Japan’s new imperial era will be called as ‘Reiwa’

Japan's new imperial era to begin on May 1, when Crown Prince Naruhito becomes emperor, will be called Reiwa, the government said on Monday, adding that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe would explain its meaning in a national address.

People across Japan paused as the name – or gengo – was announced after months of secret deliberations, with the final choice previously known only to a select group of experts and senior politicians.

Naruhito's ascension to the Chrysanthemum Throne will come a day after his father, Emperor Akihito, abdicates on April 30, ending the Heisei era, which began in 1989. Akihito will be the first emperor to abdicate in Japan in over two centuries.

Yoshihide Suga, the chief cabinet secretary, unveiled the name live on TV, moments after a nine-member panel, which included Nobel Prize-winning stem cell scientist Shinya Yamanaka, agreed on a name from about five options put forward by scholars of classical Chinese and Japanese literature.

“We hope the new era name will be widely accepted by the public and become deeply rooted in the lives of the Japanese people,” Suga said after the, which began several minutes behind schedule.

TV commentators announcement struggled to offer a direct translation, but the two characters, taken from the eighth-century work Man’yoshu, the oldest existing anthology of Japanese poetry, can be read as “fortunate” or “auspicious”, and “peace” or “harmony.”

The prime minister, Shinzo Abe, said the term “symbolizes our nation’s profound public culture and long tradition”.

He added: “Just like amazing plum flowers in full bloom that signal the arrival of spring after a bitter cold, each and every Japanese person can hope for the future and make their own flowers blossom.

“Our nation is facing up to a big turning point, but there are lots of Japanese values that shouldn’t fade away. We are very proud of our history, culture, and tradition, and this term expresses the Japan of tomorrow, the one we want to build for future generations. That was the most decisive point in making the choice.”