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"Japan's impending "millennium bug" " Topic


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Martin From Canada29 Jul 2018 1:05 p.m. PST

On 30 April 2019, Emperor Akihito of Japan is expected to abdicate the chrysanthemum throne. The decision was announced in December 2017 so as to ensure an orderly transition to Akihito's son, Naruhito, but the coronation could cause concerns in an unlikely place: the technology sector.

The Japanese calendar counts up from the coronation of a new emperor, using not the name of the emperor, but the name of the era they herald. Akihito's coronation in January 1989 marked the beginning of the Heisei era, and the end of the Shōwa era that preceded him; and Naruhito's coronation will itself mark another new era.

But that brings problems. For one, Akihito has been on the throne for almost the entirety of the information age, meaning that many systems have never had to deal with a switchover in era. For another, the official name of Naruhito's era has yet to be announced, causing concern for diary publishers, calendar printers and international standards bodies.[…]

link

Cacique Caribe29 Jul 2018 1:37 p.m. PST

So they really never planned for this Y-Akihito-K thing, ever? I find that very hard to believe.

I mean, seriously, they've only had since 1989 to prepare for this, right? :)

Dan
PS. I wonder what real news the true powers-that-be are trying to distract their people from. (Yes, I have serious media trust issues.)

picture

Bowman29 Jul 2018 4:05 p.m. PST

Oh Dan, take the foil off your head and take an aspirin. The Gaurdian is not out to get you.

Of course there is an absolute numbering system of years used in Japan that is independent of the current emperors. The historical calendar of Japan started in 660 BCE. Therefore, the current year is the year 2678 in the Japanese calendar.

This is important for any wargamer interested in WW2 Japanese militaria. For instance, take the Type 97 Chi Ha medium tank. What's with the 97 designation? Well the tank was first built in the Japanese year 2597 (or 1937 in our calendar). The Japanese would designate any weapon using the last two digits of the year the weapon was introduced (or designed).

So the upgraded 7.7mm Arisaka rifle is a Type 99. This was the gun that replaced the older 6.5mm rifle, and it was designed in 2599 (or 1939 in our calendar) . This was the main Japanese rifle that the allies had to face in WW2.

Sorry for the derail.

Gunfreak Supporting Member of TMP29 Jul 2018 4:09 p.m. PST

I assume this will lead to flesh eating toasters like in that Y2K Halloween episode of the Simpsons?

Bowman29 Jul 2018 4:11 p.m. PST

Only if they are Mitsubishi. Luckily, mine is a Phillips.

Cacique Caribe29 Jul 2018 5:04 p.m. PST

Again, they've only had since 1989 to prepare for this, right? :)

Dan

Martin From Canada30 Jul 2018 10:41 a.m. PST

Again, they've only had since 1989 to prepare for this, right? :)

Why make code more complicated than necessary if it's not in the design spec? Especially if you can parley the patch into a new contract…

Mithmee30 Jul 2018 12:30 p.m. PST

they've only had since 1989 to prepare for this, right? :)

Yes they did.

But you got to remember most of them only plan for the now and not the future.

Oh and the World is not going to end due to this.

Cacique Caribe30 Jul 2018 12:41 p.m. PST

Mithmee: "Oh and the World is not going to end due to this."

Exactly! Which then begs the question … why do they make it sound like there's an imminent catastrophe?

There are lots of real things going on that they can report on, for sure, without having to resort to these sensational diversionary tactics.

Dan

Bowman30 Jul 2018 4:44 p.m. PST

……without having to resort to these sensational diversionary tactics.

Have you figured out what "big story" this Japanese issue is distracting and diverting you from?

Cacique Caribe30 Jul 2018 5:09 p.m. PST

Just a guess … some new corruption investigation on people the media supported fully? Or perhaps Lil Kim getting back to testing missiles?

Dan

Martin From Canada30 Jul 2018 5:11 p.m. PST

If you look at the article, it's very important with regards to government computers, especially for tax related reasons – it creates an irregularity when counting years.

Also affects the Unicode standards

Personal logo StoneMtnMinis Supporting Member of TMP30 Jul 2018 8:36 p.m. PST

Horrors! Tax related issues might occur and the government might have to function with less money taken from their citizens. Oh the inhumanity!

And unicode isn't dependant upon Japan.

Bowman31 Jul 2018 5:12 a.m. PST

Also affects the Unicode standards

I'm not sure I get why either.

Martin From Canada31 Jul 2018 5:42 a.m. PST

Also affects the Unicode standards

I'm not sure I get why either.

From the article:

A much harder problem faces Unicode, the international standards organisation which most famously controls the introduction of new emojis to the world. Since Japanese computers use one character to represent the entire era name (compressing Heisei into ㍻ rather than 平成, for instance), Unicode needs to set the standard for that new character. But it can't do that until it knows what it's called, and it won't know that until late February at best. Unfortunately, version 12 of Unicode is due to come out in early March, which means it needs to be finished before then, and can't be delayed.

Phil DAmato31 Jul 2018 8:26 a.m. PST

The only Big Japanese Story that I can think of is Godzilla.

phil

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