How did Japan reckon time before they synchronized with the rest of the world (around 1870-1900)?

by zeromig
bettinafairchild

They used the Chinese calendar as the basis for their year, and they reckoned the year according to the reigns of emperors. They still count years according to emperors, so this is year 26 of the Heisei Era, since the current emperor, Akihito, is the Heisei emperor. But people simultaneously use the Gregorian calendar, so it's also 2014.