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Japanese era name

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Japanese era name (年号, nengō, lit. year name) is a common calendar scheme used in Japan to count years. For example, the year 2006 is Heisei 18, and 2007 would be Heisei 19.

Like similar systems in East Asia, the era name system was originally derived from Chinese Imperial practice, although the Japanese system is independent from the Chinese or Korean calendar systems. Unlike other similar systems, the Japanese era name is still in use. Government offices usually require era names and years for official papers.

Sometimes an era name is expressed with the first letter of the romanized name. For example, S55 means Shōwa 55. At 64 years, Shōwa is the longest era to date.

Overview

Nengō, originated in China in 140 BCE, was adopted by Japan in 645 CE during the reign of Emperor Kōtoku (孝徳天皇). The first era name was Taika (大化), celebrating the revolutionary political changes following the great Taika reform (大化改新). Although the practice of nengō was once interrupted in the latter half of the seventh century, it was re-adopted in 701 and has been used continuously ever since.

Historical nengō

Prior to the Meiji period, era names were decided by court officials and were subjected to frequent change. A new nengō was usually proclaimed within a year or two after the ascendance of the new emperor. Besides the changes in emperor's reign, a new nengō was designated at two points in each sexagenary cycle (the first and the fifty-eighth year), because these years were considered to be auspicious according to the Chinese astrological principles. Era names were also renewed due to other felicitous events or natural disasters.

Era names indicate the various reasons for their adoption. For instance, the nengō Wado (和銅) during the Nara period was declared due to the discovery of copper deposits in Japan. Since the Heian period, Confucian thoughts and ideas have been reflected in era names, such as Daido (大同), Konin (弘仁) and Tencho (天長). Nengō are normally written with two kanji, except during Nara period when four Kanji names were sometimes adopted to follow the Chinese trend. Tenpyo Kanpo (天平感宝), Tenpyo Shoho (天平勝宝), Tenpyo Hoji (天平宝字) and Tenpyo Jingo (天平神護) are among the famous nengō names in four characters. In Japan, there currently exist a total number of 247 era names since Taika until the present Heisei. Despite such large number of era names, only seventy-two kanji were used. Out of the seventy-two kanji, thirty of them were used only once, while the rest were repeatedly used in different combinations to create new era names.

Nengō in Modern Japan

Since the ascension of the Meiji Emperor (明治天皇), it has been the practice to change era names only upon imperial succession. This practice became the law in 1979. Upon his death, an emperor is thereafter referred to with the name of the era marked by his reign. (For example, the 124th Emperor, Hirohito (裕仁), is posthumously known as the Shōwa Emperor(昭和天皇).)

In modern practice, the first year of a reign (元年 gannen) starts immediately upon the emperor's ascension to the throne, but always ends on December 31st. Subsequent years follow the Gregorian calendar. Meiji (明治), the nengō declared in 1868, continued until the death of the Meiji emperor in 1912. His son's reign of Taisho (大正) era lasted until December 25, 1926, when the Shōwa (昭和) era was proclaimed. The first year of Shōwa era thus consisted only of the last few days of December in 1926. After the death of Shōwa emperor (昭和天皇) in 1989, the present reign of Heisei emperor (平成天皇) began. 1989 is known as both "Shōwa 64" and "Heisei Gannen (平成元年)", although technically Shōwa 64 ended on January 7th with Hirohito's death.

Note that it is protocol in Japan that the reigning emperor is almost always referred to as Tennō Heika (天皇陛下, His Majesty the Emperor). Less frequently, the more informal Kinjō Tennō (今上天皇, current emperor) is used. The use of the emperor's given name is extremely rare in Japanese even today. To call the current emperor by the current era name Heisei, even in English, would be a faux pas, as it is and will be his posthumous name. These conventions are the source of great confusion not only in other languages, but also for the Japanese themselves.

Conversion table from nengō to Gregorian calendar years

The Japanese calendars prior to 1873 were derived from the Chinese. Japan adopted the Chinese calendar in 645.

To convert a Japanese year to a Western year, find the first year of the nengō (=era name, see list below). When found, subtract 1, and add the number of the Japanese year. For example, the 23rd year of the Showa Era (Showa 23) would be 1948 ... 

        1926 − 1 = 1925, then 1925 + 23 = 1948.

Southern Court

Northern Court

Reunification

Unofficial nengō system (私年号)

Besides the official nengō system, one encounters in pre-modern works the use of private or unofficial nengō system, known as shinengō (私年号). Little is known about the origin of shinengō. However, scholars have pointed out that the shinengō Hakuho (白鳳) was used during the period from 673 to 686, when no official nengō was designated. Another shinengō Hoko (法興) is said to have been in use during the reign of Emperor Suiko (推古天皇), by the Prince Shotoku (聖徳太子) and his followers. While nengō represented the authority of the emperor, shinengō provided an alternative during the eras of fragmented government, such as the Northern and Southern court.

Retaining the nengō system’s way to count years forward from the start, gannen of a new era, it has been proposed to introduce a “Jōmon Era” count to facilitate archeological dating:

Period Gregorian years Jōmon Era
Jōmon Gannen 10000 BC 1 JE
Incipient Jōmon 10000 –7500 BC 1– 2500 JE
Initial Jōmon 7500 – 4000 BC 2501 – 6000 JE
Early Jōmon 4000 – 3000 BC 6001 – 7000 JE
Middle Jōmon 3000 – 2000 BC 7001 – 8000 JE
Late Jōmon 2000 – 1000 BC 8001 – 9000 JE
Final Jōmon 1000 – 300 BC 9001 – 9700 JE
Japan Imperial power founded 660 BC 9341 JE
Yayoi period 251 BC – 250 AD 9750 –10250 JE

The Jōmon count has won no official acknowledgement and so far rests with the scholar's notes. But it should be noted that JE coincides with an other proposed calendar reform, the Holocene Era. Years of today are transformed by simply adding 1 before the year in both systems.

See also

Japanese resources:

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