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The first recorded instance of “Reiwa” used was at the announcement of the new era name on April 1st (no joke).

Cabinet minister Suga Yoshihide pronounced it as REI-wa. People working in the television industry have said they also pronounce it as REI-wa because that was the way it was announced, but the pronunciation will probably gradually change to rei-WA as it is used more and more in sentences where the stress with the year number following the era name is more efficient.

The same kind of pronunciation shift was observed with the Showa era (1926-1989) name.