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According to dictionaries, the WA 和 in 昭和 has both the meaning of peace,
harmonious and Japan, japanese (although mostly as the first kanji of a
compound, such as in 和語). So I wonder how Japanese of those times perceived
the announcement and the phrase.

Did it carry immediately a meaning of (luminous) Peace _for Japan_ , or was
the national or identity element not present for a native speaker?
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2011-06-19T08:29:07.030
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history compounds puns
Was the name for the Shōwa era a voluntary pun?
I think that's because 和 can be used as short form of 平和(へいわ-peace), 調和(ちょうわ-
harmonious), 大和（やまと-Japan） and may be there is something more.
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2011-06-19T08:34:42.787
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From what I understood from
[Wikipedia](http://ja.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=%E6%98%AD%E5%92%8C&oldid=38048341#.E5.87.BA.E5.85.B8),
it was meant to express the hope for peace at home and the desire for the rest
of the world to be prosperous together: 国民の平和および世界各国の共存繁栄を願う意味である。

It lists a few other ideas for the name of the era as well:
「神化」「元化」「同和」「継明」「順明」「明保」「寛安」「元安」
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2011-06-19T09:21:16.967
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Whether the emperor meant it as a "pun" (or something similar) is pretty hard
to know. But it is doubtful.

昭和 means harmony for the same reason that 和 is associated to Japan: in both
cases, 和 represents the very specifically-Japanese conception of "social
harmony" (which is different enough from the western word, for many scholars
to use "Wa", even in English texts). It is not a coincidence, but it predates
our era by a good 13 centuries.

The use of 和 in the spelling of 大和【やまと】([old name for
Japan](http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E5%A4%A7%E5%92%8C)) has a long and
complex history, but the gist of it is that it was picked as a replacement for
a previous kanji used by the Chinese
([倭](http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%80%AD)), which the Japanese did not find
flattering. 和 did have a positive association with a philosophical concept
that the Japanese considered at the heart of their culture, hence the
entanglement and how it became to be both "harmony" and "japan".

To answer your question of whether it carried a meaning of Harmony
_specifically for Japan_ : yes, **in a way** , since "Wa" **is** the Japanese
conception of harmony, and foreigners (particularly of this era) would
definitely not be expected to grasp its meaning, let alone have it.
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2011-06-19T14:22:34.010
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2011-06-19T14:44:50.927
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The posthumous name of Japanese emperors is pretty much chosen (even if it's
not official) while the emperor is still reigning - for example we know the
likely posthumous name for the current emperor.

So in terms of it being a pun, I'd say it isn't a deliberate reference to the
horrific war(s) Japan experienced during Hirohito's reign, or Japan's post-
WWII pacifism.
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