In Japan, everything is different. They don’t dress like that, eat and sit differently, otherwise they count days and years. It can be difficult for a Westerner to understand what year it is in Japan. Since ancient times, the Japanese have taken for themselves the Chinese lunar-solar calendar, but this nation, with its special mentality, made special changes to it. Now it is used mainly for ceremonies, in astrology or for some cultural purposes. We will try to deal with the calendar in Japan in detail. What year is it, we will also clarify.
Calculating years - ways
The Japanese call their island state "Nippon", which means the homeland of the sun, the Chinese translated this name as the Land of the Rising Sun, the Russians distorted it to the word "Japan". These islands had three methods of calculating years, two of which are still valid today. But we will mention all three.
The oldest, which is not currently used, came from the founding of Japan by the legendary emperor Jimmu more than five hundred years BC. e.
The Japanese copied another system from the Chinese. Celestial in those days was the most developed of all Asian countries. The year when the new emperor began to rule, after the death of the previous one, a new countdown began. What year it is in Japan is easy to find out. 28th 年 (hieroglyph means the word "year") of the reign of Emperor Akihito.
In 1873, the country adopted the Gregorian calendar. It has gradually taken root and is used along with the traditional one. 2017 年 - this is what year is now in Japan. The first in writing is the year, then the month, and the last is the date. All this is written in our traditional numbers. May 13, 2017 will look like this: 2017-5-13.
Emperor's reign
We keep track of the days from Christmas without changing anything. In Japan, another practice has developed. When the new emperor ascends the throne (he doesn’t really rule), he chooses the motto - nengo, under which the time of his power will pass.
This motto, made up of two successful hieroglyphs, requires that the entire period of rule go smoothly, without cataclysms. A special state commission that studies the ancient Chinese scrolls with classical literature for his choice was created and is being created in Japan. What is the year now? This period is called the Heisei era, which means “Peace and tranquility”. It began in 1989 when the divine elect Akihito came to power.
Cycle calendar
The West has already met him well, but marks the onset of the Eastern New Year by dates that do not coincide with the original source. In this sixty-year cycle, an animal and a special element governs each year.
There are five of these elements that Saturn rules: wood, fire, metal, water and earth. They have their own colors: blue, red, yellow, white, black. In addition, the path of Jupiter is divided into twelve segments, each of which corresponds to an animal. They go in the order in which they came to the Buddha: rat, horse, bull, sheep, tiger, monkey, hare (rabbit), rooster, dragon, dog, snake, pig. We have already celebrated the New Year and we know what year it is in Japan - the Rooster, of course. His symbol stood on many European trinkets, utensils and clothes.
Japan timekeeping
What is the year now? Summer calculus in Japan makes Europeans look into the astrological signs of the coming year. We strive to please the new creature coming, to prepare tasty dishes for him, so that he will protect us for a whole year. Of course, this is just a ritual that adds piquancy to the New Year holiday and is forgotten in Western countries the very next morning. But in Asian countries, the New Year, which falls between the twentieth of January and February, is celebrated on a grand scale. Fireworks and observance of all rituals are obligatory. So, for example, the Japanese attend Shinto shrines, buy a Daruma toy-deity, make a wish and paint one eye over him. When the year ends, if the wish has come true, then Daruma is painted over the second eye, and if not, then they will not touch. In any case, the wooden chrysalis goes back to the temple where it was bought and burned in special bonfires.
Sakura time
From the north, from the Sea of Okhotsk to the south, where Japan is washed by the Pacific Ocean, an archipelago stretches, in which there are almost seven thousand islands. Its length is three and a half thousand kilometers. Therefore, the question of weather for any Japanese is considered a good form.
The Japanese are really looking forward to the start of warm winds, when the spring will replace the winter blooming sakura.
Only on different islands it appears at different times. In the south, on the
island of Kyushu, sakura can herald spring in February, and on the northern
islands of Hokkaido and Aomori only in May. So if they ask: "What time of the year is Japan in now?", Then we must be guided not by the calendar, but by the geographical location of this or that island. It’s like in our country - on the Black Sea coast, spring is about to turn into summer, and in Moscow suburbs blowing through the evil northern winds piercing through May, it is cold rain and frosts at night. And according to the calendar - spring, which residents of the Moscow region can not wait.
We hope that it has now become clear to everyone how the current year is calculated in Japan.