Copy of Reiwa calligraphy goes on display

May 25, 2019

Tokyo- A copy of the calligraphic work used to announce the name of Japan's new era, Reiwa, went on display at the National Archives of Japan on Saturday.

The copy, printed on the same kind of traditional Japanese paper as that used for the original Reiwa calligraphy, is on exhibition in a frame of the same type as that for the original work. The duplicated work is displayed in a glass case.

The original calligraphic work, written in black ink, was used by Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga when he announced the new era name to the public in a televised news conference on April 1.

Also being showcased with the copy are a photo of the top government spokesman raising the original Reiwa work at the news conference and a poem from Manyoshu, from which the new era name was taken. Manyoshu is the oldest existing collection of "waka" Japanese poems.

"It's a copy, but looks very impressive," Miki Hata, a 50-year-old corporate employee from Nagoya, the capital of Aichi Prefecture, central Japan, said while taking pictures of the copy with a smartphone. Hata showed hopes that Reiwa will be a peaceful era.

A 54-year-old male company worker from the northernmost prefecture of Hokkaido said, "I now really feel that I'm in the new era of Reiwa."

An official at the archives in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward said, "We hope that many people will come to see (the duplicated work) and feel close to the new era name."

Reiwa started on May 1, in line with the enthronement of Emperor Naruhito on the day, succeeding the previous Heisei era, which ended on April 30, when his father, Emperor Emeritus Akihito, stepped down from the throne. Jiji Press