By Cole Garrett (Vanderbilt University)

There are many different ways of telling time and numbering the years across cultures.  Most of us are familiar with the Christian or Western system for numbering the year, split between B.C. and A.D. with the coming of Christ as the major turning point in the history of the human race.

As an Asian enthusiast, I often find myself reminding people that things that are considered as basic as the numbering of years are not universal, but change from culture to culture.  Of course, each counting method is very specific and changes depending on that culture’s history.

While the West marked its calendar with a single turning point stemming from the coming of God to the earth.  Eastern cultures such as Japan measure their years by marking the coming and going of their own gods, the emperor.  In Japan, the numbering of the year is dependent upon the current reigning emperor.  This practice, while sometimes inconsistent throughout history, was standardized during the reign of Emperor Mutsuhito (more commonly known as Emperor Meiji) in 1868, beginning the Meiji-era.  Each Emperor of Japan has a given name and a posthumous name that he is known as only after he has died.  This　stems from a common funereal practice of giving those who have died a new name so as to avoid them being summoned from the dead or coming back to haunt the living.

While the emperor does have a given name, such as the well known Emperor Hirohito who reigned during the Second World War, few Japanese use the Emperor’s name in referring to him, considering it disrespectful.  They instead refer to him as Tennou Heika (His Majesty the Emperor).  It is only after his death that Emperor Hirohito began to be called by his posthumous name: Emperor Showa.  However the years in Japan were measured with his posthumous name since the day he ascended the throne in 1929, beginning with Showa Gannen (The first year of Showa) until his death in Showa 64 (1989).

While the emperor of Japan hasn’t had any real political power since the end of World War II, respect for the Emperor still remains and he continues to reign as a symbol of the Japanese people and the years are still measured in terms of his reign.  Japan currently uses both western numbering and their own imperial numbering,  imperial numbering is used in official documents and on Japanese calendars. Last January, we welcomed the year 2009 in the west, the Japanese rang in the year Heisei 21, or more officially, the 21^st year in the reign of His Majesty the Emperor Heisei.

Further Reading

Year Converter: http://www.allcalendars.net/JapaneseYearConverter.php

National Diet Library, Japan: http://www.ndl.go.jp/koyomi/e/

Cole G. is Editorial Assistant for East Asian History/Nonfiction and Historical Fiction. He is an aspiring linguist and writer with a passion for things of the Orient. He is especially interested in the histories of China and Japan. When not studying or reading, you can find him pursuing adventure in some far flung place across the globe.

IMAGE: Portrait of The Emperor Godaigo (後醍醐天皇御像) from Miru Yomu Wakaru Nihon No Rekishi 2 Chusei, 1993, Asahi Shinbun-sha, 14th Century.

By James C. McKeown

The Romans have a reputation as being a very practical society, building impressive aqueducts with really good cement, while maintaining a ruthlessly efficient army that conquered and maintained a vast empire. They may sometimes seem rather dull and unimaginative, but this is not at all the case. They have left us lots of rather bizarre information about themselves, some of which is perhaps not entirely credible. For example:

1. In 173 BC, a large fleet of ships was seen in the sky near Rome.

2. Cobwebs were used to stop bleeding from fractured skulls and shaving cuts.

3. The Romans wondered whether plants enjoy travel in the same way as people do. There was a law against using magic to transfer growing crops from one place to another.

4. Faustina, the wife of the emperor Marcus Aurelius, had a collection of several hundred wigs.

5. The Latin word musculus means both “little mouse” and “muscle”, since muscles rippling under the skin were thought to be like little mice.

6. The emperor Commodus frequently fought as a gladiator, armed with iron weapons, whereas his opponents had lead ones.

7. A person found guilty of parricide was sewn up in a sack with a dog, a rooster, a viper, and a monkey, and thrown into the sea.

8. Kissing a she-mule on the nostrils cures hiccups and sneezing.

9. Even though the Romans had no stirrups, Julius Caesar could ride at a gallop with his hands behind his back.

10. The emperor Maximinus was said to have drunk seven gallons of wine per day and to have been eight feet, six inches tall.

J. C. McKeown, author of A Cabinet of Roman Curiosities: Strange Tales and Surprising Facts from the World’s Greatest Empire, is Professor of Classics at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

IMAGE: Communal toilets at Ostia, the port of Rome. Up to eighty people could sit together and socialize in Roman toilets. Photo by Jo Winston.

Congratulations to the following W & M winners of this book:

Gary, librarypat, and Lon!