Junishi 十二支

Junishi
The twelve symbols of the Chinese zodiac. Based on the twelve years which Jupiter takes to circle the heavens, the ancient Chinese were able to indicate a season by the position of this mysterious star in the sky. After this system came to Japan, the Japanese used animal names to designate the twelve positions. They are ne(rat), ushi (cow), tora (tiger), u (rabbit), tatsu (dragon), mi (snake), uma (horse), hitsuji (sheep), saru (monkey), tori (rooster), inu (dog), and i (boar). This zodiac cycle was also used to tell the direction, the hour and the day as well as the year.
Today it is mainly used in reference to the year. For example, the years 1950, 1962, 1974 and 1986 are all “tiger” years. As a matter of fact, instead of asking how old you are, people are likely to ask in what year of the zodiac you were born. Thus they are able to guess your age almost correctly.