What is special about a New Era Name?

In Japan, every emperor's era has its own name -- appearing in places such as coins, official paperwork and newspapers. The name of the era was changing for the first time in over 30 years and the announcement itself was a historical event since the era name is more than just a way of counting years for many Japanese. It's a word that captures the national mood of a period, similar to the way "the '60s" evokes particular feelings or images, or how historians refer to Britain's "Victorian" or "Edwardian" eras.

What is special about a Newspaper extra?

At historical moments, many Japanese people rush for special mementos, the most well known are newspaper extras. But, only a few hundred copies are distributed. The battle is fierce.

Only 1 hour after the announcement of the new era name in Japan, Coca-Cola distributed the "breaking news bottle". This bottle was taken by surprise by many people and news outlets, not only because the new name of the era "Reiwa" was printed on the label, but because it was distributed in such a short time. How short? At exactly the same time as newspaper extras were being handed out.

Please read "Cultural Context" to understand how special this moment was in Japan.