Heisei period

Heisei period, in Japan, an imperial reign period that began in 1989 when Akihito became emperor on the death of his father, Hirohito (the Shōwa emperor). The two Chinese characters (kanji) constituting the period’s name are translated, respectively, as “peace” and as the root of the verb “to become.” An English equivalent for Heisei is “Achieving Peace.” Heisei 1 (平成元年 Heisei gannen, gannen means "the first year") started from 8 January, 1989. The Heisei period will likely end on 30 April 2019 (Heisei 31).