Reiwa, the name of the new imperial era of Japan

News24xx.com - The finals step to the initiation of Japan’s first Imperial succession in three decades draws near, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga announced the name of the new era on Monday. This new era will be called “Reiwa”, with the first kanji characters meaning “good fortune” and the second character meaning “peace” or “harmony”.

Suga held up the placard, showing the name of the era in Kanji characters. He said the name came from a set of poems from Manyoshu, the oldest Japanese poetry compilation.

This new era will be the 248th eras in Japan’s history since 645. Before this, Japan had taken characters for era names from Chinese literature to indicate the years. This is the first time they use characters drawn from Japanese literature.

Reiwa era will begin on May 1st, when Crown Prince Naruhito ascends the throne, replacing his father Emperor Akihito. It will mark the end of Heisei Era, which began on January 8th 1989.

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