The early announcement will give companies and public bodies time to incorporate the new era’s name into their paperwork and computer systems, and avoid any Y2K-style glitches when Naruhito becomes emperor on 1 May. Local governments say they have been preparing for the change for months and are confident they will be able to update their records in time. [...]
The names given to Japanese imperial reigns can have far-reaching consequences. The choice of characters can help determine the national zeitgeist and, over time, the name becomes a byword for collective memories of the era in question. [...]
It remains to be seen if the new era will revive the popular use of gengo amid a preference for the Gregorian calendar. A recent poll by the Mainichi newspaper found that 34% of people used gengo most of the time, a similar proportion used both in roughly equal measure, while a quarter preferred the Gregorian calendar. In 1975, 82% of people said they used gengo more frequently. [...]
But the panel of experts tasked with devising a shortlist of contenders – with the cabinet to make the final decision – will be eager to avoid accusations that their choice has political overtones, given the constitutional ban on postwar emperors from wielding political influence. [...]
For the past few months, a secretive eight-member panel of experts, including scholars of Japanese and Chinese classical literature, has been debating the merits of scores of possible names for the new era, the latest of almost 250 gengo stretching back to the seventh century.
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