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Home , Abdication, Emperor of Japan, Heisei, Meiji (era), Reiwa, Taika (era)

元号 /gengou/ uses 2 systems simultaneously: the (西暦 /seireki/, literally "Western calendar") and the traditional calendar system called 元号 /gengou/. Gengou is also called 年号 /nengou/. Gengou is the name given to a historical period, and with this Gengou system, the historical timeline in Japan is composed of successive periods with different names (see the visualization above). For example, the first Gengou was 大化 // and it designates the period between 645 and 650 A.D. The current Gengou is 令和 // and it is the 248th Gengou. But when the Japanese talk about the , they do not usually use Gengou to talk about events in history. Common practice is: 1) To talk about the pre-modern era, all the divisions of Gengou periods are ignored and they are grouped into larger historical periods based on the location of the capital. Here is the list of historical periods that the Japanese learn in school: - Asuka 592-710 - 710-794 - Heian 794-1185 - 1185-1333 - Restoration 1333-1336 - Muromachi 1336-1573 - Azuchi Momoyama 1573-1603 - 1603-1868 (For example, during the , the capital was located in Nara, and the Nara period ended with the relocation of the capital to Heian - today's - in 794 A.D.) 2) Only when talking about the modern era, which started with the end of in the , the Gengou system is used. Here is the division of the modern era: - 1868-1912 - Taisho 1912-1926 - Showa 1926-1989 - 1989-2019 - Reiwa 2019-

Until the Meiji period, there was no clear rule about how Gengou should be used. Gengou was often changed in order to literally mark the beginning of a new era, for example, to celebrate the ascension of a new , the installation of a new government or a fresh start after a war, famine or earthquake and other difficulties in life. This "change of Gengou" is called 改元 /kaigen/ in Japanese, and it has been used as a process of renewal in Japan. If you look at the pre-modern era (up to 1868), there have been 243 Gengou in the period of 1223 years, and that's about 5 years per Gengou in average. In hindsight, each period looked too short and the whole business of Gengou and Kaigen appeared to be very badly managed, so, as a part of the effort to modernize Japan, the rule concerning Gengou and Kaigen was clearly established with the launch of the Meiji period. Since Meiji, the basic rule is "one emperor, one Gengou," and Gengou is used to name the period of an emperor’s .

改元 /kaigen/ - from 平成 /heisei/ to 令和 /reiwa/ Between Meiji and Heisei, Gengou was changed when the passed away. Heisei is the first period in the modern era to end with of the . The last Kaigen to take place with abdication was 200 years ago, in 1818. In history, abdication often caused a power struggle between former and new emperors, and, to avoid a similar situation, the law created in Meiji does not allow abdication. When the former emperor (of the Heisei period) expressed his intention to abdicate due to his age and health, the exception was made for his abdication. (In other words, according to the law, the Japanese emperor still cannot abdicate.) The current emperor's name is and he is the 126th .* He is the eldest son of the Heisei emperor Akihito. The period of his reign is known as 令和 /reiwa/. This current Gengou - "Reiwa" - was announced on April 1st, 2019, a month before the ascension of Emperor Naruhito. Gengou was supposed to be announced on the day the new era starts, but due to the amount of work required to change the calendar in print and computer, it was decided that the new Gengou was to be announced 1 month earlier. The ascension of Emperor Naruhito took place on May 1 and the Reiwa era started on the same day.

* The Japanese imperial lineage is the oldest and longest royal lineage in the world. Unfortunately, the Japanese imperial family is rapidly getting smaller today and it may come to an end in a couple of generations. It is because a) the modern definition of the Japanese imperial lineage is patrilineal - i.e., the line is passed down from a father to the son - just like the rest of Japan; b) the majority of the younger generation in the imperial family today is female. In practical terms, it means that 1) the female members cannot succeed to the throne; 2) if a female member of the imperial family marries a commoner, she becomes a commoner (and continues the husband’s family lineage); 3) unless the law is changed very soon, these female members will start to get married and there will be a sudden drop in the number of the imperial family members. Because of this inequality between male and female members in the imperial family, even though there are many princesses, currently there are only 3 heirs to the throne, and only one of them is younger than 50 years old (born in 2006). Under the current law, in order to have the 4th person in line of succession to the throne, Japan needs to wait for this young prince to grow up and have a son, and if he fails to have a son, he will be the last of the imperial family lineage. This situation is adding urgency to the debate on the future position of female members in the imperial family, but so far there has not been much progress. The name "Reiwa" is the first Gengou to use as the source of the name. All the other 247 Gengou made reference to the classic Chinese literature. "Reiwa" comes from 1) "令 /rei/" from "令月 /reigetsu/" - the lunar month that includes Spring Equinox - which has the nuance of a warm Spring month and also the best time to start something new; 2) "和 /wa/" which means both "harmony" and "relaxation." This is the official explanation of the name "Reiwa." Its meaning can be analyzed further through its spelling (令 and 和), and even interpreted in completely different ways (for example, some people see 令 as “command” or “order” and 和 as in the WW2 battleship 大和 /yamato/). But the meaning of the Gengou name did not obsess the Japanese public so much. What mattered more to the Japanese was the sound: it had to sound nice and give them an impression of fresh air worthy of the new era. Fortunately “Reiwa" sounded nice enough and it did not bring anything bad to anyone's mind, and that was enough to make the Japanese happy to embrace it.