Mysterious era name “Tensei” seen on stone monuments in Kochi Pref.

March 26, 2019

Kochi--The words reading "tensei," which has never been adopted as an official era name in Japan but was used in certain areas in present-day Kochi Prefecture shortly before the start of the Meiji era (1868-1912), are seen on some stone monuments and in other materials in the western Japan prefecture.

The name is shrouded in mystery, with details about it unknown.

According to sources including Kochi Castle Museum of History, it has been confirmed that the era name of tensei, inscribed in three different patterns of spelling in kanji characters, was used in what are now four cities and four towns in Kochi, spreading over some 120 kilometers, from the town of Tano in the eastern part of the prefecture to the town of Shimanto in the west. These areas were part of the former Tosa Domain, now Kochi.

Stone monuments, among the 13 tensei materials in question, show that the first year of the "tensei" era corresponded to the third year of the Keio era, or 1867. In other areas in Japan, the Keio era continued until the Meiji era began the following year.

Local experts have offered their own views about the mysterious era name.

Masanao Hamada, former deputy head of Kochi Prefectural Museum of History, said that Emperor Komei passed away at the end of the second year of the Keio era and that it would not have been a surprise if the era name had changed at that time.

The 61-year-old researcher of stone structures said that the political turmoil, including the restoration of Imperial rule, which marked the end of the Edo period, might have been related to the use of tensei in the area.

On the fact that the three different spellings exist for tensei, Hamada said different people might have orally communicated the name in different places.

Shigeo Nakamura, deputy head of Chiiki Bunka Keikaku, a nonprofit organization researching local history and cultural goods, pointed out that tensei was shortlisted for the era that was eventually named Keio.

It is possible that wrong information spread somehow, said Nakamura, 54.

This month, Akihiro Imai, executive member of the NPO, discovered a document on which the word "tensei" was written in the city of Munakata, Fukuoka Prefecture, southwestern Japan.

It is believed to be the first tensei item found outside Shikoku, one of Japan's four main islands that hosts Kochi and three other prefectures--Ehime, Kagawa and Tokushima. A material related to tensei has been discovered in the Tokushima city of Miyoshi, which borders two Kochi municipalities.

"I will pour all my energy to uncover the truth (about tensei)," said Imai, 63. Jiji Press