Saturday, December 26, 2009

メリー・クリスマス(meri kurisumasu): Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!
How do you spend this day? It is not a holiday here, so I worked as usual.
Dec. 25 is the birthday of Jesus Christ, but it is also the death anniversary of the Emperor Taisho (大正天皇: taisho tenno) in 1926 in Japan. The Taisho Era (大正時代: taisho jidai) ended by his decease, and the Showa Era (昭和時代: Showa jidai) started on Dec. 25, 1926. Therefore Dec. 25 is the first day of Showa. The Showa era lasted for 64 years until Jan. 7, 1989. The Showa era was the longest reign of any historical Japanese emperor. The Showa era ended by Emperor Showa's decease, and the Heisei era (平成時代: heisei jidai) started on Jan. 8, 1989.
Heisei (平成) literally means flat become, but this came from two old books and actually means peace will be attained both inside and outside, and heaven and earth.

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