Transcending to a Beautiful Harmony

Today marks a very important milestone. The land where Pokémon hails from - Japan - transitions to a new era, which is titled Reiwa and officially dubbed as a "beautiful harmony". Though it does seem like a minor thing for anyone outside of Japan, anyone who is into Japanese things or those of Japanese origin like Pokémon and as I am might find something like this, which might be a once-in-a-lifetime thing, to be appreciably wonderful even beyond its Japanese context.

As it is, it's a momentous occasion for those in Japan. By all accounts, the people have used the transition from yesterday to today for businesses, relationships, and so on to mark endings and beginnings. Even one fandom that I don't really follow (but have some understanding of) came out with a memorial feature for everything that happened in the earlier era. Evidently, the transition can be and is important for just about everything Japanese, for which Pokémon is included.

(As an aside, last year's post - see below - has its own connotations regarding endings and beginnings, and could be considered foretelling of this transition.)

As stated above, the new era is taken to officially mean "beautiful harmony". That could possibly imply and be interpreted for a lot of things. In my personal regard of Pokémon, I see that there's a fascinating relationship between the people and the creatures that exist in the world. All the discord that may occur in the battles that involve them are balanced out with peaceful coexistence that some people can only dream that it would occur in this world. I'd say that's a beautiful harmony indeed.

And now, after nearly two and a half decades, Pokémon along with other Japanese things are transcending into a new era. It's an era designated for good feelings and great relationships, if it is any indication. For someone who is not Japanese but enjoys Japanese things, the "beautiful harmony" is something quite evocative. It's also something that should prove to be warm for any person around the world, whether or not they have any ties to Japan.

Best wishes for the new era.

One year ago: Old Memories, New Memories
Two years ago: Indie Pokémon Stickers