Before Heisei, Era Names Finally Determined by Emperors

March 30, 2019

Tokyo- While the name of a new Japanese era following the current Heisei will be finalized at a cabinet meeting on Monday, the final decision on an era name was left to the Emperor of each period before Heisei in Japan's modern history.

Especially, Meiji (1868-1912) was selected by lot drawn by Emperor Mutsuhito, then 15, from among three final candidate names, according to Japanese era name dictionaries and other sources.

The final candidates were submitted by former Fukui domain lord Matsudaira Yoshinaga, who was serving in a key post in a modern government created in the state reform process now called Meiji Restoration.

Taisho (1912-1926) as the name of the following era was first adopted by parliament and then approved by Emperor Yoshihito.

It was one of three options presented by then Prime Minister Kinmochi Saionji to Aritomo Yamagata, then president of the Privy Council, the supreme advisory body for the Emperor.

Showa (1926-1989) was nominated by then Prime Minister Reijiro Wakatsuki, along with two alternatives. The Privy Council confirmed the nomination, and Emperor Hirohito took the final decision on the name. The council, established under the Meiji Constitution, was scrapped upon implementation of the current supreme law in 1947.

Heisei (1989-2019) was the first to be decided under the Era Name Act of 1979, which gives the cabinet the authority to set an era name by ordinance.

Although there has been no official announcement on names that were examined along with Heisei, a memo of a Kyushu University honorary professor who was among experts asked by the government to come up with candidate names has revealed recently that there were two other finalists: "Shubun" and "Seika." Jiji Press