The Name of the New Japanese Imperial Era

2019/4/2


The Embassy of Japan in Brunei Darussalam presents its compliments to all media agencies and has the honour to inform them of the following:
 
  1. Following the enforcement of the Special Measures Law on the Imperial House Law Concerning the Abdication of the Emperor and Other Matters on April 30, 2019, His Majesty the Emperor will abdicate on the same day and His Imperial Highness the Crown Prince will accede to the Throne on May 1, 2019.
 
  1. It was decided at the Cabinet Meeting on April 1, 2019, that with the accession to the Throne of His Majesty the Emperor Naruhito, the new Japanese era be called “Reiwa” as from May 1, 2019.
 
  1. “Reiwa” is made up of the two characters “Rei” and “Wa”. “Rei” means “beautiful” and “Wa” means “harmony”. Thus, the term means that culture will be nurtured as people bring their hearts together in a beautiful manner. It is the first time that an era’s name has been taken from an old anthology of Japanese poems. The new era’s name comes from “Manyoshu”, which is the oldest one and was collected about 1,200 years ago.

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