Japan named its next imperial era Reiwa, or roughly "auspicious calm," as the nation prepared for a once-in-a-generation transition in the world's oldest continuous monarchy, with a new emperor to ascend the Chrysanthemum Throne next month.
The unveiling of what had been a closely guarded secret is among the first steps toward the imperial succession.
Emperor Akihito, 85, is preparing to step down at the end of the month, drawing the curtain on his three-decade reign. His oldest son, Crown Prince Naruhito, 59, will replace him May 1, marking the beginning of the new era.
"The word 'reiwa' implies the people's hearts coming together in beauty to create and develop culture," Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said.
The characters are taken from a poem about plum blossoms in an eighth-century anthology known as the "Manyoshu," or "Collection of Ten Thousand Leaves." Abe said he hopes that citizens' lives would blossom like the flowers in the poem.
Although no official English translation of the two Chinese characters used in the name was provided, many took them to mean "auspicious" and to "soothe" or "calm" in the context of ancient Japanese poetry.
There were many ways to interpret the characters, with the first one generally used to convey "order" or "instruction." The second character is often translated "harmony" and can also mean "Japanese."
Thousands crowded major urban centers to watch the name announcement on TV. Meanwhile, the Real Estate Institute of Western Australia, or REIWA, found itself accidentally at the center of a lot of attention from Japan.
