平へい成せい

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Common wordJLPTN1Freq.FrequencyTop 2,000

Meanings

noun

Heisei era (1989–2019)

The Japanese era name for the reign of Emperor Akihito, from 8 January 1989 to 30 April 2019.

平へい成せいは2019年ねん4月がつ30日にちに終おわった。
The Heisei era ended on April 30, 2019.
この建たて物ものは平へい成せい10年ねんに建たてられた。
This building was built in Heisei 10 (1998).

See all 16 example sentences ›

Usage patterns

平へい成せい〈数かず〉年ねんthe ...th year of the Heisei era
平へい成せい十じゅう年ねんに生うまれました。
I was born in Heisei 10 (1998).
平へい成せい生うまれborn during the Heisei era
彼かの女じょは平へい成せい生うまれの若わかい作さっ家かだ。
She is a young writer born in the Heisei era.

Expressions

平へい成せいの大だい合がっ併ぺいHeisei-era great municipal mergers; large-scale municipal mergers of the Heisei era

Kanji

平even, flat, peace
成turn into, become, get

Related words

平へい
平成 is the full era name used as a noun, while 平 is its shortened prefix form attached directly before a year number.

Don't confuse with

昭しょう和わN1
平成 is the era from 1989 to 2019, while 昭和 is the preceding era from 1926 to 1989, and learners often mix up which dates fall under which name.
令れい和わ
平成 ended in April 2019, and 令和 is the era that began immediately after it, so the two are easily confused when converting recent dates.
平へい静せい
平成 is the name of a Japanese era (1989-2019) and is pronounced identically to 平静, but the two share no meaning.
大たい正しょうN1
平成 (1989–2019) is a later era that learners sometimes confuse with 大正 (1912–1926) since both are era names used the same way in dates.

Written forms

平へい成せいUsage100%
Standard kanji spelling for the Heisei era name.
㍻へいせい
Single-character abbreviation used in dates and compact writing; not a standard standalone form.

Etymology

The era name 平成 (Heisei) was taken from two Chinese classics: 平 (peace) from the Records of the Grand Historian and 成 (achievement) from the Book of Documents, together conveying 'peace and accomplishment'.