The current era, Heisei, which means “Achieving Peace,” started on January 8th, 1989 and it will end in April 30th, 2019. Thus the new era Reiwa, which means “Beautiful Harmony,” will begin on May 1st when Crown Prince Naruhito takes over as Emperor.
« I want Japan to proudly bloom like plum blossoms, » said Shinzo Abe, the prime minister.
What’s exceptional about the name of this era is that the word came from the Japanese literature while other names are believed to be chosen from the Chinese literature.
Reiwa is a composition of two kanji words, rei and wa: rei means beautiful and wa means harmony, the word originated in a 1200 year old classic Japanese poem.
Assia Yahyaoui
JET Press Team
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