Meiwa

Overview

Meiwa (明和) was a Japanese era name (年号, nengō; "year name") that followed Hōreki and preceded An'ei. The era spanned from June 30, 1764, to December 9, 1772, during the Edo period (1603–1868). Two sovereigns reigned across this stretch: Empress Go-Sakuramachi (後桜町天皇) and Emperor Go-Momozono (後桃園天皇).

The era began in the sixth month of 1764 and closed in the eleventh month of 1772. In practice, the Meiwa years covered roughly eight and a half calendar years, from mid-1764 to late 1772.

What Defined the Era

The Meiwa era sat in the middle of the Edo period, a time of relative peace under the Tokugawa shogunate. The shogun in office was Tokugawa Ieharu, the tenth shōgun, who had taken power in 1760. The era name itself was chosen to signal a renewal of harmony, a common purpose for nengō changes in this period.

Meiwa was a transitional era in two senses. First, it saw the end of the reign of Empress Go-Sakuramachi, the last of the eight female sovereigns in Japanese history to that point. She abdicated in 1770, and her nephew, Go-Momozono, took the throne. Second, the era closed with a devastating series of natural disasters and epidemics that prompted yet another era change to An'ei in late 1772, as was customary when calamities struck.

Key Events

The most significant event of the era was the Great Meiwa Fire (明和の大火), which broke out in Edo on March 1, 1772. The fire destroyed a vast portion of the city, including much of the commercial district, and caused tens of thousands of deaths. Contemporary accounts placed the death toll in the tens of thousands, though exact figures vary by source. The disaster was so severe that it became one of the three great fires of Edo, alongside the Meireki fire of 1657 and the Bunka fire of 1806.

In 1770, Empress Go-Sakuramachi abdicated in favour of her nephew, Prince Hidehito, who became Emperor Go-Momozono. The abdication marked the end of her reign, which had begun in 1762. Go-Momozono was only twelve years old at his accession, and his reign would prove short, ending with his death in 1779.

The final years of Meiwa were marked by a series of poor harvests and outbreaks of disease. In 1772, a severe epidemic swept through Edo and other regions, compounding the misery left by the fire. These misfortunes were widely read as signs that the era name had lost its auspicious power, and the court moved to change the nengō to An'ei in December of that year.

The Name in Japanese

The era name is written 明和 in kanji. Its kana reading is めいわ, and its romaji is Meiwa.

The name breaks down into two characters:

• 明 — read mei in this word. The character means "bright" or "clear." It carries the sense of illumination, clarity, and openness. In compound words it often appears with meanings related to light, understanding, or the dawning of something.

• 和 — read wa in this word. The character means "harmony" or "peace." It is the same wa found in 大和 (Yamato) and in the common word 平和 (heiwa, "peace"). It suggests concord, balance, and the settling of differences.

Together, 明和 conveys the idea of "bright harmony" or "clear peace." The choice of these two characters was deliberate: the era name was meant to announce a period of enlightened tranquillity, a fresh start under a new calendar designation. The reading Meiwa follows the standard on-yomi (Chinese-derived reading) for both characters, which is typical for era names.

How the Era Name Works

A Japanese era name, or nengō (年号), is a system of naming years that Japan adopted from China in the seventh century. Each era name is a two-character phrase, almost always drawn from classical Chinese texts, chosen to express a hope or ideal for the years ahead. The era name is not a calendar year in the Western sense; it begins and ends on specific dates, and a single Western year can span two different eras.

The emperor or empress reigned, but the shogunate in the Edo period held real political power. Era names were changed for a variety of reasons: a new emperor's accession, a major natural disaster, an epidemic, or a perceived need to reset the cosmic order. The change from Hōreki to Meiwa in 1764 came in the wake of a fire in Edo the previous year, and the change from Meiwa to An'ei in 1772 followed the Great Meiwa Fire and the epidemics that accompanied it.

In practice, the nengō system means that a date like "the third year of Meiwa" refers to a specific span of months, not a full calendar year. For example, Meiwa 3 began in early 1766 and ended in early 1767. This is why historical records from the period often give dates in the form "Meiwa 5, sixth month" rather than a simple year number. The system remained in continuous use until 1868, when the Meiji era began and the practice of one era per reign was established.