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Gov't to accelerate preparations for choosing new era name

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I hope they can come up with a good name, though with all the farces about Olympic logos and the like, I'm not that confident they will do. I trust they will be checking it against all the major languages in the world to avoid another Fukuppi.

At the same time, this is a great opportunity to drop the use of heisei etc. for the year. The abdication itself is the symbol of a modernizing monarchy, so it would be good to take this further step and use the name only for the era, not for the date. It's so confusing and must cost a fortune in time wasted looking it up or rewriting erroneous documents.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

It'll be interesting what the era name will be. Something really evocative is required for Naruhito to follow in the Emperor's footsteps, as he doesn't really inspire at the moment

0 ( +0 / -0 )

I nominateキラキラ kirakira,草食 soshoku and 引きこもりhikikomori

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

This is one aspect of Japanese tradition that they need to change. Nothing wrong with Emperor Hirohito being Showa Tenno, or the present Emperor Akihito becoming the Heisei Tenno. And by all means they should continue with this tradition. But for the purpose of date recording Japan should fully adopt the western calendar year, as much of Japanese society already has. If not, what was the point of going from the Chinese calendar to the Western one a hundred years ago?

0 ( +1 / -1 )

I am a sansei nikkeijin (3rd generation) raised in Hawaii and do not feel any particular loyalty towards the Japanese government or monarchy system. However, one should respect the feelings of older Japanese. I once asked my older relatives in Hiroshima about their views on the monarchy system and they got somewhat emotional about it. I personally feel that the Japanese monarchy system should be modernized more to be more in line with existing European monarchies. This will obviously involve reforms in the Imperial Agency (Kunai-cho).

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Luddite: "Have a public poll, they do for everything else"

They would never, NEVER do that with something so "precious" and "sacred". And while they open up polls in SOME cases, they most certainly never use them in official results, which they form separate panels for. Just look at the Olympic logo fiasco; despite choosing amidst the old boy's club and their preferences and the ensuing plagiarism, there was a public call for submissions and vote, but the government adamantly refused to even acknowledge it and said there is no way they would choose a publicly selected logo, once again turning to a new panel to deliberate and waste money on choosing.

-2 ( +2 / -4 )

Why not open it to the general public

Brave choice, although in Japan this may work better than the UK! Here, the last time they asked the general public to choose a new name for an important topic, (a new polar research vessel) they came up with Boaty McBoatFace! Lets hope that if it does go to a general poll they wont have the same issues?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-36225652

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Have a public poll, they do for everything else. I bet 'sakura' wins.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

I humbly nominate 誤解 (Gokai)! It accurately describes what everyone thinks about everything these days.

-2 ( +2 / -4 )

Why not open it to the general public and offer a free vacation in Guam for the winner?

5 ( +5 / -0 )

How about "Trumped", meaning... "trumped"?

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

The use of the name is so limited to government, means absolutely nothing aside from interaction with the government (check mobile) . Now highly paid old men get extra cash oversleeping, sorry overseeing a new eara that has Kanji they can't read!

-3 ( +0 / -3 )

Or use 2018 like the rest of the world, yes very qute a calander used only by government, Is it so special when only beauracracts use it?

-8 ( +0 / -8 )

In modern Japan, an era name (gengo) is used for the length of an emperor's reign, with the current reign under Emperor Akihito named the era of Heisei, meaning "achieving peace."

Which is something totally inappropriate for today, especially under the Abe regime.

The Heisei era began in 1989, and 2017 is Year 29. Once the abdication takes place, Year 1 of the new era starts.

Ok may I suggest some new names for the new era?  The era of achieving peace is coming to an end, but I still think it would be nice to keep the hei sound for a smooth transition. However, the character 兵 (meaning military) rather than 平(peace) would be more appropriate to signify the times we live in. Below are some examples- (and I'm being totally serious here)

兵備 Heibi-Preparation for war- signifying the end of Article 9

兵力 Heiryoku- Military force- since force is how Abe pushes his unpopular agendas through

兵舎 Heisha- The Barracks- since this is what Japan has started to turn into recently

憲兵 Kenpei- Military police- to pay homage to the state secrets bill and the new anti terrorism bill.

This is the era we live in. Maybe a bleak name like one of the above will be the catalyst to snap the public out of their comatose way of life and get Japan back on track- which is what we sorely need.

-2 ( +4 / -6 )

I think the era of such pomp and necessity is over, speaking of eras. Find a creative person -- not a panel that will cost millions of dollars -- and choose a name. Easy. Or better yet, use the man's actual name.

0 ( +5 / -5 )

Might I suggest the kanji for managing decline

0 ( +6 / -6 )

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