Japan Facing a Period of “Blissful Harmony”

... which came as a claim to equal status with the Chinese “Son of Heaven.” The tradition lived on after Japan suffered defeat in the Second World War: and ruler slogans are used in official documents to this day. For example, the year 2019 is the 31st Heisei year and will soon be the first year of the “Reiwa”. On April 1, 2019, the Japanese government published the slogan of the future emperor — currently Crown Prince Naruhito. A panel of experts that participated in the slogan selection process,...