Japan New Imperial Era Reiwa Starts with the New Emperor after the Historical Abdication

Reiwa, the new imperial era is been revealed along with the new Japanese emperor Crown Prince Naruhito from next month. The current era Heisei is coming to an end after it was announced to be launched in April 2019 in November 2017 itself. The 85-year old Akihito will abdicate in April 2019 and will hand over the throne to his son.

This is the first such happening in more than two centuries as the abdication without the death of the emperor and Akihito has decided to hand it over to his son. The historical abdication will be taking place next month along with the change of era Heisei to Reiwa. Reiwa means order or command and peace or harmony.

The new era name will be featured in the coins, newspapers, driving licenses and official paperwork of Japan and each Japanese emperor's period will be given a name for the usage alongside the Western calendar in order of marking time. The revelation of new era name involved a lot of secret discussions in the cabinet and scholars and experts from the cabinet chose the new era name.

Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said, "A short while ago, the government decided at a cabinet meeting on the new era name and how to pronounce it"  during a press conference. The last era Heisei means achieving peace in Japanese and before that the Showa era means enlightened harmony.