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This is Japan's 248th era name. 
The meaning of the new era name 'Reiwa' (#令和) is to be explained shortly by @AbeShinzo. I'm not a Japanese linguist but the characters together exude a 'wonderful' and 'warm' feeling.
The rules for naming the new era were based on the following: Must be comprised of two 'kanji' characters; easy to read and write; never previously an era name or a posthumous name of an emperor; and not a commonly used word. 新元号
"The name is meant to reflect the spiritual unity of the Japanese people," says @AbeShinzo in explaining the meaning of 'Reiwa.' 新元号
The name 'Reiwa' is derived from the Manyoshu (the oldest existing collection of Japanese poetry), breaking from tradition of sourcing previous Japanese era names from traditional Chinese poetry.
"This reflects our long history and our own sophisticated culture," replies @AbeShinzo to a question from a @Sankei_news reporter about why this change in tradition for selecting the name was made.
"We're very proud of our history, culture and tradition and we seek to express the Japan of tomorrow to we aspire and thus we thought this the most appropriate name to select," explains @AbeShinzo. 新元号
The poem inspiring the new era name describes plum flowers' blooming after cold weather, explains @AbeShinzo, adding: "I hope young people in future will display their abilities to the fullest." 新元号
"This month (April) will be the last month of the Heisei era and I hope we'll use it to reflect on the achievements of the (abdicating) emperor and the empress," concludes @AbeShinzo. "The new name has been communicated to the emperor and the crown prince."
This is the original Manyoshu (V: 815) text that inspired the new 'Reiwa' era name: 武都紀多知 波流能吉多良婆 可久斯許曽 烏梅乎乎<岐>都々 多努之岐乎倍米
One longtime foreign journalist in #Japan has a darker interpretation of the new era name:
The newly unveiled era name for #Japan is a surprise but familiar for some in the real estate profession in Western Australia.
