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Reiwa era

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Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga announces the new Imperial era "Reiwa" to the press.
Japanese office workers watching the announcement on live televised broadcast.

The Reiwa period (Japanese: 令和時代, Hepburn: Reiwa jidai)[1] will be the next era of Japan.

The period is expected to start on 1 May 2019,[2] the day when Emperor Akihito's elder son, Naruhito, is expected to ascend to the throne as the 126th Emperor of Japan.

Emperor Akihito is expected to abdicate the Chrysanthemum Throne on 30 April 2019, marking the end of Heisei period. The year 2019 corresponds to Heisei 31 until 30 April, and Reiwa 1 (令和元年, Reiwa gannen, English: "First year of Reiwa") from 1 May 2019.[3]

Background

A shortlist of five names was drawn up by a nine-member expert panel comprising seven men and two women, and the cabinet selected the final name from the shortlist.[4] The nine experts were:[5][6]

The Japanese government announced the name during a live televised press conference, as Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga traditionally revealed the kanji calligraphy on a board.[7][8] Prime Minister Shinzō Abe said that Reiwa represents "a culture being born and nurtured by people coming together beautifully."[6]

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe answers questions on the new imperial era name.

The kanji characters for Reiwa are derived from the ancient poem anthology Man'yōshū, particularly the sacred ume flowers of Japan, representing harmony.[9][7][better source needed] Multiple translations of reiwa have emerged, including "joyful harmony".[4]

Original Kanbun text: 初春令月、氣淑風和、梅披鏡前之粉、蘭薫珮後之香。[10]

Literary Japanese translation: 初春の令月にして気淑く風和ぎ、梅は鏡前の粉を披き、蘭（らん）は珮（はい）後の香を薫らす[11]

English translation: It is during the month of good fortune ("Rei"), when the air is auspicious, the winds are gentle/harmonious ("wa"), and the plum flowers blossoming like makeup applied to a beauty resplendent before a mirror, and the orchids adorning themselves in their scent.

Novelty

In addition, the characters mark the first time a Japanese era name with characters that were taken from Japanese classical literature instead of classic Chinese literature.[6][12][better source needed][13]The Chinese foreign ministry responded to a question related to this matter from Japanese media saying that it is Japan's internal affair to choose an era name but expressed good wishes concerning the Sino-Japanese relationship.[14]

According to some Japanese experts, the phrase has an earlier source in ancient Chinese literature dating back to the second century AD, on which the Man'yōshū usage is allegedly based[15]

於是仲春令月，時和氣清；原隰鬱茂，百草滋榮。

— Zhang Heng "Guitian Fu"

The director-general of National Institute of Japanese Literature in Tokyo, Professor Robert Campbell, provided an televised official interpretation to NHK national broadcasting group organization, regarding the characters based on the poem,[clarification needed] noting that "Rei" is an auspicious wave of energy of the plum blossoms carried by the wind, and "Wa", the general character of peace and tranquility.[citation needed]

Accordingly, the name marks the 248th era name designated in Japanese history.[6][16] While the "wa" character 和 has been used in 19 previous era names, the "rei" character 令 has never appeared before.[17]

Implementation

Anticipating the coming new era, in September 2018 the Unicode Consortium reserved a code point (U+32FF, square era name reiwa)[18] for a new glyph which will combine halfwidth versions of Reiwa's kanji, 令 and 和, into a single full-width character.[19] The resulting new version of Unicode, 12.1.0, is scheduled to be released in May 2019.[20]

References

  1. ^ "新元号「令和（れいわ）」　出典は万葉集" (in Japanese). 1 April 2019. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
  2. ^ McCurry, Justin (1 April 2019). "Reiwa: Japan prepares to enter new era of 'fortunate harmony'". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
  3. ^ "New Japanese imperial era Reiwa takes name from ancient poetry". Reuters. 2019-04-01. Retrieved 2019-04-01.
  4. ^ a b Rich, Motoko (1 April 2019). "Japan's New Era Gets a Name, but No One Can Agree What It Means". The New York Times. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
  5. ^ "「元号」有識者懇メンバー9人発表" (in Japanese). Mainichi Shimbun. 1 April 2019. Archived from the original on 1 April 2019. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
  6. ^ a b c d "Japan names new imperial era beginning May 1 "Reiwa"". Kyodo News. 1 April 2019. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
  7. ^ a b "Japan reveals name of new imperial era will be 'Reiwa'". BBC. 1 April 2019. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
  8. ^ Yamaguchi, Mari (1 April 2019). "Japan says name for new era of Naruhito will be 'Reiwa'". The Washington Post. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
  9. ^ Espinosa, Javier (1 April 2019). "Japón anuncia su nueva era imperial: "Reiwa"" (in Spanish). El Mundo. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
  10. ^ "真字萬葉集卷第五雜歌0815". 天平二年正月十三日，萃于帥老大伴旅人之宅，申宴會也。于時，初春令月，氣淑風和。梅披鏡前之粉，蘭薰珮後之香。加以，曙嶺移雲，松掛羅而傾蓋，夕岫結霧，鳥封穀而迷林。庭舞新蝶，空歸故鴈。於是，蓋天坐地，促膝飛觴。忘言一室之裏，開衿煙霞之外。淡然自放，快然自足。若非翰苑，何以攄情。請紀落梅之篇，古今夫何異矣。宜賦園梅，聊成短詠。 {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  11. ^ "新元号「令和」　首相談話「花を大きく咲かせたい」". 日本経済新聞. 2019-04-01. Retrieved 2019-04-01.
  12. ^ Osaki, Tomohiro (1 April 2019). "Reiwa: Japan reveals name of new era ahead of Emperor's abdication". The Japan Times Online. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
  13. ^ "新元号は「令和」（れいわ）　万葉集典拠、国書由来は初". Asahi News Digital. 2019-04-01. Retrieved 2019-04-02.
  14. ^ 张, 骜 (2019-04-01). "日本新年号未出自中国典籍，中方怎么看？外交部这样回应". Global times. Retrieved 2019-04-02.
  15. ^ 尾沢, 智史 (2019-04-01). "「日本が困難な時、万葉集がはやる」　令和は歴史的転換". Asahi News Digital. Retrieved 2019-04-02.
  16. ^ "Japan announces "Reiwa" as new era name to begin under new emperor". Xinhua. 1 April 2019. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
  17. ^ "Japan's govt. chooses 'Reiwa' as new era name". NHK World Japan. 1 April 2019. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
  18. ^ Lunde, Ken (1 April 2019). "Adobe-Japan1-7 Published!". CJK Type Blog. Adobe. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
  19. ^ "New Japanese Era". The Unicode Blog. Unicode Consortium. 2018-09-06. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
  20. ^ "Unicode 12.1.0". The Unicode Consortium. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
Preceded by Era of Japan
Reiwa
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