Until I moved to Japan, I was using Western Calendar or as
known Gregorian calendar. The 0 is Jesus s birth. There were only 2 periods as
AD and BC. We are in BC. So all of us live in the same era. It is impossible to
meet with someone from AD.
Japan lives in eras
of emperor’s ruling. 2015 is Heisei 27 which means that 27th year of
ruling by the same emperor. Before Heisei era, it was Showa era from 1926 to 1989.
This becomes a mental problem for me. In 1989 people
changed era in Japan. People from the same families divided. Apart from the
generation gap, now there is the difference of era between parents and
children, or grandparents to grandchildren.
And being born in
Heisei means that you are really young. You are born in the era of the new emperor.
Two sibling: one is born in 1988, Showa 63, the other is
born in 1992, Heisei 4. 2 different eras
1989 is Showa 64 and Heisei 1.
My mental challenge didn’t end there. There is also the
paper work aspect of this way of numbering years. When you write date in
Japan, it is Heisei date.
On international papers, you need the Western date.
Some papers have both and you choose which calendar you
want to use.
I am going to give an example.
You choose western calendar per se. 23th of February 2015.
It makes Heisei 27, 23th of February.
Wow, making a mistake is so easy. You can see 27th
of February…
I was shocked how complex when it comes to write the date.
Then I bought a new year calendar notebook. Yes, I like the old school things
that I can write on. :)
On the last pages there are also some information about
subway and so on…
I saw this….
It is a chart for years. Which year is which in Showa, or
Heisei, or Meiji, or Edo… I feel like Meiji Era and Edo Era are historical. I
mostly use Heisei Era dates and sometimes some Showa Era dates.
The chart takes things easier of course, but as always
they preserve the Japanese cultural version. There will be more eras more
emperors in Japan.
Cheers,
Ece |
No comments:
Post a Comment