Following the enforcement of the Special Measures Law on the Imperial House Law Concerning the Abdication of the Emperor and Other Matters on April 30, 2019, His Majesty the Emperor will abdicate on the same day and His Imperial Highness the Crown Prince will accede to the Throne on May 1, 2019, - the Embassy of Japan told InterPressNews.

It was decided at the Cabinet Meeting on April 1, 2019, that with the accession to the Throne of His Majesty the Emperor Naruhito, the new Japanese era be called “Reiwa” as from May 1, 2019.

“Reiwa (令和)” is composed of 2 Chinese characters (Kanji) which mean “beautiful (令)” and “harmony (和)”, and implies that “Culture will be nurtured as people bring their hearts together in a beautiful manner.” It was taken from wording appearing in the Manyoshu, Japan’s oldest poetry anthology which was compiled more than 1200 years ago.