The Showa Era is a period of Japanese history which refers to the Emperor Hirohito's reign from 1926 to his death in 1989. Showa is also used as a fan term to differentiate long running tokusatsu franchises into separate categories. Often the term applies to tokusatsu produced in the 70s and 80s but can also be used to describe shows from the earlier days of Japanese TV or in some cases its style of writing. (Ex. Kamen Rider's creator Shotaro Ishinomori)
Links
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shōwa_period Showa Era history on Wikipedia