| Heisei平成 | |||
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| 8 January 1989 – 30 April 2019 | |||
 Emperor Akihito of the Heisei era (1990) | |||
| Location | Japan | ||
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| Monarch(s) | Akihito | ||
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Chronology
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| Part ofa series on the | ||||||
| History of Japan | ||||||
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TheHeisei era (平成,Japanese:[heːseː]ⓘ) was theperiod ofJapanese history corresponding to the reign of Emperor EmeritusAkihito from 8 January 1989 until hisabdication on 30 April 2019. The Heisei era started on 8 January 1989, the day after the death of the EmperorHirohito, when his son, Akihito,acceded to the throne as the 125thEmperor. In accordance with Japanese customs, Hirohito wasposthumously renamed "Emperor Shōwa" on 31 January 1989.
Thus, 1989 corresponds toShōwa 64 up until 7 January and Heisei 1 (平成元年,Heisei gannen,gannen means "first year") from 8 January. The Heisei era ended on 30 April 2019 (Heisei 31), with the abdication of Akihito from theChrysanthemum Throne. It was succeeded by theReiwa era as then-crown princeNaruhito ascended the throne on 1 May midnight local time.[1]
Shortly after thedeath of Emperor Hirohito on 7 January 1989,Keizō Obuchi, then-Chief Cabinet Secretary and laterPrime Minister of Japan, hosted a press conference to announce the new era name "Heisei" for Emperor Akihito, and explained its meaning.
According to Obuchi, the name "Heisei" was taken from twoChinese history and philosophy books, namelyRecords of the Grand Historian (史記) and theBook of Documents (書経). In theRecords of the Grand Historian, a sentence appears in a section honoring the wise rule of the legendary ChineseEmperor Shun, reading "内平外成" (Kanbun:内平かに外成る,Uchi tairaka ni soto naru, "flat inside and outside"). In theBook of Documents, the sentence "地平天成" (Kanbun:地平かに天成る,Chi tairaka ni ten naru, "the earth is perfect") appears. By combining both meanings, Heisei is intended to mean "peace everywhere".[2] The Heisei era went into effect at midnight local time on 8 January 1989.
In August 2016, Emperor Akihito gave a televised address to the nation, in which he expressed concern that his age would one day stop him from fulfilling his official duties. This was an implication of his wish to retire.[1] TheJapanese Diet passed a law in June 2017 to allow the throne to pass to Akihito's son,Naruhito.[1] After meeting with members of the Imperial House Council, Prime MinisterShinzō Abe announced that 30 April 2019 would be the date set for Akihito's abdication.[1] TheReiwa era corresponding to Naruhito's reign began the next day.[3]
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1989 marked the culmination of one of the most rapid economic growth spurts in Japanese history. With a dramatically strengthenedyen after the 1985Plaza Accord, theBank of Japan kept interest rates low, sparking an investment boom that drove Tokyo property values up 60 percent within that year. Shortly before New Year's Day, theTokyo Stock Market index,Nikkei 225, reached its record high of 38,957. By 1992, it had fallen to 15,000, signifying the end of Japan's famed "bubble economy". Subsequently, Japan experienced the "Lost Decade", which actually consisted of more than ten years of pricedeflation and largely stagnant GDP as Japan's banks struggled to resolve their bad debts and companies in other sectors struggled to restructure.[citation needed]
TheRecruit scandal of 1988 had already eroded public confidence in theLiberal Democratic Party (LDP), which had controlled the Japanese government for 38 years. In 1993, the LDP was ousted by a coalition led byMorihiro Hosokawa. However, the coalition collapsed as parties had gathered only to overthrow LDP, and lacked a unified position on almost every social issue. The LDP returned to the government in 1994, when it helped to elect Japan Socialist (later Social Democrat)Tomiichi Murayama as prime minister.[citation needed]
The 1990s had an "anime boom" period marked by increased popularity ofanime andanime conventions. Several anime media franchises gained global popularity such asPokémon,Hello Kitty,Sailor Moon,Saint Seiya,Gundam,Fist of the North Star,Dragon Ball,Yu-Gi-Oh andEvangelion.[4]
In 1995, there was a large 6.8earthquake inKobe,Hyōgo andsarin gas terrorist attacks were carried out on theTokyo Metro by thedoomsday cultAum Shinrikyo. Failure of the Japanese government to react to these events promptly led to the formation ofnon-government organisations which have been playing an increasingly important role in Japanese politics since.
