also: やちとせ
8000 years; thousands of years; eternity
Literally '8000 years', but often used hyperbolically to mean a very long time or eternity. The reading やちとせ is archaic/poetic.
A country boasting a history of 8000 years.
This tradition is said to have continued for thousands of years.
Standard kanji spelling for the reading はっせんねん.
Rare reading やちとせ for the kanji 八千年; mainly encountered in classical contexts.
Archaic or literary spelling using 歳 for years; reading やちとせ is rare.
Compound of 八 (eight) + 千 (thousand) + 年 (year). The reading やちとせ uses the native Japanese reading や for 八 and ちとせ (千年) for 'thousand years', an older counting style.