I want to know if I am the only one who thinks this.
I have N1.
Called the hospital today, was asked for b-date. I said 1999, but then was asked to tell it in Japanese style. I said Heisei-11. The lady replied: showa 11 desune. Corrected again, got the same showa 11 desune.
My immediate thought: Do I sound like an 87-year old grandpa to you?
Question:
Are there hidden benefits of this style?
32 comments
> Are there hidden benefits of this style?
None whatsoever. For business purposes it actually makes things worse.
The only reason it’s maintained is because postwar politicians fought to keep the era system intact as part of preventing dilution of Japanese culture by the American occupation.
Edit: Typo
Not everything is kept around because it has any merit.
Absolutely no benefits. Also, the person you talked to seems to be either stupid or purposefully annoying.
It’s like saying “are there any benefits to using the Imperial measurement system?”
Probably not but it’s in use, and when you go to places that use it, you also use it.
I’d be willing to bet most of the patients at the hospital are elderly so she was probably just having a brain fart moment, like when you say “love you” to your boss as you hang up the phone.
Next time say 縄文 11 and watch heads explode.
“Do I sound like an 87-year old grandpa to you?”
“Well, yes, sort of”
“…oh, well then..”
>Do I sound like an 87-year old grandpa to you?
You should have straight up asked her this, not only thought of it.
Even the notoriously technology-delayed Mizuho changed to western year in their checkbooks a few years ago. Yucho still has Reiwa in theirs.
> Are there hidden benefits of this style?
Besides “preserving Japanese culture” … it gives Japanese variety TV shows some easy short-hand, neutral language to use when discussing cultural differences between generations?
“In Showa, we had to use the wired phone! One for the whole family! You Heisei kids are lucky, what with your text messages. And now, the Reiwa babies, their cell phones are *smart*! Oh how things change.”
Imagine a world where old Japanese dudes couldn’t rant like that on TV.
its like you ask is there any merit with the swear to god before a trial court
the answer is no, its around because its a culture thing
um, somehow I can’t believe she would say showa 11 to a person born in 1999. are you sure you understood her correctly?
I’m glad I read the whole post, because my first thought was “I guess Reiwa-style dates are where instead of dinner you go have some low-cost experience together, then post about it on your respective social media accounts.”
Try fill that out next time at city hall
Yeah, there is a benefit.
When somebody asks you how long have you been in Japan you can reply “I moved here during Heisei Emperor’s reign” which is much cooler than “few years ago”.
Has anyone else ever noticed that it tends to confuse people when talking about how far back in history recent events are? The Heisei-Reiwa changeover seems to have ruined people’s abilities to tell how long ago something was.
For example, an event in 2016 might be said as being anywhere from five to ten years ago. Is this a real issue or do I just talk to lots of older people? I feel like we’d never make such a mistake if it weren’t for this calendar system.
In the UK, we say Victorian era or Elizabethan era. I believe we are now in the Carolean era. It’s a minor thing really. I think adults having a Heisei birth date is a bit like adults having a birth date in the 2000s. It just makes us old farts feel really old.
Genuine question: How do they talk about or write about years in the future?
AV companies can use “Reiwa-born woman’s AV debut” in their marketing material in 2036.
It’s a lot easier for me to rattle off my birthday quickly in Japanese than reciting the western format, but that’s about the only advantage to me personally.
It might help to this is a deliberately designed system which is intended to deliver “benefits”. It’s just a cultural artifact. Like you would probably have difficulty trying to define the “benefits” of Americans using feet, yards, and miles.
Probably the form etc they’re sitting filling in on your behalf uses that. Is it a pita? Most definitely.
Not sure about reiwa or heisei… but in showa it was much easier and the girls were friendlier.
Edit: sorry got the topic completely wrong
The great advantage of era dating is that you can talk about dates in the future that then don’t exist. Eg a friend had a driving licence with a non-existent expiry date. This creates more alarms and confusions which helps make up for the much easier naming system Japanese people have.
It’s a cool tradition to me.
– Benefits: not needing to update old systems and documentation that use old date formats, old people not needing to update their knowledge
– Cons: everything opposite to the above
Status quo wins
If they keep saying “Showa, Showa,” you just have to come back with, “Taisho, Taisho!” We all know you are really an immortal.
Has the same benefit as keeping the emperor around. Tradition. That’s it. It’s otherwise useless.
It makes it easier to know what year it is relative to how many years the current emperor has been in power. I didn’t say that’s useful, but that’s something!
My (least) favorite feature of this calendar is that the dates can change retroactively. For example when I started working at a company it was H31, but the year changed to Reiwa in April that year, so now I have to write that I joined the company on R1.
There’s absolutely no merit for this system and for something this clunky and gimmicky it is mandatory in too many places.
How bad is your pronunciation, or how deaf is this woman?
It’s helpful for delineating between Godzilla film eras and that’s about it.
It’s a tradition. Tradition does not seek benefits.
Maybe the lady just couldn’t imagine there would possibly be a little kid calling on the other end of the line, so she assumed you’d made a mistake? (Kids born in 1999 can’t be more than 11 or 12, or so my internal calendar says…)