Japan welcomes a new emperor and the beginning of the ‘Reiwa’ era

It’s the end of an era in Japan. Emperor Akihito will step down at the end of this month, and the country will begin the era of Reiwa

Hey everyone, welcome back to Plain English for Monday, April 15, 2019. We’re off to a great start this week because we have a fun topic—something I knew nothing about before a listener, Kuni from Tokyo, suggested it. So stay tuned and we will learn a little something about Japanese culture together today.

Today is episode number 146. And as you know, Plain English is the best podcast for learning and practicing English through current events. I’m Jeff…and if I sound a little different today, it’s because I’m not at my home recording studio, I’m actually at the Plain English regional headquarters in Dallas, Texas. You know, we have our global headquarters in Chicago, but we also have smaller, regional offices in other locations. So today I paid a visit to the regional office in Dallas. And we have a special guest who wants to say hi. Come on over here, special guest.

Hi everyone, this is JR. I have some great news to share with you. Starting next week, we are going to have a new feature on Plain English: the song of the week. Every week, we are going to pick one song to talk about at the end of the episode. And the best part is, you are going to nominate the song that we talk about! Here are the rules. First of all, the song has to be in English. And the second rule is, it has to be appropriate. No bad language! Those are the only two rules. So if you want to nominate a song to be included in the show, you have to e-mail me at [email protected]. Send me your favorite song in English, and we might include it on a future episode.

That’s exciting, thanks JR! So think about your favorite songs in English and send your suggestions to [email protected]. We’ll kick that off next week.

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We have a number of things available to you in addition to the audio program you’re listening to right now. We have the transcripts, which are always free and available online. Today’s is at PlainEnglish.com/146. The transcripts also have instant translations of about 100 words and phrases into French, Japanese, Portuguese, Chinese, Spanish and Italian. So you can learn vocabulary with the instant translations. When I say instant, I mean you can listen to the show and when you get to a highlighted word, just hover your mouse over the word, or tap on it if you’re on your phone, and you’ll see the translation into your language—all without having to switch pages, look something up, or pause the audio. It’s pretty cool. And it’s not just Google Translate, either—these are real translations by real professional translators. We have a team of them around the world.

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One of the things that amazes me about eastern culture is how far back these cultures go. As you listen to the episode, pay attention to the dates and how far back some of these traditions go.

Japan to open Reiwa era with new emperor on May 1

The end of an era in Japan is coming. When the 86-year-old Emperor Akihito abdicates at the end of this month, his son, Crown Prince Naruhito, will accede to the Chrysanthemum Throne, the imperial seat of the emperor of Japan. When he does so, official Japan will transition from the Heisei era to the Reiwa era.

Much like the Queen of England, the Emperor of Japan is a symbol of Japanese culture and tradition. It is uncommon for emperors to abdicate, or resign; most die while they hold the title of emperor. But in 2017, Emperor Akihito announced that he was getting too old to carry out his duties and that he planned to abdicate at the end of April 2018. It will be the first time in more than 200 years that an emperor abdicates. His son, Crown Prince Naruhito, will become the next emperor on May 1. Japan is the oldest hereditary monarchy in the world, but the emperor has no political role or political duties, according to Japan’s constitution. Even so, the emperor is a symbol of Japan and offers emotional support. He stays close to the people and offers just one way for the Japanese people to have pride in their country and their culture.

Part of the symbolism of the emperor is naming an era after him. They assign an official name to the period in which an emperor rules. The time period corresponding to Emperor Akihito is the Heisei era. That’s the one we are in now. Prior to this era, it was the Showa era. There have been 248 eras since the system began in the year 645 AD. Naming an era, or a long period of time, is an ancient tradition with its roots in China. Today, though, Japan is the only country that still practices this tradition.

On the first of this month, the Japanese government announced the name of the next era, which will begin on May 1. The name is Reiwa, a combination of two Japanese characters.

Reiwa was chosen from a series of poems called Man’yoshu, the oldest collection of Japanese poetry, which dates back to the eighth century. The preamble to the poems states: “Being an auspicious month in early spring, the weather was pleasant and the wind was peaceful.” The Rei corresponds with “auspicious” and the “Wa” corresponds with peaceful. Auspicious implies good fortune or future success, so when you put Reiwa together, it means fortunate, auspicious, put together with peace and harmony. The Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said that the name hints at spring and renewal, and contains a wish that everyone’s hopes can blossom in this new era. He noted that the Man’yoshu anthology is a “national book symbolizing Japan’s rich national culture and long traditions.”

Though the government announced the new name, the decision was in the hands of a special council of academics and other Japanese experts. Their names won’t be revealed, and neither will anything about their deliberations. We’ll never know what other names were considered, or whose idea Reiwa was. They are all being quite tight-lipped about it!

The name of the era is more than just symbolic. Japan has a parallel calendar, in which the years are named after the era. When you have business with the government and you need to state the year you were born or the year you got married, you have to use the era system to state that year. Here’s how it works. In the Japanese calendar, the year is named as the number of years after the current era started. So this year is Heisei 31, because the Heisei era started 31 years ago. My birthday would have been in Showa 56. Because the era is changing, this year will also be known as Reiwa 1, starting in May.

More informally, the era names are about how people think about the passage of time. One of our listeners in Japan, Taku, says that people think of the Showa era as the good old days, the past, whereas Heisei is more modern, the present. But soon, Heisei will be the past and Reiwa the present. Taku says it helps to organize your memories and each era has its own set of feelings for each person.

I want to say thank you to a few listeners – first to Kuni, from Tokyo, who suggested this topic to me. And also Taku and Yumiko, who both helped out. Thank you so much for offering some great information and your opinions—your fellow listeners around the world thank you for sharing some more about your country and your culture.

That’s one of the great reasons I like using WhatsApp. I was able to reach out to some listeners from Japan and get their opinions. Now, I have a request. I know we have a lot of listeners in Japan. I can tell from my media host where people listen to the program. But I think you guys are pretty shy. I look at my email and my WhatsApp and I get messages all the time from my friends in Latin America and Europe, but very rarely do I get messages from Japan. And I have never gotten a voice message from anyone from Japan. So this episode comes out at about 8:00 in the evening in Japan. So I’m going to ask you guys, I want to hear from you about this episode—what do you think about the new era name? Is the era calendar outdated? What about the new emperor? I’ll share some thoughts on a future episode, but I really want to hear from you guys in Japan: I know you’re out there.