Japanese era name

Era names originated in 140 BCE in Imperial China, during the reign of the Emperor Wu of Han.

Emperor Akihito had received special permission to abdicate,[8] rather than serving in his role until his death, as is the rule.

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.

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).

[10] Prior to the Meiji period, era names were decided by court officials and were subjected to frequent change.

For instance, the nengō Wadō (和銅), during the Nara period, was declared due to the discovery of copper deposits in Chichibu.

Most nengō are composed of two kanji, except for a short time during the Nara period when four-kanji names were sometimes adopted to follow the Chinese trend.

Since the Heian period, Confucian thoughts and ideas have been reflected in era names, such as Daidō (大同), Kōnin (弘仁) and Tenchō (天長).

In modern practice, the first year of a nengō (元年, gannen) starts immediately upon the emperor's accession and ends on 31 December.

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.

The apparent problem introduced by the lack of era names was resolved by identifying the years of an imperial reign as a period.

[12] 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 and instituted by law in 1979.

For example, the well-known itsunengō Hakuhō (白鳳) is normally said to refer to 650–654 CE; a poetic synonym for the Hakuchi era.

Other well-known itsunengō and shinengō include Hōkō (法興) (591–621+ CE), Suzaku (朱雀) (686), Entoku (延徳) (1460), Miroku (弥勒) (1506–1507 or 1507–1509) and Meiroku (命禄) (1540–1543).

Edo period scholar Tsurumine Shigenobu proposed that Kyūshū nengō (九州年号), said to have been used in ancient Kumaso, should also be considered a form of shinengō.

Since the release of Java 8, the Japanese calendar is supported in the new Date and time API for the year Meiji 6 (1873) onwards.

[19][20][21][22][23][24] The list of Japanese era names is the result of a periodization system which was established by Emperor Kōtoku in 645.