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The or , 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 "", meaning "origin, basis"), followed by the literal "" meaning "year". Era names originated in 140 BCE in
Imperial China The history of China spans several millennia across a wide geographical area. Each region now considered part of the Chinese world has experienced periods of unity, fracture, prosperity, and strife. Chinese civilization first emerged in the Y ...
, during the reign of the
Emperor Wu of Han Emperor Wu of Han (156 – 29 March 87BC), born Liu Che and courtesy name Tong, was the seventh Emperor of China, emperor of the Han dynasty from 141 to 87 BC. His reign lasted 54 years – a record not broken until the reign of the Kangxi ...
. As elsewhere in the
Sinosphere The Sinosphere, also known as the Chinese cultural sphere, East Asian cultural sphere, or the Sinic world, encompasses multiple countries in East Asia and Southeast Asia that were historically heavily influenced by Chinese culture. The Sinosph ...
, the use of era names was originally derived from Chinese imperial practice, 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 The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...
in 1868 can be abbreviated by taking the first letter of their
romanized In linguistics, romanization is the conversion of text from a different writing system to the Roman (Latin) script, or a system for doing so. Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing written text, and transcription, ...
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 Archived a
Ghostarchive
and th
Wayback Machine
era began on 1 May 2019, the day of accession of
Naruhito Naruhito (born 23 February 1960) is Emperor of Japan. He acceded to the Chrysanthemum Throne following 2019 Japanese imperial transition, the abdication of his father, Akihito, on 1 May 2019, beginning the Reiwa era. He is the 126th monarch, ...
to the throne as the 126th
Emperor of Japan The emperor of Japan is the hereditary monarch and head of state of Japan. The emperor is defined by the Constitution of Japan as the symbol of the Japanese state and the unity of the Japanese people, his position deriving from "the will of ...
, following the day of the planned and voluntary
abdication Abdication is the act of formally relinquishing monarchical authority. Abdications have played various roles in the Order of succession, succession procedures of monarchies. While some cultures have viewed abdication as an extreme abandonment of ...
of his father, the 125th Emperor,
Akihito Akihito (born 23 December 1933) is a member of the Imperial House of Japan who reigned as the 125th emperor of Japan from 1989 until 2019 Japanese imperial transition, his abdication in 2019. The era of his rule was named the Heisei era, Hei ...
. Emperor Akihito had received special permission to abdicate, rather than serving in his role until his death, as is the rule. The Reiwa era follows the 31st and final year of the , which had started on the day after the death of Emperor
Hirohito , Posthumous name, posthumously honored as , was the 124th emperor of Japan according to the traditional order of succession, from 25 December 1926 until Death and state funeral of Hirohito, his death in 1989. He remains Japan's longest-reigni ...
on 8 January 1989.


Overview

The system on which the Japanese era names are based originated in China in 140 BCE, and was adopted by Japan in 645 CE, during the reign of Emperor Kōtoku. The first era name to be assigned was , celebrating the political and organizational changes which were to flow from the great of 645. Although the regular practice of proclaiming successive era names was interrupted in the late seventh century, it was permanently re-adopted in 701 during the reign of Emperor Monmu (697–707). Since then, era names have been used continuously up through the present day.


Historical ''nengō''

