February 25, 2008

Hello JOI Community Members,

Our last Community News issue focused on the Chinese lunar calendar, a 60-year cycle of years used widely in China and other Asian countries. This time, I'd like to take a look at other systems of year counting used in Japan.

A Melting Pot

The culture surrounding years in Japan is a mixture of the classical (from China), the historical (from Japanese history), and the modern (from Western culture). While the Chinese calendar is recognized today in Japan, everyone says Akemashite Omedetou (Happy New Year) on January 1, not on the Chinese new year's day.

Before 1873, the date of the start of the year adhered to the lunar calendar; following the Meiji Restoration, the timing of the new year was aligned with the Western system. However the Chinese animal year is still seen as the symbol of the year, and the year's animal can be seen in television commercials during the first few days of the new year. Also Japanese people tend to print the Chinese animal of the year on their new year's greeting cards, which are traditionally sent and timed to arrive in the new year. But once new year's festivities are over, the animal symbolizing the year is almost all but forgotten.

Can you guess the Western year that these New Year cards were received in? (Hint: last issue of Community News)

The Imperial Japanese Year

The practice of naming years after the country's ruler or emperor of was a widespread tradition throughout Asia (Vietnam and Korea had similar systems). This system was based on the Chinese imperial year system, which began in the second century B.C.

The Japanese year, or 年号 (ねんごう,nengo), dates back to 645 and was started by the the emperor Kōtoku, whose court adopted the name Taika, meaning "Great Reform," as a nengo for his reign. As one emperor died and another took over, the court would decide a name to mark and celebrate the new emperor's reign. These Japanese era names are still in use today, especially in government offices for official papers. In most schools, history is studied using dates with era names.

It can be a little confusing for everyone (Japanese included). For starters, the end of one nengo and start of the next is marked on the death of an emperor, which, naturally, can happen any time during the year. As a result, some Western years have two Japanese year names—one Japanese "year" starting midway through the Western year. One example is Taisho 14 and Showa 1, which both denote 1926. The Taisho emperor died in late December, so, officially, Taisho 14 ends and Showa 1 starts December 25, 1926.

A fun game you can play in Japan is to ask when a famous event in Japanese history happened. You will no doubt get a quick answer from someone, then go on to ask how many years ago it was—and watch everyone's brows furrow as they try to make a rough estimate of, or better still start to try to remember, the order of eras: えーと... now was the Keio before or after the Genji?

Recent Nengo

In the past two hundred years or so, there have been 14 nengo, as follows:

享和	Kyōwa	1801–1804
文化	Bunka	1818-1830
天保	Tenpō	1830-1844
弘化	Kōka	1844-1848
嘉永	Kaei	1848-1854
安政	Ansei	1854-1860
万延	Man-en	1860-1861
文久	Bunkyū	1861-1864
元治	Genji	1864-1865
慶応	Keio	1865-1868
明治	Meiji ("Enlightened Rule")	1868-1912
大正	Taishō ("Great Righteousness")	1912-1926
昭和	Shōwa ("Enlightenment and Harmony")	1926-1989
平成	Heisei ("Achieving Peace")	1989-

Going back even farther, nengo aren't used a lot any more. You will find that these pre-modern dates are classified based on the location of the capital city, rather than the emperor's nengo. This classification system is much easier to remember (the capital didn't move that often), but is less precise than the nengo system.

Pre-historic Japan	Jomon Period (300 B.C.) Yayoi Period (300 B.C. – 300 A.D.) Kofun Period (300 - 538)
Medieval Japan	Asuka Period (538 - 710) Nara Period (710 - 794) Heian Period (794 - 1192) Kamakura Period (1192 - 1333) Nanboku-cho Period (1334 - 1392) Muromachi Period (1392 – 1573) Azuchi-Momoyama Period (1573 -1603) Edo Period (1603 – 1867)
Modern Japan	Meiji (1868 – 1912) Taishō (1912 – 1926) Shōwa (1926 – 1989) Heisei (1989 – present)

So, let me take a deep breath and sum it all up: This year in Japan is known as 2008, the year of the mouse, or Heisei 20—take your pick.

Support Tips

	Are you hearing echoes in the classroom? Because the new classrooms let you and your teacher talk at the same time, you may hear echoes (or cause echoes) if your microphone isn't adjusted properly. We have several new FAQs to deal with the topic: If you hear echoes or noise when you talk, please read this FAQ. If you hear echoes or noise when someone else talks, please read this FAQ. If someone else hears echoes when you talk, please read this FAQ.
	Is your voice cutting in and out in the classroom? Your Internet connection may be a little slow—try this FAQ for ways to improve your voice quality.
	Are the voices of other users breaking up in the classroom? Again, it might be your Internet connection. One great way to solve this problem is to turn off your video reception, as described in this FAQ.
	Don't forget about the weekly lesson blog! It's a free way to learn about Japanese culture and learn a few words and phrases along the way.

Thanks, everyone, for helping make JOI a great online Japanese school! I hope you're having fun learning Japanese online.

If you have other questions, be sure to check out the FAQs, or if you don't find an answer there, write me at support@japonin.com.

Sincerely,
 
Moses
JOI Support