A group of calendar makers told the government Wednesday they will suffer huge financial losses if the new era name to be adopted after the abdication of Emperor Akihito is not announced before January, saying they will have difficulty moving forward for the following year without it.

The request by the publishers regarding the nengo, or era name, which remains in use for the length of an emperor's reign, follows Friday's enactment of a special law to allow the Emperor to hand over the Chrysanthemum throne to Crown Prince Naruhito.

The government envisions December 2018, when the Emperor turns 85 years old, as the possible timing for his abdication, and the era name will likely change at the start of 2019, according to sources close to the matter.