Prior to the
Meiji period The was an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868, to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonizatio ...
, era names were decided by court officials and were subjected to frequent change. A new era name was usually proclaimed within a year or two after the ascension of a new emperor. A new era name was also often designated on the first, fifth and 58th years of the
sexagenary cycle The sexagenary cycle, also known as the gānzhī (干支) or stems-and-branches, is a cycle of sixty terms, each corresponding to one year, thus amounting to a total of sixty years every cycle, historically used for recording time in China and t ...
, because they were inauspicious years in Onmyōdō. These three years are respectively known as '' kakurei'', '' kakuun'', and '' kakumei'', and collectively known as '' sankaku''. Era names were also changed due to other felicitous events or natural disasters. In historical practice, starts whenever the emperor chooses; and the first year continues until the next lunar new year, which is understood to be the start of the nengō's second year. Era names indicate the various reasons for their adoption. For instance, the nengō , during the Nara period, was declared due to the discovery of copper deposits in Chichibu. Most nengō are composed of two
kanji are logographic Chinese characters, adapted from Chinese family of scripts, Chinese script, used in the writing of Japanese language, Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese and are ...
, except for a short time during the
Nara period The of the history of Japan covers the years from 710 to 794. Empress Genmei established the capital of Heijō-kyō (present-day Nara). Except for a five-year period (740–745), when the capital was briefly moved again, it remained the capita ...
when four-kanji names were sometimes adopted to follow the Chinese trend. , , and are some famous nengō names that use four characters. Since the
Heian period The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. It followed the Nara period, beginning when the 50th emperor, Emperor Kammu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means in Japanese. It is a ...
,
Confucian Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China, and is variously described as a tradition, philosophy, religion, theory of government, or way of life. Founded by Confucius ...
thoughts and ideas have been reflected in era names, such as , and . Although there currently exist a total of 248 Japanese era names, only 73 kanji have been used in composing them. Out of these 73 kanji, 31 of them have been used only once, while the rest have been used repeatedly in different combinations. The vast majority of Japanese era names were used for less than 10 years, with two being used for less than a year. Only 28 have been used for more than 10 years and less than 30 years. Only Heisei, Ōei, Meiji, and Shōwa have been used for more than 30 years.


''Nengō'' in modern Japan

Mutsuhito assumed the throne in 1867, during the third year of the era. On 23 October 1868, the era name was changed to , and a system was adopted, wherein era names would change only upon immediate imperial succession. This system is similar to the now-defunct Chinese system used since the days of the
Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty, officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming was the last imperial dynasty of ...
, in which the era name was not updated until the year following the emperor's death. In modern practice, starts immediately upon the emperor's accession and ends on 31 December. Subsequent years follow the
Gregorian calendar The Gregorian calendar is the calendar used in most parts of the world. It went into effect in October 1582 following the papal bull issued by Pope Gregory XIII, which introduced it as a modification of, and replacement for, the Julian cale ...
. For example, the Meiji era lasted until 30 July 1912, when the Emperor died and the era was proclaimed. 1912 is therefore known as both "Meiji 45" and , although Meiji technically ended on 30 July with Mutsuhito's death. This practice, implemented successfully since the days of Meiji but never formalized, became law in 1979 with the passage of the . Thus, since 1868, there have only been five era names assigned: Meiji, Taishō, Shōwa, Heisei, and Reiwa, each corresponding with the rule of only one emperor. Upon death, the emperor is thereafter referred to by the era of his reign. For example, Mutsuhito is posthumously known as . It is protocol in Japan that the reigning emperor be referred to as or . To call the current emperor by the current era name, i.e. "Reiwa", even in English, is a faux pas, as this is – and will be – his
posthumous name A posthumous name is an honorary Personal name, name given mainly to revered dead people in East Asian cultural sphere, East Asian culture. It is predominantly used in Asian countries such as China, Korea, Vietnam, Japan, Malaysia and Thailand. ...
. Use of the emperor's given name (i.e., "Naruhito") is rare, and is considered vulgar behaviour in Japanese. The Emperor Akihito abdicated on 30 April 2019, necessitating a change in nengō. The new name, made public on the morning of 1 April of the same year, is .


