Yoshihide Suga, the Chief Cabinet Secretary of Japan stated on 17th May, that the Japanese Government would bring forward the date of announcement of the name of the next Imperial era of the country around 1st April 2019. The current Crown Prince Naruhito is expected to ascend to the Chrysanthemum Throne on the 1st of May, 2019, and the government is expected to complete the preparation of a gengō change by then.
Yoshihide has highlighted that the new name of the era impacts the society of Japan as a whole, changing details in calendars, newspapers, and other documents following the Gregorian calendar. Therefore, in a meeting, earlier on Thursday, the central government of Japan declared that any and all private companies and other local governments were required to start their preparations ahead of time to prevent any further confusion.
An era name in Japan only lasts for an entirety of an emperor’s reign. The current era is named ‘Heisei’, and uses the Chinese characters for Peace (平) and Achievement (成). This era of ‘achieving peace’ began in 1989 when Emperor Akihito ascended to the Throne after his father’s death. On April 30th, he is set to become the first monarch in 200 years to abdicate the Chrysanthemum Throne to his son – Prince Naruhito. The name of the new era under Emperor Naruhito is expected to be something easy to read, and unique, which will be composed of two Chinese characters, and will lead Japan until the next monarch takes over.