Japan Govt to Use Only Western Calendar Year for Computer Data

May 22, 2018

Tokyo- The Japanese government is considering using only the Western calendar year for data exchanged between computers at its ministries and agencies, it was learned on Monday.

Although many ministries and agencies use the Western calendar year on their own computer systems, the Western year is converted to the Japanese era name for some shared data.

They will make adjustments necessary for unified use of the Western calendar year to their computer systems when they update them, informed sources said.

Meanwhile, the Japanese era name will continue to be employed for documents and certificates used in administrative procedures, according to the sources.

Last Thursday, the government decided to implement updates of its computer systems, assuming that it will announce the name of the country's next era, to follow the current Heisei, about a month before the change slated for May 1, 2019, when Crown Prince Naruhito ascends to the throne following the abdication of his father, Emperor Akihito, on April 30 the same year. Jiji Press