I never learned the Emperor’s name until I left Japan; it wasn’t for the public to know. We called him the Emperor. But the following year he changed the name of the era from Keio, Great Joy, to Meiji, Enlightened Rule. Until Meiji, Japan had seen so much fire, famine, and cholera in such a short time that the court astrologers kept changing the era name every few years, in a vain attempt to dodge bad fortune. None of the past six eras had lasted more than six years. As part of his Enlightened Rule, the new Emperor silenced the court astrologers, announcing that henceforth the era name would
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