Calendar

The current calendar widely used across the continent is called the 'Tenji Calendar' after the Tenji Dynasty of So no Kuni, the Country of Ancestors. This calendar was actually started in the year 720 as a means to extend the influence of the Tenji Dynasty beyond the borders of its territory. The calendar starts at the year 0, which is believed to be the planting of the God Tree, and counts up from there. Before the planting the years count down towards the year 0. The years are broken into two sections to distinguish between them.

• Kongen Mae Ni [Before the Origin]
• Kongen Ato De [After the Origin]

The origin of the calendar came in a time of expansion for So no Kuni, as the Tenji Dynasty came to power and wanted to solidify its influence. As such they claimed the current year to be the twelfth anniversary of the zodiac cycle, which is a sixty year cycle of years. The claim was an approximation as the actual time of the planting of the tree, or whether the tree even existed, is up to historical debate. However, the calendar did catch on do to the Tenji's influence, and it carried on past the fall of their dynasty and country to the modern era. Perhaps their greatest legacy as their name lives on in a tool used daily across the continent.

As mentioned, it is unknown whether or not the God Tree existed at the time of the calendar's creation or if it was always a myth and never really existed. Historical records are contradictory, and the God Tree lives on mostly in religious myth.