The chief cabinet secretary will create a short list by April 1 of around three candidate era names from the dozen or so finalists submitted by scholars, according to sources close to the government.
On April 1, the government plans to announce the new era name after hearing opinions on the short list from experts as well as leaders and deputy leaders of both chambers of the Diet over a 2- to 2-1/2-hour span.
The government has so far received more than 100 era name candidates from scholars who have expertise in such areas as Japanese literature, classical Chinese literature, Japanese history and Oriental history, according to the sources.
Cabinet Secretariat officials will narrow the candidates down to about a dozen. The chief cabinet secretary will choose around three from these candidates and report the result to the prime minister by April 1.
The era name will be the 248th of its kind. In deciding the new name, the government will follow the process for deciding the current era name of Heisei in January 1989. The government will hear from a specialist panel offering opinions on the new era name and from the Diet leaders. Then there will be a meeting of all Cabinet members during which the Cabinet will decide on a government ordinance concerning the new era name.
In the process of deciding Heisei 30 years ago, it took about 1-1/2 hours from holding the panel meeting to the announcement. This time, the government expects that it will take at least 30 minutes longer. The government aims to have more deliberate discussions on deciding the new name while hearing a wide range of opinions from experts in various fields.
During the meeting of the previous specialist panel, it is believed that the government had implied its hope of choosing Heisei from among the three era name candidates of Heisei, Shubun and Seika. Some experts had then criticized the government, saying, "There was a conclusion before the meeting."
This time, the number of specialist panel members will be increased by one to nine. Among the members the government will appoint are Kyoto University Prof. Shinya Yamanaka, who is a Nobel Prize laureate, and novelist Mariko Hayashi.
During the process, the government will strictly manage the relevant information in an effort to prevent the new era name from being leaked before the official announcement. The sources said that the government has already requested the Diet leaders and others involved in the process to avoid any external contact from the time they are briefed by government officials regarding the new era name until the official announcement.
Prior to the announcement, the government plans to report the new era name to the Emperor and the crown prince. This is because the era name is considered deeply associated with an emperor under the current system in which one name is designated for each generation of an emperor.
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