On 11 December 1997, the internationaltreaty called theKyoto Protocol to regulategreenhouse gas emissions was adopted by 192 parties inKyoto, Japan.[5]
During this era, Japan reemerged as a military power. In 1991, Japan made a financial contribution of $10 billion and sent military hardware for theGulf War.[6] However,Article 9 of the Constitution prevented a participation in the actual war, leadingIran to criticize Japan for just pledging money and did not appreciate the way Japan co-operated in the Gulf War. However, after the war, between 26 April and October 1991 sixJMSDF minesweeper vessels were sent and removed 34 sea mines in thePersian Gulf to improve the safety of ships.[7]
Following theIraq War, in 2003, Prime MinisterJunichirō Koizumi's Cabinet approved aplan to send about 1,000 soldiers of theJapan Self-Defense Forces to help inIraq's reconstruction, the biggest overseas troop deployment since World War II without the sanction of the UN. The mission lasted until February 2009.[7]
The2002 FIFA World Cup was the firstFIFA World Cup to be held inAsia, the first to be held outside of the Americas or Europe, as well as the first to be jointly-hosted by more than one nation. This world championship for men's nationalfootball teams was jointly hosted by Japan and South-Korea to improve relations.[8]
On 23 October 2004, the Heisei 16an earthquake and aftershocks rocked theHokuriku region inNiigata Prefecture, killing 52 and injuring hundreds.
In November 2005, TheJapan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)'s robotic spacecraftHayabusa landed on an asteroid and collected samples in the form of tiny grains of asteroidal material, which were returned to Earth aboard the spacecraft on 13 June 2010. It was the first spacecraft in history designed to deliberately land on an asteroid and then take off again. The Hayabusa mission was the first to return an asteroid sample to Earth for analysis.[9]
After an election defeat, Prime MinisterShinzō Abe resigned suddenly, and in Autumn 2007Yasuo Fukuda became prime minister. Fukuda in turn resigned in September 2008 citing political failings, andTarō Asō was selected by his party.
In 2008,Greater Tokyo has the largest metropolitan economy in the world with a total GDP (nominal) of approximately $2 trillion (¥165 trillion).[10] Greater Tokyo also has the largest metropolitan population in the world with an estimated 35 million.
In August 2009, for the first time, theDemocratic Party of Japan (DPJ) won 308 seats in thelower house election, which ended 50 years of political domination by the LDP. As a result of the election, Tarō Asō resigned as leader of the LDP, andYukio Hatoyama, president of DPJ became prime minister on 16 September 2009. However, DPJ soon became mired in party financing scandals, particularly involving aides close toIchirō Ozawa.Naoto Kan was chosen by the DPJ as the next prime minister, but he soon lost a working majority in theHouse of Councillors election, and the2010 Senkaku boat collision incident caused increased tension between Japan and China. The2009–2010 Toyota vehicle recalls also took place during this time.
The population of Japan peaked at 128 million in 2010. This was Japan's biggest population in history.[11] It declined due to a low birthrate in the following years.
In July 2010, TheJSDF's first postwar overseas base was established inDjibouti.[12]
In December 2010, Japan's 2010 National Defense Program Guidelines changed its defense policy from a focus on the formerSoviet Union toChina.[13]
In 2011, theeconomy of China became the second largest in the world. Japan's economy descended to the world's third largest bynominal GDP.[14]
In 2011, asumo tournament was cancelled for the first time in 65 years over amatch fixing scandal.
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In March 2011, theTokyo Skytree 634.0 metres (2,080 ft) became thetallest tower in the world.[15][16] and the secondtallest structure in the world after theBurj Khalifa.
On 11 March 2011 at 2:46 p.m., Japan was hit by the Tōhoku earthquake of amagnitude scale of 9.0,the strongest recorded earthquake in its history, affecting places in the three regions ofTohoku,Chubu andKanto in the northeast ofHonshu, including the Tokyo area.[17][18] Atsunami with waves of up to 10 meters (32.5 feet) flooded inland areas several kilometers from shore,[19] causing a large number of considerable fires. The epicenter of the quake lay so close to coastal villages and towns that thousands could not flee in time despite thetsunami warning system,[20] and also,Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant and three other nuclear power plants, serious problems occurred with the cooling systems,[21] ultimately leading to the most serious case ofradioactive contamination since theChernobyl disaster (seeFukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster), as well as ongoing electric power shortages. Following the earthquake, for the first time, the Emperor addressed the nation in a pre-recorded television broadcast.
In August 2011,Naoto Kan resigned, andYoshihiko Noda became prime minister. Later that yearOlympus Corporation admitted major accounting irregularities. (SeeTobashi scheme.) Noda pushed for Japan to consider joining theTrans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership, but was defeated in an election in 2012, being replaced byShinzo Abe.
In January 2013, Shinzo Abe's government introducedeconomic reforms in response to the consequences of theLost Decade andJapan's aging demographic crisis.
In the first half of 2014, TheToyota became the biggest automaker in the world selling 5.1 million vehicles in the six months ending 30 June 2014, an increase of 3.8% on the same period the previous year. Volkswagen AG recorded sales of 5.07 million vehicles.[22]
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe sought to enddeflation, but Japan entered recession again in 2014 largely due to a rise insales tax to 8%. Abe called an election in December, and promised to delay further sales tax hikes to 2018. He won the election.
