Re:Abe explains choice of Reiwa for next era name
by fenomas on Monday April 01, 2019 @12:32AM
(#19540526)
Amusingly there's a pun here on "Zero-sum Era". This because "rei" is a common way to read the numeral zero, and "zero-wa" (using the same "wa" from the new era name) is the Japanese term for "zero-sum".
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Re:Abe explains choice of Reiwa for next era name
by w00kie on Monday April 01, 2019 @01:25AM
(#19540724)
平成 (Heisei) commonly translated to "Achieving Peace" as stated in the article, can also be read as "Flat Growth" which is more indicative of the past two decades here :)
Re:Abe explains choice of Reiwa for next era name
by ekianjo on Monday April 01, 2019 @05:43AM
(#19541764)
No, because nobody cares about the sound. The kanji matters. Soundwise there are tons of kanji with the exact same pronounciation so there is no pun to be found.
Re:Abe explains choice of Reiwa for next era name
by jpatokal on Monday April 01, 2019 @05:55AM
(#19541808)
The joke is blowing up on Japanese Twitter, so yes, people do get the joke:
https://twitter.com/groebner_basis/status/111254775708283289...
Re:Abe explains choice of Reiwa for next era name
by wodenokoto on Monday April 01, 2019 @08:02AM
(#19542460)
You are right that there are many homonyms in Japanese, but you are wrong in thinking that that results in nobody caring about them.
Japan has a proud tradition of phonetic based puns, called dajare. Wikipedia has a surprisingly long list, which includes explanations: