On Monday morning, a senior government official in Tokyo will enter a room, gather his thoughts and hold up a work of handwritten calligraphy.
Millions of people will pause and digest the meaning of the two kanjicharacters, and Japan will finally get the answer to a question that has kept it in suspense for months: the name of the new imperial era.
The characters will open a new chapter in Japanese history, a month before the emperor, Akihito, makes way for his eldest son, Crown Prince Naruhito, whose enthronement will take place on 1 May in the country’s first imperial abdication for 200 years. » | Justin McCurry in Tokyo | Friday, March 29, 2019
