Heisei Period

Heisei (平成^?) is the current era in Japan.

The Heisei era started on 8 January 1989, the first day after the death of the reigning Emperor, Hirohito. His son, Akihito, succeeded to the throne. In accordance with Japanese customs, Hirohito was posthumously renamed "Emperor Shōwa" on 31 January.

Thus 1989 corresponds to Shōwa 64 up to the seventh day of the first month (7 January) and to Heisei 1 (平成元年 Heisei gannen^?, gannen means "first year") since the eighth day of the first month (8 January).

To convert a Western era year after 2000 to Heisei, take the year, subtract 2000 and add 12. Or just subtract 1988. Example for 2012: 2012−2000+12 = Heisei 24. Or 2012−1988 = Heisei 24.

On 7 January 1989, at 07:55 JST, the grand steward of Japan's Imperial Household Agency, Shōichi Fujimori, announced Emperor Shōwa's death, and revealed details about his cancer for the first time. Shortly after the death of the Emperor, Keizō Obuchi, then Chief Cabinet Secretary and later Prime Minister of Japan, announced the end of the Shōwa era, and heralded the new era name "Heisei" for the new incoming Emperor, and explained the meaning of the name.

According to Obuchi, the name "Heisei" was taken from two Chinese history and philosophy books, namely Records of the Grand Historian (史記 Shiji) and the Classic of History (書経 Shujing).

In the Shiji, the sentence "内平外成" (Kanbun: 内平かに外成る Uchi tairaka ni soto naru) appears in a section honoring the wise rule of the legendary Chinese Emperor Shun. In the Shujing, the sentence "地平天成" (dì píng tiān chéng; Kanbun: かに天成る Chi tairaka ni ten naru) appears. By combining both meanings, Heisei is intended to mean "peace everywhere".