Reiwa: Japan announces name of new era

BY TOMOHIRO OSAKI


Prime Minister Shinzo Abe speaks to reporters Monday morning at his office ahead of the highly anticipated announcement of Japan's new era name. | KYODO

APR 1, 2019

In a much-awaited moment that heralded the opening of a new chapter in Japan’s history, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga announced Monday that the new Imperial era will be named Reiwa, taking one of the final steps toward initiating the nation’s first imperial succession in three decades.

The new era will start on May 1, when Crown Prince Naruhito ascends to the Chrysanthemum Throne following the abdication of his father, Emperor Akihito, a day earlier.

The arrival of Reiwa will in turn end a 30-year run of the Heisei (“achieving peace”) Era, which began in Jan. 8, 1989.
The new era will be the 248th in the history of Japan, which has used the Chinese-style calendar system since 645. In modern times, each era has run the length of an emperor’s reign.

What differentiated the arrival of the latest era from its past four predecessors — Heisei, Showa, Taisho and Meiji — is that the government announced its name while the reigning Emperor is still alive.
This is because Emperor Akihito — in a rare address to the nation in August 2016 — hinted at his desire to abdicate due to his advanced age, as opposed to his immediate predecessors who reigned until their deaths. His unprecedented address soon kicked off preparations for what will be the first abdication by a sitting Japanese monarch in around 200 years.

The naming of a new Imperial era is a significant event here. Gengo, as it is called, plays an integral role — both practically and psychologically — to the lives of Japanese people.
In a nation where gengo has long been cherished as a way of identifying a year — as in “Heisei 31,” which corresponds to 2019 — in many official documents and computer systems, its change has had far-reaching practical implications, too. Local municipality officials, computer engineers and calendar manufacturers, for example, have spent months preparing for necessary changes.

With gengo often seen as reflective of the zeitgeist, speculation had been rife about what the new era would be named.

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