Gov’t to tackle system updates for new Japanese era

December 9, 2017

Tokyo- The central and local governments in Japan will get ready for updates to their documentation and other systems to fit a new Japanese era name, now that Crown Prince Naruhito's accession to the throne and the corresponding start of a new era is set for May 1, 2019.

The extended preparation period before the start of a new era contrasts with the last Imperial succession in January 1989, when the current era name of Heisei was decided within a day of the demise of Emperor Hirohito, known posthumously as Emperor Show, and Heisei started the following day.

The central government plans to announce the next era name next year.

The tax division of the city government of Kobe, western Japan, started to study the system updates needed around May this year, when a special bill to allow Emperor Akihito to step down was approved at a cabinet meeting. It aims to include related costs in the city's budget for fiscal 2018.

"We want the internal affairs ministry to decide promptly when we should start use of a new era name in notices to citizens," a Kobe official said.

The information system division of the southwestern city of Fukuoka plans to launch work on system updates as early as this month. "It will take a year to revamp large medical and welfare systems," an official of the division said.

Meanwhile, there seems to be no need to reissue "My Number" cards with personal identification numbers used across the social security and tax systems, as validity periods on the cards are based on the Western calendar.

"Major confusion is unlikely to occur" related to the My Number system, an official at the internal affairs ministry said.

A senior official of the prefectural government of Osaka, western Japan, welcomed the central government's move to make the accession day on May 1, 2019, a national holiday, which could lead to a 10-day holiday period including existing national holidays around the date.

"We'll be able to make system checks during public holidays," the Osaka official said. Jiji Press