The Heisei era (1989-2019)
An era marked by disasters
If despite its name, the Showa era (which means "enlightened peace") was not that of peace, the following era, Heisei (1989-2019), that of "the achievement of peace" was peaceful. . However, a series of devastating natural disasters and destructive events have shaken the archipelago throughout these thirty years.
A turbulent political scene
No less than 15 prime ministers were appointed in the first 24 years of the era.
In 1993, the Liberal Democratic Party (PLD), a right-wing party that had held power since its creation, lost control of the government for the first time. Following the defeat of the PLD in the general elections of July 18, 1993, the socialist Tomiichi Murayama was elected Prime Minister on June 30, 1994. He was the first socialist head of government since 1948.
In the legislative elections of August 30, 2009, the PLD also lost, for the first time in its history, its position as the first party in the House of Representatives. The main opposition party, the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) wins the absolute majority of seats and forms a coalition with the Social Democratic Party and the New People's Party. From September 2009 to December 2012, three Prime Ministers from the DPJ will follow one another.
The legislative elections of December 16, 2012, will see the return in force of the PLD and the appointment of Shinzo Abe as Prime Minister on December 26, 2012. This victory will put an end to this incessant parade of Prime Ministers until his resignation in 2020.
The end of the "economic miracle" and the years of crisis
After peaking in late December 1989, Japan's "speculative bubble " (1986 to 1990) burst, and the 1990s were characterized by a period of economic stagnation and deflation that the Japanese dubbed the " lost decade ". In May 1999, unemployment reached record levels while precarious jobs rose sharply.
The global economic crisis of 2008-2009 hit Japan hard and the country went into recession until the beginning of the third quarter of 2009. The return to growth did not occur, timidly, until the early 2010s.
January 7, 1989: Emperor Hirohito breathes his last at the age of 87. The crown prince, Akihito, succeeded him the following day. He will be enthroned later, on November 12, 1990. The name of the new era is then decided in one day: it will be that of " the achievement of peace", Heisei.
Economic crisis, political instability, attacks, natural disasters, and nuclear accidents from the long list of calamities that have hit the country throughout this era, especially in the last ten years.
Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko at Andrews Air Force Base in 1987
public domain
Japan in shock
On March 20, 1995, the Aum cult's sarin gas terrorist attack on the Tokyo subway killed 12 people and injured thousands.
On June 8, 2001, a madman entered an elementary school in Osaka and killed 8 children with a kitchen knife and injured 15 people (13 students and 2 teachers). Japan is, once again, in shock.
On June 8, 2008, a 25-year-old man drove his vehicle into a crowd in the busy Akihabara district, killing 3 people and injuring 2 before driving off, knife in hand, to stab random passers-by. , killing 4 other people and injuring 8 others before being arrested by the police.
On July 26, 2016, an employee of a center for the mentally handicapped in Sagamihara, Kanagawa Prefecture fatally stabbed 19 patients and injured 26 others. He later confessed that he thought people with disabilities "should disappear".
In addition to these massacres, many other very bloody and particularly cruel news items, sometimes perpetrated by children, have undermined the myth of a Japan where harmony and security reign.
The Archipelago trembles
From volcanic eruptions to earthquakes, Japan lived through terrible years.
On June 3, 1991, after several years of tremors and two eruptions, a fiery cloud escaped from Mount Unzen, on the island of Kyushu, and killed 43 people.
On January 17, 1995, in Kobe, an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.3 on the Richter scale caused 6,437 deaths, tens of thousands of injuries, and material damage reaching more than 100 billion yen.
On March 11, 2011, an earthquake of magnitude 9 on the Richter scale caused a giant tsunami that ravaged the Pacific coast of Tohoku, in the northeast of the island of Honshu, and caused the accident of the nuclear power plant. from Fukushima. Following the tsunami, 15,000 people were declared dead and thousands more missing. The region is destroyed and today still in full reconstruction.
In 2004 and 2007, the Niigata region was in turn hit by two earthquakes, then, in 2016, the city of Kumamoto and its surroundings suffered several fatal earthquakes.
