Global InformationJapanese era name information
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The Japanese era name (Japanese: 年号, Hepburn: nengō, "year name") or gengō (元号), is the first of the two elements that identify years in the Japanese era calendar scheme. The second element is a number which indicates the year number within the era (with the first year being "gan (元)"), followed by the literal "nen (年)" meaning "year".
Era names originated in 140 BCE in Imperial China, during the reign of the Emperor Wu of Han.[1][2] As elsewhere in the Sinosphere, the use of era names was originally derived from Chinese imperial practice,[2][3][4] although the Japanese system is independent of the Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese era name systems. Unlike its other Sinosphere counterparts, Japanese era names are still in official use. Government offices usually require era names and years for official papers.
The five era names used since the end of the Edo period in 1868 can be abbreviated by taking the first letter of their romanized names. For example, S55 means Shōwa 55 (i.e. 1980), and H22 stands for Heisei 22 (2010). At 62 years and 2 weeks, Shōwa is the longest era to date.
The Reiwa (令和)[5] era began on 1 May 2019, the day of accession of Naruhito to the throne as the 126th Emperor of Japan,[6] following the day of the planned and voluntary abdication[7] of his father, the 125th Emperor, Akihito. Emperor Akihito had received special permission to abdicate,[8] rather than serving in his role until his death, as is the rule.[9] The Reiwa (令和) era followed the 31st and final year of the Heisei era (平成31年), which had started on the day after the death of Emperor Hirohito on 8 January 1989.
- ^ Lü, Zongli (2003). Power of the words: Chen prophecy in Chinese politics, AD 265-618. ISBN 9783906769561.
- ^ a b Sogner, Sølvi (2001). Making Sense of Global History: The 19th International Congress of the Historical Sciences, Oslo 2000, Commemorative Volume. ISBN 9788215001067.
- ^ Jølstad, Anders; Lunde, Marianne (2000). "International Congress of Historical Sciences". International Congress of Historical Sciences. 19. ISBN 9788299561419. Retrieved 29 December 2019.
- ^ "Ancient tradition carries forward with Japan's new era". Retrieved 29 December 2019.
- ^ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: Reiwa Nengō Announcement Footage, 1 April 2019
- ^ "Japan rings in new era as Naruhito becomes emperor". Al Jazeera. 30 April 2019. Retrieved 30 April 2019.
- ^ Rich, Motoko (30 April 2019). "Emperor Akihito, Who Gave Japan's Monarchy a Human Face, Abdicates Throne". The New York Times. Retrieved 30 April 2019.
- ^ "天皇陛下 「生前退位」の意向示される ("His Majesty The Emperor Indicates His Intention to 'Abdicate'")" (in Japanese). NHK. 13 July 2016. Archived from the original on 13 July 2016. Retrieved 13 July 2016.
- ^ "Japanese Emperor Akihito 'wishes to abdicate'". BBC News. 13 July 2016. Retrieved 17 July 2016.