令れい和わ

れ

い

わ

Common word

Meanings

noun

Reiwa era

The current Japanese era name, starting May 1, 2019. Used in dates, official documents, and to refer to the period.

令れい和わ6年ねんは2024年ねんです。
Reiwa 6 corresponds to 2024.
令れい和わの時じ代だいが始はじまった。
The Reiwa era has begun.

See all 44 example sentences ›

Usage patterns

令れい和わ〈数すう〉年ねんthe Xth year of Reiwa (used in dates)
この書しょ類るいには令れい和わ五ご年ねんと書かいてある。
The document is dated the 5th year of Reiwa.
令れい和わになるfor the era to become/enter Reiwa
2019年ねんに令れい和わになった。
The Reiwa era began in 2019.

Kanji

令orders, laws, command
和harmony, Japanese style, peace

Don't confuse with

平へい成せいN1
令和 is the current era (2019–present), while 平成 was the preceding era (1989–2019), so learners often mix up which dates belong to which.
昭しょう和わN1
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.

Word family

令れい和わ時じ代だい
Reiwa period (2019–)
令れい和わフィーバー
Reiwa fever; elated mood at the start of the Reiwa era

Written forms

令れい和わ
Standard kanji spelling for the era name.
㋿れいわ
Unicode single-character abbreviation for the Reiwa era; not used in normal text.

Etymology

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.