Heisei 205058 218323260 2008-06-10T03:09:38Z Faradayplank 4427654 Reverted edits by [[Special:Contributions/68.127.37.13|68.127.37.13]] to last version by Shangyuan Zhuo (using [[WP:HG|Huggle]]) {{otheruses4|the Japanese era|the Toho studios kaijū continuity|Heisei era (daikaiju eiga)}} {{History_of_Japan}} {{Contains Japanese text}} {{nihongo|'''Heisei'''|平成}} is the current [[Japanese era name|era name]] in [[Japan]]. The Heisei era started on [[January 8]], [[1989]], just one day after the death of the reigning Emperor, [[Hirohito]]. His son, [[Akihito]], succeeded to the throne. In accordance with Japanese customs, Hirohito was renamed "[[Emperor Shōwa]]" on January 31, as were [[Posthumous name|posthumoused]] Mutsuhito as [[Emperor Meiji]] and Yoshihito as [[Emperor Taish&#333;]]. Thus 1989 corresponds to Shōwa 64 up to the 7th day of the first month (January 7) and to {{nihongo|Heisei 1|平成元年|Heisei gannen|''gannen'' means "first year"}} since the 8th day of the first month (January 8). [[{{CURRENTYEAR}}]] is Heisei {{#expr:{{CURRENTYEAR}}-1988}}. ==History and Meaning== On [[January 7]], [[1989]], at 7:55 AM, the grand steward of Japan's Imperial Household Agency, Shoichi Fujimori, officially announced Emperor Showa's death, and revealed details about his cancer for the first time. Shortly after the death of the Emperor, [[Keizo Obuchi]], then Chief Cabinet Secretary and later Prime Minister of Japan, publicly announced the end of the Showa 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 classic texts|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" (peace inside and prosperity outward) appears in a section honoring the wise rule of the legendary Chinese [[Emperor Shun]]. In the ''Shujing'', the sentence "地平天成" (the land is peaceful and the sky is clear) appears. By combining both meanings, Heisei is intended to mean "peace everywhere". The Heisei era went into effect immediately after the announcement of the new emperor on [[January 8]]th, [[1989]]. ==Events== [[1989]] marked the culmination of one of the most rapid economic growth spurts in Japanese history. With a strong [[yen]] and a favorable exchange rate with the [[US Dollar]], the [[Bank of Japan]] kept interest rates low, sparking an investment boom that drove [[Tokyo]] property values up sixty percent within the year. Shortly before New Year's Day, the [[Nikkei 225]] reached its record high of 39,000. By [[1991]], it had fallen to 15,000, signifying the end of Japan's famed "[[Japanese asset price bubble|bubble economy]]". Subsequently, Japan experienced the "Great Slump in Heisei", which consisted of more than a decade of price deflation and largely stagnant GDP as Japan's banks struggled to resolve their bad debts and companies in other sectors struggled to restructure. Some analysts blame the extended slump on the Japanese government's continued application of [[Neo-Keynesian_economics|Neo-Keynesian]] economic principles to its solution. Recently, however, commentators are pointing to signs that Japan's economy is emerging from the slump. The [[Recruit Scandal]] of [[1988]] had already eroded public confidence in the [[Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)|Liberal Democratic Party]], which had controlled the Japanese government for 38 years. In [[1993]], the LDP was ousted by a coalition led by [[Morihiro Hosokawa]]. However, the coalition collapsed as parties had gathered to simply overthrow LDP and lacked a unified position on almost every social issue. The LDP returned to the government in [[1994]], when it helped to