system is not only used to calculate age, but this system is of great importance in the Korean Culture and Korean Language. Koreans consider the newborn baby as one-year-old, as they give importance to the one year in the womb. Korean Age is usually more than the usual Western Age.
Comparison Table Between Japanese Age and Korean Age
What is the Japanese Age?
Aforementioned, the Japanese age is different from the Western or International Age as the Japanese Age is calculated through the Traditional Japanese Age system wherein one year is added to the age on every New Year according to the traditional Japanese calendar.
The traditional Japanese Age system originated from the Traditional Chinese Age system in the 19th Century. It was actively practiced in the 1910s as this system has a religious belief accustomed to it. In the 1950s, Japan adopted the modern age system. Yet the Traditional Japanese Age system was quite popular and was actively used. Hence the Japanese government established a mandatory rule to use the Modern age system.
The Traditional Japanese Age system is called Kazoedoshi in Japanese. According to this system, a person ages on New Year. For instance, if a baby is born on December 31, on January 1, the baby will be of two years. This system led to many confusions, especially people who travel internationally faced many difficulties explaining this system and rules. Hence, they adopted the Modern age system.
Although this system is not actively used currently, back then it had great importance as people had their religious sentiments attached to it. For instance, they established this system due to Buddhist beliefs and principles.
The Traditional Japanese Age system is now practiced by only some elders in the rural areas, while the rest of Japan uses the Modern Age system. They replaced it due to the confusion in leap years and New years in Lunisolar calendars, Gregorian Calendars (Solar Calendars), etc.
What is Korean Age?
As mentioned above, we can determine the Korean Age through the Korean Age system. It is contrasting to the Western Age as a newborn baby is considered as one year old as this system counts the nine months in the womb as one year. Korean Age does not only signify the age of a person, it has cultural and language importance.
Korean Age units are called Sal. They have specific names for each milestone, like Ten years, 25 years, 100 days, etc. The baby born on December 31 is two years old on January 1, but here the Korean calendar is not considered, here the Gregorian Calendar is considered.
There is a specific formula to calculate the Korean Age, Age= (Current Year – Birth Year) + 1. This formula specifies the age of people born in the same calendar year.
The Korean Age is significant in terms of knowing the age, but in Korea, people interact with each other according to age. Hence a person new in Korea will first be asked their age because they believe age is not only for adulting like drinking alcohol or voting, Korean Age also defines an individual’s maturity level. Koreans form social groups according to a person’s age.
Although South Korea still uses the Korean Age system, North Korea stopped using this system in the 1980s-1990s. Usually, Korean Age is greater than the International/ Western Age. Hence Koreans might look young yet their Korean age would be more than our assumption.
Main Differences Between Japanese Age and Korean Age
- Japanese Age is estimated using the Traditional Japanese Age system, whereas Korean Age is determined using the Korean Age system.
- Japanese Age system uses the Traditional Japanese Calendar, while the Korean Age system uses the Gregorian Calendar.
- Japanese Age is traditionally called Kazoe whereas Korean Age units are called Sal.
- Japanese Age has religious/ spiritual significance, whereas the Korean Age has social significance.
- The Japanese Age system is no longer used in the bulk of Japan, whereas the Korean Age system is actively still used in South Korea.
- Japanese Age has no specific formula to calculate, while the Korean Age system has a particular formula, Age= (Current Age – Birth Year) + 1.
Conclusion
From the above-mention points, it is apparent that even though the Japanese Age and Korean Age have the same roots, they are different in their way. Japanese Age and Korean Age are drastically contrasting to the system in the West. This also stands as a vital difference between the East and West cultures.
Asking someone’s age may be a sign of disrespect in the Western Culture, but in Korea, the first question asked to a person is about the age as people socially interact and form groups according to the age. Korean age system denotes milestones using terms in their language whereas the Japanese Age system does not. Nevertheless, both these systems are extensively used in the rural parts of both countries.
References
- https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13607860802591070
- https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Akitomo-Yasunaga-2/publication/5640126_Sex_Age_Season_and_Habitual_Physical_Activity_of_Older_Japanese_The_Nakanojo_Study/links/5a2a56310f7e9b63e5356b83/Sex-Age-Season-and-Habitual-Physical-Activity-of-Older-Japanese-The-Nakanojo-Study.pdf