Era Names and the Kami

An era name marks time in public history. Tensha Shrine also reveres it as a name through which the sacred order of an imperial era may be contemplated.

Historical source and shrine interpretation

The 1868 proclamation establishing the Meiji era describes the sovereign as “embodying Taiitsu” in ascending the throne. Taiotsu in that text is a written form associated with Taiitsu, the single principle understood to order yin and yang, the Five Phases, the celestial bodies and the seasons.

The historical selection and published sources of each era name are facts of record. The reading of those names as a continuous revelation of Taiitsu is Tensha Shrine’s theological interpretation; it is not a claim that the five names were originally planned as one sentence.

From Meiji to Reiwa

• Meiji — “illuminated rule,” from the Book of Changes: looking toward the light that reveals order.
• Taishō — “great rectitude,” also from the Book of Changes: standing upon a right and central axis.
• Shōwa — from the Book of Documents: virtues made manifest and peoples brought into harmony.
• Heisei — drawing on the Records of the Grand Historian and the Book of Documents: peace within and without, and the ordering of heaven and earth.
• Reiwa — from the preface to the plum-blossom poems in the Man’yōshū: a beautiful season in which people bring their hearts together and culture flowers.

The way of sacred time

Tensha Shrine understands the sequence as a path: looking toward light, standing in rectitude, manifesting harmony, bringing peace to fruition and living within a well-ordered season. An era name is thus more than a counting label; it invites reflection on the order to be embodied in its time.