Reiwa era
The current Japanese era name, starting May 1, 2019. Used in dates, official documents, and to refer to the period.
Reiwa 6 corresponds to 2024.
The document is dated the 5th year of Reiwa.
令和の時代が始まった。
The Reiwa era has begun.
The Reiwa era began in 2019.
令和 refers to the present era starting in 2019, whereas 昭和 was a much earlier era (1926–1989) that learners sometimes confuse with more recent ones.
Standard kanji spelling for the era name.
Unicode single-character abbreviation for the Reiwa era; not used in normal text.
Derived from the Man'yōshū, an 8th-century poetry anthology. The characters 令 (beautiful, auspicious) and 和 (harmony, peace) were chosen to convey a sense of culture and peace.