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OverviewThe system on which the Japanese nengō are based originated in China in 140 BC, and was adopted by Japan in 645 AD 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 nengōPrior 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 Daidō (大同), Kōnin (弘仁) and Tenchō (天長). Nengō are normally written with two kanji, except during the Nara period when four Kanji names were sometimes adopted to follow the Chinese trend. Tenpyō Kanpō (天平感宝), Tenpyō Shōhō (天平勝宝), Tenpyō Hōji (天平宝字) and Tenpyō 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
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 31. 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, the Taishō era, lasted until December 25 1926 when the Taishō Emperor died and Shōwa (昭和) era was proclaimed. The first year of the Shōwa era thus consisted only of the last few days of December 1926. After the death of the Shōwa emperor in 1989, the reign of the present emperor began and the Heisei (平成) era began. 1989 is known as both "Shōwa 64" and "Heisei Gannen (平成元年)", although technically Shōwa 64 ended on January 7 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 yearsTo 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
In table
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:
The Jōmon count has won no official acknowledgement and so far is only used in academia. Note that JE coincides with another proposed calendar reform, the Holocene Era. Years of today are transformed by simply adding 1 before the year in both systems. See also
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