Periods without era names

The era name system that was introduced by Emperor Kōtoku was abandoned after his death; no era names were designated between 654 and 686. The system was briefly reinstated by
Emperor Tenmu was the 40th Emperor of Japan,Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 天武天皇 (40) retrieved 2013-8-22. according to the traditional order of succession. Ponsonby-Fane, Richard. (1959). ''The Imperial House of Japan'', p. 53. He ascended ...
in 686, but was again abandoned upon his death about two months later. In 701, Emperor Monmu once again reinstated the era name system, and it has continued uninterrupted through today. Although use of the
Gregorian calendar The Gregorian calendar is the calendar used in most parts of the world. It went into effect in October 1582 following the papal bull issued by Pope Gregory XIII, which introduced it as a modification of, and replacement for, the Julian cale ...
for historical dates became increasingly common in Japan, the traditional Japanese system demands that dates be written in reference to era names. The apparent problem introduced by the lack of era names was resolved by identifying the years of an imperial reign as a period. p. 402 citing pp. 54–55The year-periods (nengō) do not ordinarily overlap with the reigns of the early monarchs; and generally, a new one was chosen whenever it was deemed necessary to commemorate an auspicious or ward off a malign event. Although in modern Japan posthumous imperial names correspond with the eras of their reign, this is a relatively recent practice, introduced during the
Meiji period The was an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868, to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonizatio ...
and instituted by law in 1979. Therefore, the posthumous names of the emperors and empresses who reigned prior to 1868 may not be taken as era names by themselves. For example, the year 572—the year in which Emperor Bidatsu assumed the
Chrysanthemum Throne The is the throne of the Emperor of Japan. The term also can refer to very specific seating, such as the throne in the Shishin-den at Kyoto Imperial Palace. Various other thrones or seats that are used by the Emperor during official functions ...
– is properly written as "" (''Bidatsu-Tennō Gannen'', "the first year of Emperor Bidatsu"), and not "" (''Bidatsu Gannen'', "the first year of Bidatsu"), although it may be abbreviated as such. By incorporating both proper era names and posthumous imperial names in this manner, it is possible to extend the nengō system to cover all dates from 660 BCE through today.


Unofficial era name system

In addition to the official era name system, in which the era names are selected by the imperial court, one also observes—primarily in the ancient documents and epigraphs of shrines and temples—unofficial era names called , also known as or . Currently, there are over 40 confirmed shinengō, most of them dating from the
middle ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...
. ''Shinengō'' used prior to the reestablishment of the era name system in 701 are usually called . Because official records of ''shinengō'' are lacking, the range of dates to which they apply is often unclear. For example, the well-known itsunengō is normally said to refer to 650–654 CE; a poetic synonym for the Hakuchi era. However, alternate interpretations exist. For example, in the Nichūreki, Hakuhō refers to 661–683 CE, and in some medieval temple documents, Hakuhō refers to 672–685 CE. Thus, shinengō may be used as an alternative way of dating periods for which there is no official era name. Other well-known ''itsunengō'' and ''shinengō'' include (591–621+ CE), (686), (1460), (1506–1507 or 1507–1509) and (1540–1543). The most recent ''shinengō'' is (1904–1905), named for the
Russo-Japanese War The Russo-Japanese War (8 February 1904 – 5 September 1905) was fought between the Russian Empire and the Empire of Japan over rival imperial ambitions in Manchuria and the Korean Empire. The major land battles of the war were fought on the ...
.


''Kyūshū nengō''

Edo period scholar Tsurumine Shigenobu proposed that , said to have been used in ancient Kumaso, should also be considered a form of ''shinengō''. This claim is not generally recognized by the academic community. Lists of the proposed ''Kyūshū nengō'' can be seen in the Japanese language entries and .


Software support


Character sets

Certain era names have specific characters assigned to them, for instance ㋿ for the Reiwa period, which can also be written as . These are included in
Unicode Unicode or ''The Unicode Standard'' or TUS is a character encoding standard maintained by the Unicode Consortium designed to support the use of text in all of the world's writing systems that can be digitized. Version 16.0 defines 154,998 Char ...
: Code points U+32FF (㋿), U+337B (㍻), U+337C (㍼), U+337D (㍽) and U+337E (㍾) are used for the Reiwa, Heisei, Shōwa, Taishō and Meiji eras, respectively.


Calendar libraries

Certain calendar libraries support the conversion from and to the era system, as well as rendering of dates using it. Since the release of
Java 8 The Java language has undergone several changes since JDK 1.0 as well as numerous additions of classes and packages to the standard library. Since J2SE 1.4, the evolution of the Java language has been governed by the Java Community P ...
, the
Japanese calendar Japanese calendar types have included a range of official and unofficial systems. At present, Japan uses the Gregorian calendar together with year designations stating the Japanese era name, year of the reign of the current Emperor. The written f ...
is supported in the new Date and time API for the year Meiji 6 (1873) onwards.