elect Japan Socialist (later Social Democrat) [[Tomiichi Murayama]] as prime minister. In [[1995]], there was a large [[earthquake]] in [[Kobe]] (see [[Great Hanshin earthquake]]). The same year, there was a [[sarin]] gas [[terrorism|terrorist]] attack on the Tokyo subway system by the [[doomsday cult]] [[Aum Shinrikyo]] (see [[Sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway]]). Failure of the Japanese government to react to these events promptly led to the formation of [[NGO]]s which have been playing an increasingly important role in Japanese politics since. The Heisei period also marked Japan's cautious reemergence on the world stage as a world military power. In [[1991]], Japan pledged billions of dollars to support the [[Gulf War]] but constitutional arguments prevented a participation in or support of actual war. Iran criticised Japan for just pledging money and didn't appreciate the way Japan co-operated in the Gulf War. Mine sweepers were sent after the war as a part of the reconstruction effort. Following the second invasion of Iraq, in [[2003]], Prime Minister [[Junichiro Koizumi]]'s Cabinet approved a plan to send a total of about 1,000 soldiers of the [[Japan Self-Defense Forces]] to help in [[Iraq]]'s reconstruction, the biggest overseas troop deployment since [[World War II]] without the sanction of the [[United Nations]]. These troops were deployed in [[2004]]. On [[October 23]], [[2004]], the ''Heisei 16 [[Niigata Prefecture]] [[2004 Chūetsu earthquake|Earthquakes]]'' rocked the [[Hokuriku region]], killing 52 and injuring hundreds (see [[2004 Chūetsu earthquake]]). In Autumn 2007 [[Yasuo Fukuda]] became Prime Minister after the sudden resignation of [[Shinzo Abe]], following his election defeat earlier in the year. {{Unreferenced|date=April 2008}} <center> <table border=1 cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0> <tr style="font-weight:bold;background-color:#CCCCCC;color:#000000;text-align:right"><td>Heisei</td><td>1st</td><td>2nd</td><td>3rd</td><td>4th</td><td>5th</td><td>6th</td><td>7th</td><td>8th</td><td>9th</td><td>10th</td><td>11th</td><td>12th</td><td>13th</td><td>14th</td><td>15th</td><td>16th</td><td>17th</td><td>18th</td><td>19th</td><td>20th</td><td>21th</td><td>22th</td><td>23th</td><td>24th</td><td>25th</td><td>26th</td><td>27th</td><td>28th</td><td>29th</td><td>30th</td></tr> <tr style="background-color:#FFFFFF;"><td>[[Gregorian Calendar|Gregorian]]</td><td>[[1989]]</td><td>[[1990]]</td><td>[[1991]]</td><td>[[1992]]</td><td>[[1993]]</td><td>[[1994]]</td><td>[[1995]]</td><td>[[1996]]</td><td>[[1997]]</td><td>[[1998]]</td><td>[[1999]]</td><td>[[2000]]</td><td>[[2001]]</td><td>[[2002]]</td><td>[[2003]]</td><td>[[2004]]</td><td>[[2005]]</td><td>[[2006]]</td><td>[[2007]]</td><td>[[2008]]</td><td>[[2009]]</td><td>[[2010]]</td><td>[[2011]]</td><td>[[2012]]</td><td>[[2013]]</td><td>[[2014]]</td><td>[[2015]]</td><td>[[2016]]</td><td>[[2017]]</td><td>[[2018]]</td></tr> </table> <center> <table border = 1> <tr> <td width = 30% align = center> Preceded by:<br/>''[[Showa period| Shōwa]]'' </td><td width = 40% align = center> [[Heisei]] </td><td width = 30% align = center> Succeeded by:<br> present <br/> </td></tr> </table> </center> ==See also== *[[:ja:天皇制廃止論]] [[Category:Japanese eras]] [[de:Heisei-Zeit]] [[es:Era Heisei]] [[eo:Heisei]] [[fr:Ère Heisei]] [[ko:헤이세이 시대]] [[id:Heisei]] [[he:תקופת הייסי]] [[lt:Heisei laikotarpis]] [[ja:平成]] [[pl:Heisei]] [[ru:Период Хэйсэй]] [[sk:Obdobie Heisei]] [[sl:Heisei]] [[fi:Heisei-kausi]] [[sv:Heisei]] [[th:เฮเซ]] [[uk:Хейсей]] [[zh:平成]]