The Peculiarities of Japanese Periodisation: A New Era of Reiwa

The article addresses the Japanese periodization system, 元号 — gengo:, also called 年号 — nengo:, which shows the number of years from the accession of the ruling emperor. This issue has grown in importance with the view to the recent imperial succession of 2019. Aimed at providing an outline of origins and reasons for the change of era names, the article explicates official narratives in the diachronic field. Being a topical issue due to high importance for the national character, national values, symbolism and the popular veneration of the monarchy, the change of the 248th gengo: as the result of the enthronement of emperor Naruhito on May 1, 2019, is particularly analysed. The paper uses historical, cultural, legal, structural and system analysis of national calendar shifts. The background of choosing Reiwa as a new era name in modern Japan is revealed in the review of the current political discourse, the legal procedure with special attention to state acts for selecting and approving national gengo:. It is concluded that gengo: is a universal category coined for labeling current historical periods, but it also has a multi-level meaning, a specific code of cultural memory, which reflects the history and continuity of spiritual values. So do the messages rendered by every (and current) gengo:, as they formulate national strategies in a special symbolic form.

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