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New Japanese Era Name is 'Reiwa'

The command/order meaning of the title sounds a bit ominous given that the current Prime Minister is only a sightly less of a right-wing nationalist than certain current leaders here in the west and often makes moves about changing the constitution.

Still I'm sure Emperor Reiwa will be as nice as a constitutional monarch can possibly be. Why about the worse thing you can say about the Emperor Heisei was that his dad was a war criminal who was pals with Hitler and Mussolini.

The command/order meaning of the title sounds a bit ominous given that the current Prime Minister is only a sightly less of a right-wing nationalist than certain current leaders here in the west and often makes moves about changing the constitution.

After the next era name was announced, Yamanaka told reporters he thinks of the new gengō as a combination of the new and old.

The first-ever use of the kanji “rei” and the nostalgic touch evoked by “wa” — the same character that was used in Showa — makes the forthcoming gengō “perfectly befitting today’s Japan, which both cherishes tradition and strives to try out new things,” he was quoted as telling reporters.

The Manyoshu passage that inspired Reiwa was written by poet Otomo no Tabito as an introduction to 32 ume-themed poems penned by his poet friends, according to officials. In the introduction, “rei” was used to refer to “reigetsu,” or “auspicious month,” while “wa” described the peaceful manner of an early spring breeze.

Having never been used before, the choice of “rei” came as a surprise for many.

Many Japanese people are not familiar with use of “rei” to mean “good fortune” or “auspicious.” For most, the first phrase that comes to mind is likely to be “meirei,” which literally means an order or command from a supervisor.

Some took to the Twitter to express their confusion over what they said was “meirei no rei” or “(‘rei‘ as in command)” — causing the keyword to briefly trend over social network services.

Masaharu Mizukami, a professor of Chinese and Japanese literature at Chuo University, said the choice of “rei” makes sense given positive phrases such as “reijō” and “reisoku” — a respectable way of referring to someone’s daughter or son, respectively.

but historians question how much control he really had over the IJA and IJN, who had by the time of the war completely suborned the civilian government by assassination and intimidation. Was he powerless to stop the army and the navy from carrying out their foreign misadventures until late in the war when they had expended most of their influence? Or was he secretly a prime mover and supporter of their actions as has been suggested after his death made it slightly less taboo to question the official story? Certainly the political convenience for the Americans and the postwar government of the idea that he was powerless to stop the out-of-control military in spite of being their supreme commander on paper, and the social taboo on involving the imperial household in politics, makes it difficult to talk about.

At one point in his address, Minister Abe said, “Culture is born through the beauty of people caring for one another.”

I had to laugh. Japan is still notoriously conservative, right? I watched a video on YT recently about this gay couple in Japan (uploaded by Asian Boss) and felt that it was another reaffirmation about the problems there. While I would of appreciated more on their daily lives and not just their pasts, one of them was still very critical about how much can still be achieved because of how the Japanese are. Just in the last 10 years, great improvements have been made but much is still left to be done because of the thinking with individual responsibilities and concern. The problem with bullying, suicide and women’s right/place are other factors that has become a stereotype for Japanese society that flies in the face of Abe’s assertion. I know life there has too be much more complex than these simple summations but can current Japan be seen as overwhelmingly caring for one another? Surely, the stereotype of not becoming a burden on to others is hardly what he meant, right?