With only a day left in the current era, people who made "Heisei" part of the names of their organizations or companies are taking the opportunity to look back on the era and the path they took.
"We've been cheerleaders for working mothers for 30 years," said Kayomi Ono of Heisei Gakuen, which runs kindergartens and other facilities in Nankoku, Kochi Prefecture.
In the 1980s, Ono, 72, was managing a real estate company while raising two preschool age daughters.
"If only there was a kindergarten that provided early childhood education until evening," she recalled thinking.
In 1989, the first year of the Heisei era, she applied to set up an educational corporation. Ever since, she has been managing kindergartens and other facilities where children can stay until 7 p.m.
She decided to use "Heisei" in the organization's name because the source of the era name resonated with her. There is the saying "Uchi Tairaka ni Soto Naru," which essentially means that if things are peaceful inside, there will be stability outside.
Her idea was that by supporting families (inside), women would be able to work with confidence (outside).
The organization now manages 10 facilities. The number of students has grown from 47 initially to more than 500 today.
"We will continue to support mothers in the Reiwa era by educating children to be people who can play an active role in the new era," Ono said.
Nationwide, 1,270 companies have "Heisei" as part of their name, according to the private research firm Tokyo Shoko Research, Ltd.
Heisei Print Co., a printing company based in Meguro Ward, Tokyo, changed its name from Hobunsha in January 1989, when the era name changed from Showa to Heisei. At the time, Japan's "bubble economy" was in full swing, but according to current president Hisako Kotani, 56, her father Kunio thought that "if we take the era name as our company name, we can try other businesses if the economy takes a dive."
The last 30 years have seen the rise of the personal computer and the decline of paper. While many other firms in the industry have gone bankrupt, Kotani said their novel company name was well received by its clients, and has allowed them to continue in the printing business without losing many orders. Kunio passed away 10 years ago.
"We got through the Heisei era thanks to my father. In the Reiwa era my son will take over the company and take on new challenges outside of printing," she said.
Staying the course
Kenta Tokui and Takashi Yoshimura, both 38, who make up the comedic duo Heisei Nobushi Kobushi, debuted under the name Kobushi Tozangi in 2000. They took their current name in 2004 by soliciting suggestions from viewers of a TV program.
The name "feels a bit old-fashioned," but that is what they like about it.
"The Heisei era was a time when we still had stars from the Showa era, and talented new performers appeared almost every year," Yoshimura said.
"Someday, our name will be in books as 'the Heisei entertainers,' like they call professional baseball pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka 'the Heisei monster,'" Tokui joked.
As the change in era name approaches, the duo has gotten a lot of work related to their name. They plan to keep performing under it in the new era.
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