Blog: The world's most difficult branding exercise

The gengo name appears on coins, newspapers, driving licenses and official paperwork as a way of marking time. Under the system, which spans several centuries, 2019 is known as Heisei 31, or the 31st year of Akihito’s reign. The early announcement, a month ahead of the ascension, will give companies in Japan and public bodies time to incorporate the new era’s name into their paperwork and computer systems, and avoid any Y2K-style glitches when Naruhito becomes Emperor on 1 May. Local governments and corporate Japan have been preparing for the change for months and are confident that they will be able to update their IT systems and paperwork in time. Government offices will need to cross-out/destroy thousands of documents and stamps as the new order sets in. Companies like Microsoft, Fujitsu and NEC, meanwhile, have been working overtime at client locations to ensure the computers understand that it is the end of one era, and the beginning of another. 

 

Knowing that my old friends at Dentsu are invariably involved in almost everything of consequence that happens in Japan, I was tempted to call some of my old cronies at Japan’s largest ad agency to ask if they had the mandate for delivering the new era name to Japan, and the world. I was told that The Era Name Act stipulates that a name must be written with two Chinese characters, it must have a positive meaning, and it must be easy to read and write, and not be a phrase that is commonly used. It is also unlikely to start with the first character of any of the last four eras: Heisei, Showa, Taisho and Meiji. Beyond that, the selection process is highly confidential. The process has been in progress for a year now. A group of academics (not Dentsu, I am surprised!) were asked to submit initial proposals. Officials in the Imperial inner circle then narrowed them down to a few choices. Another expert panel debated and recommended the final chosen one. Japan's cabinet on Monday morning will either endorse the recommended choice or pick the name from the earlier shortlist .What is interesting is that no one really knows who these people on the decision making panels are; it is just a very tightly-held secret. To guard against leaks, even cabinet members will reportedly hand over their phones and smart-watches before the meeting, and must stay in the decision-making room until the official proclamation is made. On Monday morning in Tokyo, the chief cabinet secretary, Yoshihide Suga, (despite much media speculation that the announcement would be made by the prime minister, Shinzō Abe) will enter a room, pause, bow, gather his thoughts and then hold up a work of handwritten calligraphy -  written in traditional sumi ink on decorated shikishi paper.  Millions of people across Japan will pause too and digest the meaning of the two kanji characters, and Japan will finally have the answer to a question that has kept it in suspense and anticipation for months: the name of the new imperial era.