Understanding ReiWa [令和]: Japan's New Era

On April 1st (It's not a lie), which marks a new fiscal year in Japan, the name of the new era of the country called Reiwa [令和]. In this article, we will understand the true meaning of Reiwa and why this name was chosen.

Japan always changes eras when changing emperors, but this time the Emperor asked to abdicate the throne and the rise of Crown Prince Naruhito will begin on May 1, 2019, ushering in the New Era.

The Emperor of Japan Akihito was the first to abdicate the throne in the last 200 years, his departure will be exactly on April 30th. Even though the fiscal year starts on the day April first, I thought it was a bad day to make this announcement.

The era that endured Akihito's name is called Heisei [平成] which started on January 8, 1989 and ended on April 30, 2019 totaling a period of about 30 and 31 years.

In total, Japan has had almost 250 ages, which is actually more than the number of Emperors. These eras are called gengo [元号].

The meaning of Reiwa [令和]

According to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the word Reiwa [令和] suggests that culture is born and nurtured when people “care beautifully for each other”.

The word Reiwa [令和] is composed of the ideograms:

• [令] meaning command, order, dictation, ancient laws, good fortune, command and decree;
• [和] meaning harmony, Japanese style, peace, Japan;

In short, we can understand the 2 ideograms as order and command and peace and harmony. The ideograms are selected from ancient Chinese texts, but this time it was taken from a collection of classical Japanese poetry called Manyoshu.

Manyoshu [万葉集] – Collection of the 10,000 leaves, an ancient collection of Japanese poetry compiled around 759 during the Nara period. At the end of the article we will leave links to this book.

Shinzo Abe added that the more than 1200-year-old poem talks about the ume [梅] plum blossoms that come into full bloom signaling the arrival of spring after having survived the bitter cold of winter. He added that each person can look forward to the future and make their own flowers bloom.

Original Poem: 「初春の令月にして、気淑く
く風和ぎ、梅は鏡前の粉を披き、蘭は珮後の香を薫らす」

Romanized poem: Shoshun no reigetsu ni shite kyoku kuyawara gi kyouzen no konawohiraki ranwahaigo no kou wo kaorazu.

Experts say the choice taken from a book of Japanese poetry created a milestone in the history of Japan. This was actually the first time a name was taken out of ancient Chinese books.

Reiwa also carries feelings like hope, resilience, prosperity, peace and togetherness. There is also a homonym for reiwa [例話] which means illustration and anecdote.

Reiwa remember peace and harmony?

Unfortunately the name peace that is pronounced Heiwa [平和] cannot be chosen as the name of the new era. There is a rule that era names cannot have the same initials, so names with H, M, T and S were out of the question.

Still, the name Reiwa [令和] was not chosen for nothing, the objective was to remember the word Heiwa [平和] which means peace. These similarities are not mere coincidence, the name of the new era may not contain the ideogram [平], but it ends with [和] which means harmony.

The former name of the era Heisei [平成] which resembled the homonymous word [平静] which means calm, serenity and tranquility. Where [平] means peace or full and [成] means to transform, become, stay, grow, arrive and elapse.

Notice that if we put together the first character [平] of the previous era and the second character [和] of the new era, we will form the word Heiwa [平和] which means peace and harmony. Not to mention the Showa Era.

The names of previous Japanese eras were "Meiji" (enlightened rule) of Emperor Mutsuhito; "Taisho" (great legitimacy) of Emperor Yoshihito and "Showa" (Peace and Harmony), 1926.

How is the name of the new Reiwa era chosen?

The name of Japan eras needs to be composed of two Chinese characters, be easy to read and write. It is also recommended not to use a previously used combination or one that is in common use.

Currently the name must be appropriated with the ideals of the nation, some academics and bureaucrats draw up a list of suggestions and the cabinet makes the final decision.

Nowadays only about 34% of people use gengo [元号] or epoch count in everyday life. Japan is globalized and many question the need to use the system of eras and periods.

What did people think of the name Reiwa? The majority approved the choice, but some questioned the choice of the character [令] which means order.

What did you think of the new era name Reiwa [令和]? If you liked this article, don't forget to share it with your friends and leave your comments.