, also known as Kyōun, was a following '' Taihō'' and preceding '' Wadō''. The period spanned the years from May 704 through January 708. The reigning emperors were and .

Change of era

* 704 : The new era name was created to mark an event or series of events. The previous era ended and the new one commenced in ''Taihō'' 4, on the 7th day of the 5th month of 704.Brown, p. 271.

Events of the ''Keiun'' era

* 697 (''Keiun 4''): Emperor Monmu dies, but his son and heir was deemed too young to receive the succession (''senso''). Instead, the mother of the heir formally accedes to the throne (''sokui'') as Empress Gemmei until her son would grow mature enough to accept ''senso'' and ''sokui''.Varley, H. Paul. (1980). ''Jinnō Shōtōki'', p. 44; a distinct act of ''senso'' is unrecognized prior to

Emperor Tenji , also known as Emperor Tenchi, was the 38th emperor of Japan, Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'')天智天皇 (38)/ref> according to the traditional order of succession.Ponsonby-Fane, Richard. (1959). ''The Imperial House of Japan'', p. 5 ...

; and all sovereigns except

Jitō were medieval territory stewards in Japan, especially in the Kamakura and Muromachi shogunates. Appointed by the ''shōgun'', ''jitō'' managed manors including national holdings governed by the provincial governor ( kokushi). There were also ...

, Yōzei, Go-Toba, and Fushimi have ''senso'' and ''sokui'' in the same year until the reign of

Emperor Go-Murakami (1328 – March 29, 1368) was the 97th emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession, and a member of the Southern Court during the Nanboku-chō period of rival courts. He reigned from September 18, 1339, until March 29, 13 ...

. * 18 July 707 (''Keiun 4, 15th day of the 6th month''): Genmei is enthroned at the age of 48. * 707 (''Keiun 4''): Deposits of copper was reported to have been found in

Musashi Province was a province of Japan, which today comprises Tokyo Metropolis, most of Saitama Prefecture and part of Kanagawa Prefecture. It was sometimes called . The province encompassed Kawasaki and Yokohama. Musashi bordered on Kai, Kōzuke, Sagami, S ...

in the region which includes modern day Tokyo.Titsingh
p. 63.
/ref> * 708 (''Keiun 5''):, The era name was about to be changed to mark the accession of Empress Genmei; but the choice of ''Wadō'' as the new ''

nengō The , also known as , 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 ""), followed by the literal ...

'' for this new reign became a way to mark the welcome discovery of copper in the

Chichibu District is a district located in Saitama Prefecture, Japan. As of 2003, the district has an estimated population 755 and a density of 77.58 persons per km2. The total area is 796.03 km2. History According to text in the ''Sendai Kuji Hongi'' (''Ku ...

of what is now

Saitama Prefecture is a landlocked prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Saitama Prefecture has a population of 7,338,536 (1 January 2020) and has a geographic area of 3,797 km2 (1,466 sq mi). Saitama Prefecture borders Tochigi Prefecture ...

. The Japanese word for copper is ''dō'' (銅); and since this was indigenous copper, the ''"wa"'' (the ancient Chinese term for Japan) could be combined with the ''"dō"'' (copper) to create a new composite term—''"wadō"''—meaning "Japanese copper."

Notes

References

* Brown, Delmer M. and Ichirō Ishida, eds. (1979)
''Gukanshō: The Future and the Past''.
Berkeley: University of California Press.
OCLC 251325323
* Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric and Käthe Roth. (2005)
''Japan encyclopedia''.
Cambridge:

Harvard University Press Harvard University Press (HUP) is a publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University, and focused on academic publishing. It is a member of the Association of American University Presses. After the retirem ...

.
OCLC 58053128
* Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). ''

Nihon Ōdai Ichiran , ', is a 17th-century chronicle of the serial reigns of Japanese emperors with brief notes about some of the noteworthy events or other happenings. According to the 1871 edition of the ''American Cyclopaedia'', the 1834 French translation of ...

''; ou
''Annales des empereurs du Japon''.
Paris: Royal Asiatic Society, Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland
OCLC 5850691
* Varley, H. Paul. (1980). ''A Chronicle of Gods and Sovereigns: Jinnō Shōtōki of Kitabatake Chikafusa''. New York:

Columbia University Press Columbia University Press is a university press based in New York City, and affiliated with Columbia University. It is currently directed by Jennifer Crewe (2014–present) and publishes titles in the humanities and sciences, including the fiel ...

.
OCLC 6042764

External links

National Diet Library The is the national library of Japan and among the largest libraries in the world. It was established in 1948 for the purpose of assisting members of the in researching matters of public policy. The library is similar in purpose and scope to ...

, "The Japanese Calendar
-- historical overview plus illustrative images from library's collection
{{DEFAULTSORT:Keiun Japanese eras 8th century in Japan 704 beginnings 708 endings