Wednesday, 03/04/2019 09:48 (GMT+7)
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga on April 1st announced that the name of its new imperial era, set to begin on May 1st, will be "Reiwa".
Emperor Akihito and Crown Prince Naruhito (Source: AFP/VNA)
The word, taken from "Manyoshu," the oldest existing collection of Japanese poetry, is composed of two characters, "rei" and "wa," which roughly translate to "auspicious" or "orderly" and "harmony" or "peace."
This is the first time that an era’s name has come from a Japanese text and not a Chinese one.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said the government chose the kanji characters to represent "a culture being born and nurtured by people coming together beautifully."
"I hope the new era will take root among the public and be widely accepted by the people," Abe said.
The new era will start on May 1st, when Crown Prince Naruhito ascends to the Chrysanthemum Throne following the abdication of his father, Emperor Akihito, a day earlier.
There have been four era names in Japan’s modern history: Meiji (1868 - 1912), Taihso (1912 - 1926), Showa (1926 - 1989) and the current Heisei, meaning “achieving peace.”/.
Compiled by BTA