Japanese people greet new era name “Reiwa” with applause

April 1, 2019

Tokyo--Many people in Japan have welcomed the country's next era name, Reiwa, with applause and hopes for peace.

"It sounds fresh. I want to pass down the memories of the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami (to the next generation), in hope that the coming era will be peaceful without any natural disasters," said Masayoshi Takahashi, 39, who runs a diving shop in the town of Onagawa in the northeastern prefecture of Miyagi, one of the three prefectures hit hardest by the catastrophe.

When they visited the town in 2016, Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko gave some kind words to Takahashi, who engaged in reconstruction activities, such as removing rubble, at the time.

"I want them to get plenty of rest," Takahashi said.

Reiwa will succeed the current Heisei era on May 1, when Crown Prince Naruhito accedes to the throne, after Emperor Akihito abdicates on April 30.

The new era name comprises two kanji characters, with one of them, for "rei," meaning "good" or "fine," and the other, for "wa," meaning "peace" or "harmony."

Reiwa is a word taken from Manyoshu, a collection of ancient Japanese poems.

Cheers rang out from spectators appreciating cherry blossoms on Inui Street at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo.

Among them was Maya Iwana, 31, from the city of Shibata in the central prefecture of Niigata, who will have a baby in August.

"The new era name sounds beautiful. I'll think of a good name for my coming baby," Iwana said, stroking her belly.

"The kanji for 'wa' was unexpected, but I think it's good because it's easy to understand," Shigeru Shimada, 70, from the city of Kawagoe in Saitama Prefecture, north of Tokyo, said with a smile on his face.

This kanji was used in Showa, the era that preceded Heisei, so many people apparently had not expected it to be adopted for the coming era. In front of a large display screen on the external wall of the Alta shopping mall in the busy Shinjuku district in Tokyo, a crowd, including young people, who gathered to watch a live broadcast of the announcement of the next era name, burst into applause when the two kanji characters were shown by Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga shortly before noon (3 a.m. GMT).

Noa Sakai, a 19-year-old vocational school student from the city of Kashiwa in Chiba Prefecture, east of Tokyo, said: "It's different from what I had expected, but I think it's a really good name. It sounds beautiful. I hope that the current peace will continue."

Women who are due to have babies after the change of the era, like Iwana, also showed expectations for the new era.

Anri Yoshida, 26, who lives in Tokyo's Koto Ward, is slated to give birth to a baby boy in August. "I like the name as it sounds gentle," she said. "I hope that it will be an era where children and parents can live peacefully."

Yurie Nishigami, 26, a resident of the city of Kawasaki in Kanagawa Prefecture, south of Tokyo, is due to give birth to a baby girl in June. The word "rei" also sounds decent, she said.

Noting that women are increasingly playing active roles in Japanese society, Nishigami said, "I hope my daughter will grow and stand on her own feet." Jiji Press