[Eng Sub / Text] 19.04.01 nz - Plus One! New era name "Reiwa" - Sakurai Sho

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Additional readings:-
Japan's govt. chooses 'Reiwa' as new era name (NHK, 19.04.01) https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20190401_54/
Japan prepares to enter new "Reiwa" era (NHK, 19.04.01) https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/nhknewsline/backstories/reiwaera/
Japan reveals name of new imperial era will be 'Reiwa' (BBC, 19.04.01) https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-47769566
On the New Era Name "Reiwa" (Prime Minister of Japan and His Cabinet, 19.04.01) https://japan.kantei.go.jp/98_abe/statement/201904/_00001.html
Japan Says the Name of Its New Imperial Era Means 'Beautiful Harmony' (Time, 19.04.02) http://time.com/5562578/japan-reiwa-era-beautiful-harmony/

... Plus One! #017 The backstage deciding the new era name "Reiwa" and its meaning

"Reiwa" which has not been leaked at all before announcement.
how was Reiwa narrowed down in absolute secret,
we would see the backstage information.

According to the people concerned, the Chief Cabinet Secretary Suga started to look at the era name proposals approximately in February 2019, and it was finally narrowed down to 6 proposals end March.

However, there were less than 4 people who knew all the proposals until the day of announcement.

At the expert panel meeting on 1 April 2019, according to more than 1 panel members, all of them were distributed the envelops with the proposals, and were told to look at them.

There was different saying on the size of paper being A3 size and A4 size.

Each proposed name was written vertically on one piece of paper. It was this moment that the expert panel saw the era name proposals for the first time.

According to the people concerned, there were 6 proposals shown.

It is said that the proposals were lined up in the order of a, i, u, e, o, the source and meaning of each proposal was written.

The paper with Reiwa, on the "ra" column of the syllable table, written was on the very left.

It is said that the character "an" which was the kanji of the name of Prime Minister Abe was not in any proposal.
After the meeting, the expert panel members said.

○ Hayashi Mariko-shi, Writer
"I think everyone in the panel seemed to agree on this name."
"I think that the name Reiwa seemed to be the most popular."

○ Okubo Yoshio-shi, President of The Japan Commercial Broadcasters Association
"We commented that we had the thought that it would be better to decide an era name which could be widely used and accepted by the citizens."

It seems that the conversation in this expert panel meeting became a major point for decision.

While Reiwa was decided in such backstage, we shall know more about its meaning here.

What is the meaning of the character "Rei" in the new era name?

The place I visited was the library of the Kokugakuin University in where many valuable documents rest.
The document kept here was ...

○ Sakurai
"Manyo Wakashu."

Manyoshu is Japan's oldest existing anthology of poems consisting of approximately 4,500 Japanese waka poems completed in the Nara era.
In it ...

○ Sakurai　　
"Rei", "Wa", they are here.

The name "Reiwa" came from this verse.

Manyoshu which became the source of the name is ...

I asked the researcher who wrote books about Manyoshu.

○ Konoshi Takamitsu, Emeritus Professor, The University of Tokyo, Expert on ancient literature
"There are not only poems from people of upper classes such as the Emperor and nobles, but also from others such as people dispatched as sakimori.
There are also poems called Azuma Uta which were written in dialect that has taken root in Tohoku.
The spectrum of the poets is very wide."

In that aspect, it is also called the national poetry.

Then, what is the meaning of the verse about plum blossoms that contains Reiwa?

○ Sakurai
"In this auspicious month of early spring, the weather is fine and the wind gentle."

This is a verse about the greeting which the poet Otomo no Tabito gave before a party started in his house in Dazaifu City, Fukuoka.
The verse is said to say that if the month is beautiful and the wind gentle, It would be a good environment for composing poems.

Here, the appearance of the party was reproduced by Hakata dolls.

○ Emeritus Professor Konoshi
"I think that the plum-blossom party was very stylish and modern party in that era."

Then, what sort of era do we see from the word Reiwa?

○ Emeritus Professor Konoshi
"Rei" means "good", "beautiful".
"Wa" means "gentle", "harmony".
The two characters are combined to depict that now we are in a very gentle, beautiful condition, a harmonious condition, at the same time,
"Rei" has another meaning of "let (people) do".
It can also be perceived as "let us keep the harmony continue in the future",
in that sense, I thought that the characters were well chosen.

○ Sakurai
"So it embraces the hope that the good parts would continue in the future,
and that it would be a better era from now on."

Source: https://www.ntv.co.jp/zero/articles/105a1t0zn0hw795v93d.html