Do you know what year it is? I often don’t, thanks to the Japanese custom of counting years according to the reign of the Emperor in power. The current era of Heisei (“Achieving Peace”) started in 1989, when Emperor Akihito ascended to the throne, making this year Heisei 21. Heisei is the fourth era since Japan became a “modern” nation; the others were Meiji (“Enlightened Rule,” 1868-1912), when Japan began to emulate the West for the first time; Taisho (“Great Righteousness,” 1912-1926), which saw a terrible earthquake that killed 140,000; and the long and eventful Showa (“Brilliant Harmony,” 1926-1989), a time of war, rebuilding and eventually, toilets that wash your butt for you. When you live in Japan for a while, you naturally come to memorize certain events in the Japanese era system: for example I was born in Showa 43, I came to Japan in Heisei 3, and started J-List in Heisei 9. Japanese Emperors are always referred to by their era name in Japan, e.g. Emperor Showa for Hirohito, Emperor Heisei for the current Akihito, and it’s quite common for Japanese to have no idea what their Emperor’s name is. Akihito is 125th in the longest unbroken monarchy in the world, and he recently celebrated his 50th wedding anniversary to his wife Michiko (who comes from our prefecture of Gunma).
Congratulations to Emperor Akihito and his wife on 50 years of marriage!