In 2018, torrential rains and landslides also mourned various regions of the country.
The 1995 Kobe earthquake...watch out for urban highways!
DR
Japanese cinema has been rewarded several times at the Cannes Film Festival. In 1997, Shohei Imamura's film Unagi (Eel in English) received the Palme d'Or. In 2018, it was Hirokazu Kore-Eda 's turn to receive it for his film "A Family Affair ".
Finally, it was in 1993 that Japan saw its first UNESCO World Heritage site. There were 22 in all in 2018.
The Heisei era will end on April 30, 2019, with the abdication of the 85-year-old Emperor Akihito. His eldest son, Prince Naruhito, 57, will succeed him on May 1, 2019, and thus begin the Reiwa era.
The director is one of the founders of Studio Ghibli
Cinematography
A calmer cultural and sporting scene
On the sports side, the Winter Olympics in Nagano in 1998 and the Football World Cup in 2002 (co-organized with South Korea) have brought excitement to the country.
The cultural scene, meanwhile, saw the emergence of the "Cool Japan" movement. A concept was invented in 2002 and described as a form of soft power. Manga, anime, maid cafes, idols, etc., the "otaku culture" attracts an increasing number of fans from all over the world.
This is how the cartoon Sen to Spirited Away no Kamikakushi, in French "Le voyage de Chihiro", directed by Hayao Miyazaki and produced by the Ghibli studio enjoyed immense international success.
Souvenir of the Nagano Olympic Games at the foot of the Hakuba Sanzan Mountains
つだ (Flickr)
Développement des infrastructures et de la technologie
L'ère Heisei a vu un développement continu des infrastructures et des technologies au Japon. Le réseau de trains à grande vitesse Shinkansen s'est étendu, reliant de nouvelles régions du pays et réduisant encore les temps de trajet. Les grandes villes japonaises ont continué à se moderniser, avec la construction de gratte-ciel emblématiques comme la Tokyo Skytree, inaugurée en 2012.
Dans le domaine technologique, le Japon est resté à la pointe de l'innovation, notamment dans les secteurs de l'électronique grand public, de la robotique et des télécommunications. L'ère Heisei a vu l'émergence et la généralisation des téléphones portables, d'Internet et des réseaux sociaux, transformant profondément les modes de communication et de consommation.
Cependant, la catastrophe de Fukushima en 2011 a remis en question la politique énergétique du pays, conduisant à un débat national sur l'utilisation de l'énergie nucléaire et encourageant le développement des énergies renouvelables.
Bilan et héritage de l'ère Heisei
L'ère Heisei s'est achevée le 30 avril 2019 avec l'abdication de l'empereur Akihito, laissant un héritage complexe. Cette période de 30 ans a vu le Japon confronté à de nombreux défis, tant économiques que sociaux et environnementaux. La "décennie perdue" et les catastrophes naturelles ont mis à l'épreuve la résilience de la société japonaise.
Malgré ces difficultés, le Japon a su maintenir sa position de troisième puissance économique mondiale et a renforcé son influence culturelle à l'échelle internationale. L'ère Heisei a également vu l'émergence de nouvelles générations de Japonais, avec des aspirations et des valeurs différentes de celles de leurs aînés.
Alors que l'ère Reiwa s'ouvre, le Japon fait face à de nouveaux défis, notamment le vieillissement de sa population, la nécessité de relancer durablement son économie et de s'adapter aux changements géopolitiques mondiaux. L'héritage de l'ère Heisei, fait de résilience et d'adaptation, sera sans doute précieux pour affronter ces nouveaux enjeux.
En conclusion, l'ère Heisei restera dans l'histoire comme une période de profonde transformation pour le Japon, marquée par des crises mais aussi par une remarquable capacité d'adaptation et d'innovation. Elle a vu le pays redéfinir sa place sur la scène internationale et repenser son modèle économique et social, tout en conservant ses traditions et sa culture unique. L'héritage de cette ère continuera d'influencer le Japon dans les années à venir, alors que le pays entre dans une nouvelle phase de son histoire avec l'ère Reiwa.
