New Era Name - Reiwa

On April 30th, 2019, the current Emperor of Japan will abdicate the throne. The new Emperor will ascend to the throne on May 1st, 2019.

To mark this transition, the name of the era will change from “Heisei” to “Reiwa.”

Japan labels years using both Japanese imperial years and the years of the Western calendar. Japanese imperial years are unique to Japan, and Reiwa will be the 248th one.

An Imperial era name is selected according to the following six conditions:

• It holds a positive meaning that fits public ideals.
• It can be written with two kanji characters.
• It is easy to write.
• It is easy to read.
• It has not been used as a previous Imperial era or posthumus Emperor name.
• It does not refer to mundane matters.

“Reiwa,” the name of the new era that will begin on May 1st, 2019, was adopted from the Manyoshu, the oldest collection of Japanese poems compiled more than 1200 years ago. Its two characters were taken from the headnote of 32 poems about plum blossoms that appear in Volume 5 of the collection.

The new era name includes the meaning of culture coming into being and flourishing when people bring their hearts and minds together in a beautiful manner.