Chōwa

For the song by Kokia, see Ai no Melody/Chōwa Oto (With Reflection).

Chōwa (長和) was a Japanese era name (年号, nengō, lit. "year name") after Kankō and before Kannin. This period spanned the years from December 1012 through April 1017.^[1] The reigning emperors were Sanjō-tennō (三条天皇) and Go-Ichijō-tennō (後一条天皇).^[2]

Change of era

• 1012 Chōwa 1 (長和元年): The era name was changed to mark Emperor Sanjō's accession in the previous year.^[3] The previous era ended and a new one commenced in Kankō 9, on the 25th day of the 12th month of 1012.^[4]

Events of the Chōwa era

• 1012 (Chōwa 1, 8th month): Emperor Sanjō marries a daughter of kampaku Fujiwara no Michinaga.^[5]
• 1016 (Chōwa 4, 11th month): A great fire broke out in the Imperial palace; and it was reduced to cinders.^[5]
• March 10, 1016 (Chōwa 5, 29th day of the 1st month): In the 5th year of Emperor Sanjō's reign (三条天皇5年), he abdicated; and the succession (‘‘senso’’) was received by a cousin. Shortly thereafter, Emperor Go-Ichijō is said to have acceded to the throne (‘‘sokui’’).^[6]

Notes

1. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Chōwa" in Japan Encyclopedia, p. 124, p. 124, at Google Books; n.b., Louis-Frédéric is pseudonym of Louis-Frédéric Nussbaum, see Deutsche Nationalbibliothek Authority File.
2. Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). Annales des empereurs du japon, p. 154-155; Brown, Delmer et al. (1979). Gukanshō, p. 307; Varley, H. Paul. (1980). Jinnō Shōtōki, p. 195.
3. Titsingh, p. 154; Varley, H. Paul. (1980). Jinnō Shōtōki. p. 195.
4. Brown, p. 307.
5. Titsingh, p. 155.
6. Titsingh, pp. 155-156; Brown, p. 307; Varley, p. 44; a distinct act of senso is unrecognized prior to Emperor Tenji; and all sovereigns except Jitō, Yōzei, Go-Toba, and Fushimi have senso and sokui in the same year until the reign of Emperor Go-Murakami.

References

• Brown, Delmer M. and Ichirō Ishida, eds. (1979). Gukanshō: The Future and the Past. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-03460-0; OCLC 251325323
• Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric and Käthe Roth. (2005). Japan encyclopedia. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-01753-5; OCLC 58053128
• Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). Nihon Odai Ichiran; ou, Annales des empereurs du Japon. Paris: Royal Asiatic Society, Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland. OCLC 5850691
• Varley, H. Paul. (1980). A Chronicle of Gods and Sovereigns: Jinnō Shōtōki of Kitabatake Chikafusa. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 9780231049405; OCLC 6042764

External links

• National Diet Library, "The Japanese Calendar" -- historical overview plus illustrative images from library's collection

Preceded by Kankō

Era or nengō Chōwa 1012–1017

Succeeded by Kannin