Support for the new era in Japanese imperial transition of 2019

Computers and software manufacturers needed to test their systems in preparation for the new era which began on 1 May 2019. ''Windows'' provided a test mechanism to simulate a new era ahead of time.
Java Development Kit The Java Development Kit (JDK) is a distribution of Java technology by Oracle Corporation. It implements the Java Language Specification (JLS) and the Java Virtual Machine Specification (JVMS) and provides the Standard Edition (SE) of the Java ...
11 supported this era using the placeholders "" for Japanese, "NewEra" for other languages. The final name was added in JDK 12.0.1, after it was announced by the Japanese government.
Unicode Unicode or ''The Unicode Standard'' or TUS is a character encoding standard maintained by the Unicode Consortium designed to support the use of text in all of the world's writing systems that can be digitized. Version 16.0 defines 154,998 Char ...
code point U+32FF (㋿) was reserved for representing the new era name, Reiwa.


List of Japanese era names

The list of Japanese era names is the result of a
periodization In historiography, periodization is the process or study of categorizing the past into discrete, quantified, and named blocks of time for the purpose of study or analysis.Adam Rabinowitz.It's about time: historical periodization and Linked Ancie ...
system which was established by Emperor Kōtoku in 645. The system of was irregular until the beginning of the 8th century. After 701, sequential era names developed without interruption across a span of centuries. As of 1 April 2019, there have been 239 era names. To convert a Japanese year to a
Gregorian calendar The Gregorian calendar is the calendar used in most parts of the world. It went into effect in October 1582 following the papal bull issued by Pope Gregory XIII, which introduced it as a modification of, and replacement for, the Julian cale ...
year, find the first year of the Japanese era name (also called ''nengō''). When found, add the number of the Japanese year, then subtract 1.


Asuka period The was a period in the history of Japan lasting from 538 to 710, although its beginning could be said to overlap with the preceding Kofun period. The Yamato period, Yamato polity evolved greatly during the Asuka period, which is named after the ...


Nara period The of the history of Japan covers the years from 710 to 794. Empress Genmei established the capital of Heijō-kyō (present-day Nara). Except for a five-year period (740–745), when the capital was briefly moved again, it remained the capita ...


Heian period The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. It followed the Nara period, beginning when the 50th emperor, Emperor Kammu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means in Japanese. It is a ...


Kamakura period The is a period of History of Japan, Japanese history that marks the governance by the Kamakura shogunate, officially established in 1192 in Kamakura, Kanagawa, Kamakura by the first ''shōgun'' Minamoto no Yoritomo after the conclusion of the G ...


Nanboku-chō period The , also known as the Northern and Southern Courts period, was a period in Japanese history between 1336-1392 CE, during the formative years of the Ashikaga shogunate, Muromachi (Ashikaga) shogunate. Ideologically, the two courts fought for 50 ...


Southern Court


Northern Court The , also known as the Ashikaga Pretenders or Northern Pretenders, were a set of six pretenders to the throne of Japan during the Nanboku-chō period from 1336 through 1392. Even though the present Imperial House of Japan is descended from the ...


Muromachi period The , also known as the , is a division of Japanese history running from approximately 1336 to 1573. The period marks the governance of the Muromachi or Ashikaga shogunate ( or ), which was officially established in 1338 by the first Muromachi ...


Azuchi–Momoyama period The was the final phase of the in Japanese history from 1568 to 1600. After the outbreak of the Ōnin War in 1467, the power of the Ashikaga Shogunate effectively collapsed, marking the start of the chaotic Sengoku period. In 1568, Oda Nob ...


Edo period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...


Modern Japan

The "one reign, one era name" () system was implemented in 1868 CE.


