Hi, guys!!
I’d like to talk about the Imperial era in Japan. Because The new era will begin on May 1st. On April 1st, Japan government announced the new era which is really important in Japan.
The Imperial name appears in daily life on coins, drivers’ licenses and official paperwork, as well as in counting years, though many Japanese also use the Western calendar. It’s really common to use the Imperial era in Japan.
We've been using the “Heisei” era for 31 years (1989-2019),and then we are using the “Reiwa” era from next month.
The era name was taken from the Manyoshu, which is the oldest existing anthology of Japanese poetry.
The meaning of Reiwa (consists of two chinese character)
Rei(令): auspicious, good fortune, order
Wa(和): harmony, peace
That is, the new era brings all of you an abundance of happiness, success, and good health.
However, this meaning has generated confusion and controversy when it is translated to English.
Reference
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-japan-emperor-calendar/whats-in-a-name-japan-puzzles-over-reiwa-the-term-for-new-imperial-era-idUSKCN1RE0KW
This article says “While many Japanese were positive about the new name, to some, particularly young people, it sounded harsh.”, but I don't think so. I feel a lot of my friends like this new era name. We are getting use to this name eventually anyway lol.
新元号が発表されましたね。
「令和」
個人的には、なんとなく好きです！
令和には「人々が美しく、心を寄せ合う中で、文化が生まれ育つ」と言う意味が込められている。と安倍首相がおっしゃっていて、元号を決めるのも大変だなあと感心していました。
読んだ記事には、「新しい元号の名前にはポジティブな意見が多いが、特に若者に厳しい意見がうかがえる」って書いたったけど、ほんまかいな。若者も好きやと思うけど 笑。
ではでは！See you later! Thank you for your time:)