Events from the year 1869 in Japan. It corresponds to Meiji 2 in the

Japanese calendar Japanese calendar types have included a range of official and unofficial systems. At present, Japan uses the Gregorian calendar together with year designations stating the year of the reign of the current Emperor. The written form starts with t ...

Incumbents

Emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...

Emperor Meiji , also called or , was the 122nd emperor of Japan according to the traditional order of succession. Reigning from 13 February 1867 to his death, he was the first monarch of the Empire of Japan and presided over the Meiji era. He was the figur ...

Events

*January 11 – Marriage of Emperor Meiji to Ichijo Haruko, thenceforth the Empress Shōken. *January 27 – Following defeat of the forces of the Tokugawa shogunate on

Honshū , historically called , is the largest and most populous island of Japan. It is located south of Hokkaidō across the Tsugaru Strait, north of Shikoku across the Inland Sea, and northeast of Kyūshū across the Kanmon Straits. The island separa ...

in the

Boshin War The , sometimes known as the Japanese Revolution or Japanese Civil War, was a civil war in Japan fought from 1868 to 1869 between forces of the ruling Tokugawa shogunate and a clique seeking to seize political power in the name of the Imperi ...

, former Tokugawa military led by Admiral

Enomoto Takeaki Viscount was a Japanese samurai and admiral of the Tokugawa navy of Bakumatsu period Japan, who remained faithful to the Tokugawa shogunate and fought against the new Meiji government until the end of the Boshin War. He later served in the Mei ...

flee to

Ezo (also spelled Yezo or Yeso) is the Japanese term historically used to refer to the lands to the north of the Japanese island of Honshu. It included the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido, which changed its name from "Ezo" to "Hokkaidō" in 18 ...

(

Hokkaido is Japan's second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost prefecture, making up its own region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; the two islands are connected by the undersea railway Seikan Tunnel. The la ...

), the large but sparsely populated northernmost island in Japan, and establish the

Republic of Ezo The was a short-lived separatist state established in 1869 on the island of Ezo, now Hokkaido, by a part of the former military of the Tokugawa shogunate at the end of the ''Bakumatsu'' period in Japan. It was the first government to attempt t ...

. Ezo is notable for being the first government to attempt to institute democracy in Japan. Elections were based on

universal suffrage Universal suffrage (also called universal franchise, general suffrage, and common suffrage of the common man) gives the right to vote to all adult citizens, regardless of wealth, income, gender, social status, race, ethnicity, or political stanc ...

among the samurai class. This was the first

election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...

ever held in Japan. Enomoto made a last effort to petition the Imperial Court to be allowed to develop Hokkaido and maintain the traditions of the samurai unmolested, but his request was denied *February – The Imperial faction took delivery (February 1869) of the French-built ironclad Kotetsu, the first ironclad warship of the

Imperial Japanese Navy The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, when it was dissolved following Japan's surrender ...

. *February 11 –

Kannonzaki Lighthouse Kannonzaki Lighthouse (観音埼灯台) is a lighthouse on Cape Kannon, on Miura Peninsula, in Yokosuka, Kanagawa, Japan. History The original Kannonzaki Lighthouse was the first lighthouse built in Japan. It was one of the eight lighthouses who ...

(Japan's first Western style lighthouse) lights up for the first time. *March 20 – Newspaper publication is permitted. *April 9 – Imperial troops, numbering 7,000, finally land on Ezo. *May 4 –10 – Naval Battle of Hakodate ends in a decisive Imperial victory. *May 6 –

Battle of Miyako Bay The was a naval action on 6 May 1869, in which samurai loyalists of the former Tokugawa shogunate under the flag of the newly formed Republic of Ezo failed to take over the , the flagship of the Imperial forces of the new Meiji government. It wa ...

ends in an Imperial victory. The forces of Republic of Ezo desperately attempt to neutralize the powerful ironclad warship Kōtetsu, although the attempt ended in failure. The Imperial Navy continue north unimpeded, and support landing and combat operations of thousands of government troops in the Battle of Hakodate. *June 26 – President Enomoto Takeaki of the Republic of Ezo surrenders, turning Ezo's main fortress of

Goryōkaku (literally, "five-point fort") is a star fort in the Japanese city of Hakodate on the island of Hokkaido. The fortress was completed in 1866. It was the main fortress of the short-lived Republic of Ezo. History ''Goryōkaku'' was designed in ...

over to Satsuma staff officer

Kuroda Kiyotaka Count , also known as , was a Japanese politician of the Meiji era. He was Prime Minister of Japan from 1888 to 1889. He was also vice chairman of the Hokkaido Development Commission ( Kaitaku-shi). Biography As a Satsuma ''samurai'' Kur ...

on June 27. *June 27 – After having lost close to half their numbers and most of their ships, the military of Ezo Republic surrenders to the Meiji government, this formally ending the Republic of Ezo. Hokkaidō comes under the rule of the central government headed by the Meiji Emperor. *September 4 – The Emperor receives The Duke of Edinburgh. *September 20 – Ezo was given its present name,

(北海道 ''Hokkaidō'', literally "Northern Sea Region").Onodera, 2004, p. 196. *October 9 –

Ōmura Masujirō was a Japanese military leader and theorist in Bakumatsu period Japan. He was the "Father" of the Imperial Japanese Army, launching a modern military force closely patterned after the French system of the day. Early life and education Ōmura ...

and several associates are attacked at an inn in

Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the ci ...

. Wounded in several places, he barely escaped with his life by hiding in a bath full of dirty water. The wound on his leg would not heal Ōmura died of his wounds on December 7.

Births

*November 15 –

Gōtarō Mikami was a Japanese medical doctor during the Russo-Japanese War noted for his work with the Red Cross. Biography Mikami was born in the village of Sai on the northern tip of Shimokita Peninsula in Aomori Prefecture. His family had been doctors to ...

, military doctor (d.

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarch ...

)

Deaths

*February 15 –

Yokoi Shōnan was a Bakumatsu and early Meiji period scholar and political reformer in Japan, influential around the fall of the Tokugawa bakufu. His real name was Yokoi Tokiari. Life and career Yokoi was a ''samurai'' born in Kumamoto, Higo Province (pre ...

, scholar and political reformer (b.

1809 Events January–March * January 5 – The Treaty of the Dardanelles, between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the Ottoman Empire, is concluded. * January 10 – Peninsular War – French Marshal Jean ...

) *June 20 –

Hijikata Toshizō was a Japanese warrior. As of the ''Shinsengumi'', he resisted the Meiji Restoration and fought to his end. Background was born on May 31, 1835, in the Ishida village, Tama region of Musashi Province (present day Ishida, Hino, Tokyo), Jap ...

, Vice-Commander of the

Shinsengumi The was a special police force organized by the (military government) during Japan's Bakumatsu period (late Tokugawa shogunate) in 1863. It was active until 1869. It was founded to protect the shogunate representatives in Kyoto at a time when ...

, and military leader (b.

1835 Events January–March * January 7 – anchors off the Chonos Archipelago on her second voyage, with Charles Darwin on board as naturalist. * January 8 – The United States public debt contracts to zero, for the only time in history. ...

) *December 7 –

, military leader (assassinated) (b.

1824 May 7: The almost completely deaf Beethoven premieres his Symphony No. 9 (Beethoven) , Ninth Symphony Events January–March * January 8 – After much controversy, Michael Faraday is finally elected as a member of the Royal Society, ...

)

References

{{Asia topic, 1869 in 1860s in Japan Years of the 19th century in Japan