Non- periods

Unofficial non- periods () before 701 are called . Pre-Taika chronology intervals include: *Reign of Emperor Jimmu, 660–581 BCE *Reign of Emperor Suizei, 581–548 BCE *Reign of Emperor Annei, 548–510 BC *Reign of Emperor Itoku, 510–475 BCE *Reign of Emperor Kōshō, 475–392 BCE *Reign of Emperor Kōan, 392–290 BC *Reign of Emperor Kōrei, 290–214 BCE *Reign of Emperor Kōgen, 214–157 BCE *Reign of Emperor Kaika, 157–97 BCE *Reign of Emperor Sujin, 97–29 BCE *Reign of Emperor Suinin, 29 BCE– 71 CE *Reign of Emperor Keikō, 71–131 CE *Reign of Emperor Seimu, 131–192 *Reign of Emperor Chūai, 192–201 *Regency of Empress Jingū, 201–270 *Reign of Emperor Ōjin, 270–313 *Reign of Emperor Nintoku, 313–400 *Reign of Emperor Richū, 400–406 *Reign of Emperor Hanzei, 406–412 *Reign of Emperor Ingyō, 412–454 *Reign of Emperor Ankō, 454–457 *Reign of Emperor Yūryaku, 457–480 *Reign of Emperor Seinei, 480–485 *Reign of Emperor Kenzō, 485–488 *Reign of Emperor Ninken, 488–499 *Reign of Emperor Buretsu, 499–507 *Reign of Emperor Keitai, 507–534 *Reign of Emperor Ankan, 534–536 *Reign of Emperor Senka, 536–540 *Reign of Emperor Kinmei, 540–572 *Reign of Emperor Bidatsu, 572–586 *Reign of Emperor Yōmei, 586–588 *Reign of Emperor Sushun, 588–593 *Reign of Emperor Suiko, 593–629 *Reign of Emperor Jomei, 629–645 Post-Taika chronology intervals not covered by the system include: *Reign of Empress Saimei, 655–662 ... Saimei (period) *Reign of Emperor Tenji, 662–672 ... Tenji (period) *Reign of Emperor Kōbun, 672–673 ... Kōbun (period) or Sujaku (or Suzaku) *Reign of Emperor Tenmu, 673–686 ... Tenmu (period) or Hakuhō periodCompare "Hakuhō" p. 280 *Reign of Empress Jitō, 687–697 ...
Jitō (period) were medieval territory Steward (office), stewards in Japan, especially in the Kamakura shogunate, Kamakura and Muromachi period, Muromachi shogunates. Appointed by the shōgun, ''jitō'' managed manorialism, manors, including national holdings ...
*Reign of Emperor Monmu, 697–701 (697) 文武 Monmu ... Monmu (period)


See also

*
Calendar A calendar is a system of organizing days. This is done by giving names to periods of time, typically days, weeks, months and years. A calendar date, date is the designation of a single and specific day within such a system. A calendar is ...
*
Japanese calendar Japanese calendar types have included a range of official and unofficial systems. At present, Japan uses the Gregorian calendar together with year designations stating the Japanese era name, year of the reign of the current Emperor. The written f ...
* Japanese imperial year * ''Jikkan Jūnishi'' (sexagenary cycle) * Regnal name * Regnal years worldwide *Related systems: **
Chinese era name Chinese era names, also known as reign mottos, were titles used by various Dynasties of China, Chinese dynasties and regimes in History of China#Imperial China, Imperial China for the purpose of regnal year, year identification and numbering. Th ...
**
Korean era name Korean era names were titles adopted in historical Korea for the purpose of year identification and numbering. Era names were used during the period of Silla, Goguryeo, Balhae, Taebong, Goryeo, Joseon, and the Korean Empire. Various Korean regime ...
** Vietnamese era name


Notes


Citations


References

* * * ''
Daijirin is a comprehensive single-volume Japanese dictionary edited by , and first published by in 1988. This title is based upon two early Sanseidō dictionaries edited by Shōzaburō Kanazawa (金沢庄三郎, 1872–1967), ''Jirin'' (辞林 "Fores ...
'', 2nd edition. * '' Daijisen'', 1st edition. * '' Kōjien'', 5th edition. * * Online conversion of Japanese dates into their Western equivalents; calculation is based on tables from and . * * Ponsonby-Fane, Richard. (1959)
''The Imperial House of Japan.''
Kyoto: Ponsonby Memorial Society
OCLC 194887
* '' Nihon Ōdai Ichiran'' * * * * . * . * . * * .


External links


Nengō converter
{{Chronology Calendar eras Era name