It should be borne in mind that the Japanese year periods do not regularly correspond with the reigns of the Emperors, because “a new one was chosen whenever it was deemed necessary to commemorate an auspicious or ward off a malign event.” But hereafter the era will correspond with the reign of an Emperor. The names of some of these eras are quite famous, like the Elizabethan or the Victorian Era in English history. As the first era was a time of great reforms, it is known as the Taikwa Reformation; the Engi Era, in the tenth century, is celebrated for important legislation; the Genroku Era, in the seventeenth century, was “a period of great activity in various arts”; and the Tempō Era, of recent days, was “the last brilliant period of feudalism before its fall.” This name was also given to the large 8 _rin_ piece coined in that era. The Wadō Era, in the fourteenth century, was so named on account of the discovery of copper; and the second era, Hakuchi, commemorates a “white pheasant,” presented to the Emperor. LIST OF JAPANESE YEAR PERIODS.[210] ===========================+===========+=========== NAME. | JAPANESE | CHRISTIAN | ERA.[211] | ERA. ---------------------------+-----------+----------- Taikwa | 1305 | 645 Hakuchi | 1310 | 650 (Blank) | 1315-1331 | 655-671 Sujaku | 1332 | 672 Hakuhō | 1332 | 672 Shuchō | 1346 | 686 (Blank) | 1347-1360 | 687-700 Daihō [Taihō] | 1361 | 701 Keiun | 1364 | 704 Wadō | 1368 | 708 Reiki | 1375 | 715 Yōrō | 1377 | 717 Jinki [Shinki] | 1384 | 724 Tembiō | 1389 | 729 Tembiō shōhō | 1409 | 749 Tembiō hoji | 1417 | 757 Tembiō jingo | 1425 | 765 Jingo keiun | 1427 | 767 Hōki | 1430 | 770 Tenō | 1441 | 781 Enriaku | 1442 | 782 Daidō | 1466 | 806 Kōnin | 1470 | 810 Tenchō | 1484 | 824 Jōwa [Shōwa] | 1494 | 834 Kajō [Kashō] | 1508 | 848 Ninju | 1511 | 851 Saikō | 1514 | 854 Tenan | 1517 | 857 Jōgwan [Jōkwan] | 1519 | 859 Gwangiō [Genkei] | 1537 | 877 Ninna [Ninwa] | 1545 | 885