A note from the Kumamoto International Desk of Irony (don’t catch us on a bad day): in advance of the new reign name, Reiwa (令和), the Kumamoto Department of Motor Vehicles has announced that it will from May use the Gregorian Calendar as its main dating system on its licenses with the reign name following in parenthesis; the purpose is to make the document more understanding to non-Japanese (and, likely, to Japanese, too). Ironically, the Kumanichi article gave the example 「２０２４年（平成３６年）〇月〇日まで有効」- “valid through 2024 (Heisei 36).” There will be a 2024, but 平成36年 will never exist.
The article also touches on anticipation of disagreement on which reign name should be used on licenses and how to deal with drivers’ requests. - William
