[4] The Japanese government on 1 April 2019 announced the name during a live televised press conference, as Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga traditionally revealed the kanji calligraphy on a board.

[5] The nine experts were:[6] The day after the announcement, the government revealed that the other candidate names under consideration had been Eikō (英弘),[7] Kyūka (久化),[8] Kōshi or Kōji (広至),[7][9] Banna or Banwa (万和),[7][9] and Banpo or Banhō (万保),[7][9][10] three of which were sourced from two Japanese works, the Kojiki and the Nihon Shoki.

The kotobagaki (headnote) attached to a group of 32 poems (815–846) in Volume 5 of the collection, composed on the occasion of a poetic gathering to view the plum blossoms, reads as follows:[citation needed] Original Kanbun text: 于時、初春令月、氣淑風和、梅披鏡前之粉、蘭薫珮後之香。[12]Classical Japanese translation (kanbun kundoku): 時に、初春の令月にして、気淑く風和ぎ、梅は鏡前の粉を披き、蘭は珮後の香を薫す。Toki ni, shoshun no reigetsu ni shite, kiyoku kaze yawaragi, ume wa kyōzen no ko o hiraki, ran wa haigo no kō o kaorasu.

[13]English translation: It was in new spring, in a fair (rei) month, When the air was clear and the wind a gentle (wa) breeze.

[19][20] Following the announcement of Reiwa in 2019, Nakanishi advocated for understanding the character rei (令) of the era name through the help of the Japanese word uruwashii (うるわしい, fair (of sight, weather), beautiful, fine (also of mood) etc.

[21] Nakanishi criticized the understanding of the rei (令) in Reiwa as Japanese utsukushii (美しい, generally meaning "beautiful"), which was propagated by then-Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, pointing out that neither the etymology nor the exact sense are appropriate.

[22][23][24][25] Robert Campbell, director-general of National Institute of Japanese Literature in Tokyo, provided an official televised interpretation to NHK, regarding the characters based on the poem,[clarification needed] noting that "Rei" is an auspicious wave of energy of the plum blossoms carried by the wind, and "Wa", the general character of peace and tranquility.

[29] On the other hand, according to Masaaki Tatsumi (辰巳正明), professor of Japanese literature, and Masaharu Mizukami (水上雅晴), professor of Chinese philosophy, interviewed by the Asahi Shimbun shortly after the announcement was made, the phrase has an earlier source in ancient Chinese literature dating back to the second century AD, on which the Man'yōshū usage is allegedly based:[30] 於是仲春令月，時和氣清；原隰鬱茂，百草茲榮。Yú shì zhòng chūn lìng yuè, shí hé qì qīng; yuán xí yù mào, bǎi cǎo zī róng.

[43] Fugaku also ranked first place in computational methods performance for industrial use, artificial intelligence applications, and big data analytics.

[45] In September 2021, Suga announced he would not stand in the Liberal Democratic Party leadership election, effectively ending his term as prime minister.

[51] On 16 December 2022, Second Kishida Cabinet announced a departure from Japan's defense-oriented policy by acquiring counterstrike capabilities and a defense budget increase to 2% of GDP by 2027.

[55] Kishida became a controversial figure in Japanese politics, and due to his negative approval ratings, stepped down in September 2024 to be replaced as Prime Minister by Shigeru Ishiba.