The new era name announcement, scheduled for April 1, will be delivered by Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, the government sources have confirmed.
The announcement is expected to be followed by comments from the prime minister.
In principle, the government will follow the same procedures at the time when the era name changed to Heisei in January 1989, when then Chief Cabinet Secretary Keizo Obuchi made the announcement. In a similar manner, Suga is expected to hold and show the new era name written in sumi ink by a government official who is skilled in calligraphy.
In 1989, after announcing the new era name, Obuchi read out comments by then Prime Minister Noboru Takeshita, saying, among other things, that "Heisei" contained "the meaning that peace will be achieved."
The government is working on what to do this time because there is also a proposal for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to deliver his own comments.
Suga told reporters Monday that the government will not disclose the names of the scholars the government has commissioned to propose era name candidates even after the new name is announced.
"[The scholars] are hoping that their names will be kept confidential," Suga said. "It is also inappropriate to inquire into who came up with which name candidates."
Suga did reveal that the government commissioned scholars in four disciplines -- Japanese literature, classical Chinese literature, Japanese history and oriental history -- but he did not elaborate on the disciplines or say how many scholars were involved.
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