Reiwat?

[dorchadas]

So, the new era is 令和 reiwa, drawn from a poem from the Man'yōshū, the oldest collection of Japanese poetry, which reads:

初春の令月にして、気淑く風和らぎ、梅は鏡前の粉を披、蘭は珮後の香を薫らす

Or, in English

In the auspicious beginning of spring, the weather is fine, the wind's harshness softens, the plum blossoms open like powder before a mirror, and the orchids smell like sweet perfume.

So, the official meaning is "auspicious harmony," though there's a twitter thread here about the other possible meanings. I immediately thought "commanded to peace?" when I saw it, but "order and harmony," or "ordered Japan," and various other more nationalist meanings are also possible. It's a non-standard reading and it's not directly drawn from Chinese classics--the two characters aren't even next to each other in the poem--so it's very odd.

But, this post is about other possible era names that are also pronounced "Reiwa"!

• 零羽, "No wings."
  
• 涙窪, "Depressed."
  
• 礼萵, "Thanks for the salad."
  
• 冷話, "Cool story, bro."
  
• 鈴夥, "Gigantic bell."
  
• 励和, "Cheering for Japan."
  
• 齢和, "Aging Japan."
  
• 戻窊, "Back to the pit."
  
• 驪蛙, "Black horse-frog."
  
• 欐窳, "Cracked beam."
  
• 霝龢, "Peaceful rain."
  
• 沴和, "Utter chaos."
  
• 唳際, "Time of the cicada's cries," or poetically, "Summertime."
  
• 迣我, "Leapfrog."
  
• 昤倭, "A new dawn for Yamato."
  
• 霊蜡, "Ectoplasm."
  
• 麗婐, "Beautiful maid."
  
• 霊哇, "Disembodied children's laughter."
  
• 冷窪, "Ice cave."

Perhaps one of those will suit the coming era better.

Comments

[dreamkist]

冷話

I love the poem but that's a very interesting Twitter thread, do you think that's an accurate interpretation? Make Japan great again? Also, why were names taken from Chinese texts?

[alwaysbeenasmiler]

I nominate 'ectoplasm'

[dorchadas]

I certainly think it's one accurate interpretation. Abe keeps wanting to repeal Article 9 (the "no war" clause of the Japanese constitution), his cabinet allowed the use of the Imperial Rescript on Education (which mentions unquestioning devotion to the Emperor) in schools after it had been banned for decades, and there was a scandal involving his ties to Moritomo Gakuen, a school run by ultranationalists. Even choosing a native Japanese source for the name, a break with a millennia-old tradition, is a hint.

Abe isn't the Japanese Trump or anything because he's not vulgar nor mindlessly cruel, but he definitely looks fondly back on the days of the Japanese Empire.

Era names were a tradition borrowed from Chinese culture (like so many traditional Japanese practices), which is why they almost all composed of two characters. Chinese classics were treated as the height of civilized learning in Japan for centuries--in the Heian period, Japanized written Chinese called kanbun was the official language of court--and after a while it was just tradition. When you have a monarchy that's ruled for millennia, tradition is probably the most important thing.

[dreamkist]

That's fascinating. And I guess I just assumed the relationship between Japan and China had always been contentious. Thanks for explaining!

[dorchadas]

You're welcome!

It has been contentious for a long time, but one of the reasons for official promotion of Buddhism in Japan was the hope that it would lead to closer ties with China, and later pushbacks against Buddhism (like during the Meiji Restoration) tended to come when Japan was trying to emphasize its separateness.

I'd recommend a book, but I don't have any that come to mind.