On 18 September 2015, theNational Diet enacted the2015 Japanese military legislation that allows theJapan Self-Defense Forces tocollective self-defense of allies in combat for the first time under the1947 constitution.[23]
In October 2015, theJapan Self-Defense Forces were ranked as the world's fourth most-powerful military in conventional capabilities in aCredit Suisse report.[24]
AUnited Nations report confirmed thatGreater Tokyo is the most populousmetropolitan area in the world with an estimated total population of 38,140,000 in 2016.[25]
In 2018,Pokémon became thehighest-grossing media franchise of all time with an estimated $90 billion revenue. Pokémon surpassed the number 2Hello Kitty ($80 billion) and the number 5Star Wars ($65 billion).
A record number of 31,191,929 foreign tourists visited Japan in 2018. This is a 33% increase over 2015 (19.73 million).[26] In 2017, 3 out of 4 foreign tourists came from South Korea, China, Taiwan and Hong Kong, according to theJapan National Tourism Organization.[27]
Japan activated theAmphibious Rapid Deployment Brigade, its first marine unit since World War II, on 7 April 2018. They are trained to counter invaders from occupyingJapanese islands.[28]
Japan was the world's largestcreditor nation since 1990 and for 22 years straight.[29] By 2018, Japan regained the leading position as the predominant source of saving and investments. Japan owned net global assets of ¥328 trillion, Germany (¥262 trillion), China (¥205 trillion).[30]
In September 2018,Naomi Osaka became the firstJapanese woman to contest aGrand Slam singles final and the first JapaneseGrand Slam singles champion. Naomi Osaka was the winner of the2018 US Open Women's Singles.[31][32]
In 2018,extraordinarily heavy rainfall in Western Japan led to many deaths in Hiroshima and Okayama. Also, anearthquake struck Hokkaido, killing 41 and causing a region-wide blackout.[33]
The firstJSDF dispatch to apeacekeeping operation that was not led by theUnited Nations was approved in April 2019. TwoJGSDF officers were despatched to monitor a cease-fire between Israel and Egypt at theMultinational Force and Observers command in theSinai peninsula from 19 April till 30 November 2019.[34]
In the 30 years of the Heisei era, a total of 18 Japanese (including 3 Japanese-born naturalized foreigners) won theNobel Prize.
The country's economy suffered from prolonged stagnation, and both real wages and price levels experienced a decline during the period. According toIMF estimates, the country's GDP per capita was $39,953, the third highest in the world, in 1994. In 2019, the last year of the Heisei era, it was $40,548, which ranked 27th.
| Rank | First year of Heisei (1989) | Last year of Heisei (2019) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |  NTTUS$163.8 billion |  MicrosoftUS$940.8 billion |
| 2 | Industrial Bank of Japan US$71.5 billion | Apple Inc. US$895.6 billion |
| 3 | The Sumitomo Bank US$69.5 billion | Amazon.com US$874.7 billion |
| 4 | Fuji Bank US$67.0 billion | Alphabet Inc. US$818.1 billion |
| 5 | Dai-Ichi Kangyo Bank US$66.0 billion | Berkshire Hathaway US$493.7 billion |
| 6 | IBM US$64.6 billion | Facebook US$475.7 billion |
| 7 | Mitsubishi Bank US$59.2 billion |  Alibaba GroupUS$472.9 billion |
| 8 | Exxon US$54.9 billion | Tencent US$440.9 billion |
| 9 | Tokyo Electric Power Company US$54.4 billion | Johnson & Johnson US$372.2 billion |
| 10 |   Royal Dutch ShellUS$54.3 billion | ExxonMobil US$342.1 billion |
To convert anyGregorian calendar year between 1989 and 2019 toJapanese calendar year in Heisei era, 1988 needs to be subtracted from the year in question.
| Heisei | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I | II | III | IV | V | VI | VII | VIII | |
| AD | 1989 | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 |
| MCMLXXXIX | MCMXC | MCMXCI | MCMXCII | MCMXCIII | MCMXCIV | MCMXCV | MCMXCVI | |
| Heisei | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 |
| IX | X | XI | XII | XIII | XIV | XV | XVI | |
| AD | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 |
| MCMXCVII | MCMXCVIII | MCMXCIX | MM | MMI | MMII | MMIII | MMIV | |
| Heisei | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 |
| XVII | XVIII | XIX | XX | XXI | XXII | XXIII | XXIV | |
| AD | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 |
| MMV | MMVI | MMVII | MMVIII | MMIX | MMX | MMXI | MMXII | |
| Heisei | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | |
| XXV | XXVI | XXVII | XXVIII | XXIX | XXX | XXXI | ||
| AD | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | |
| MMXIII | MMXIV | MMXV | MMXVI | MMXVII | MMXVIII | MMXIX |
| Preceded by Shōwa (昭和) | Era of Japan Heisei (平成) 8 January 1989 – 30 April 2019 | Succeeded by Reiwa (令和) |
