Japanese Imperial year

Japanese calendar system

Japanese Imperial year (皇紀, kōki) or "National calendar year" is a unique calendar system in Japan.[1] It is based on the legendary founding of Japan by Emperor Jimmu in 660 BC.[2]

Kōki emphasizes the long history of Japan and the Imperial dynasty.[3]

History

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The Summer Olympics and Tokyo Expo were planned as anniversary events in 1940 (Kōki 2600);[4] but the international games were not held because of the Second Sino-Japanese War.[5]

The Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) and Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) used the Kōki system for identification.[6] For example,

In Japan today, the system of counting years from the reign of Emperor Jimmu has been abandoned.[7]

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References

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  1. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Kigen" in Japan Encyclopedia, p. 514.
  2. Gubbins, John Harrington. (1922). The Making of Modern Japan, p. 71; Mossman, Samuel. (1873). New Japan, the Land of the Rising Sun, p. 462.
  3. Chamberlain, Bail Hall. (1905). Things Japanese, p. 478; Goodrich, John King. (1913). Our Neighbors: the Japanese, p. 61.
  4. Ruoff, Kenneth J. (2001). The People's Emperor: Democracy and the Japanese Monarchy, 1945-1995, p. 268 n52.
  5. Organizing Committee of the XIIth Olympiad. (1940). Report of the Organizing Committee on its Work for the XIIth Olympic Games of 1940 in Tokyo until its Relinquishment, pp. 174-175 (PDF 198-199 of 207) Archived 2008-06-26 at the Wayback Machine; retrieved 2012-2-21.
  6. Lacroix, Eric. (1997). "Table A.2. Japanese Dates," Japanese cruisers of the Pacific War, p. 700.
  7. Nussbaum, "Calendar" at pp. 98-99.

Other websites

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