was a after ''

Bunroku was a after '' Tenshō'' and before ''Keichō.'' This period spanned the years from December 1592 to October 1596.Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Bunroku''" i ''Japan encyclopedia'', p. 92 n.b., Louis-Frédéric is pseudonym of Louis-Fr ...

'' and before ''

Genna was a coming after '' Keichō'' and before ''Kan'ei.'' This period spanned the years from July 1615 to February 1624. The reigning emperor was . Change of era * 1615 : The era name was changed to mark the enthronement of Go-Mizunuoo and bec ...

''. This period spanned from October 1596 to July 1615. The reigning emperors were and .

Change of era

* 1596 : The era name was changed to ''Keichō'' to mark the passing of various natural disasters. The preceding era ended and a new one commenced on October 27 of the 5th ''Bunroku''.

Events of the ''Keichō'' era

* 1596 (''Keichō 1''): ''Keichō'' Invasion (invasion of

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

). * September 18, 1598 (''Keichō 3, 18th day of the 8th month''):

Toyotomi Hideyoshi , otherwise known as and , was a Japanese samurai and ''daimyō'' (feudal lord) of the late Sengoku period regarded as the second "Great Unifier" of Japan.Richard Holmes, The World Atlas of Warfare: Military Innovations that Changed the Cour ...

died in his Fushimi Castle at the age of 63.Titsingh
p. 405.
/ref> * October 21, 1600 (''Keichō 5, 15th day of the 9th month''): Battle of Sekigahara. The

Tokugawa clan The is a Japanese dynasty that was formerly a powerful ''daimyō'' family. They nominally descended from Emperor Seiwa (850–880) and were a branch of the Minamoto clan (Seiwa Genji) through the Matsudaira clan. The early history of this clan r ...

and its allies decisively vanquish all opposition. * January 15, 1602 (''Keichō 7, 24th day of the 11th month''): A fire at the Hōkō-ji temple complex in Kyoto was caused by careless workmen; and the great image of the buddha and the structure housing the statue (the Daibutsu-den) were consumed by the flames. * 1603 (''Keichō 8''):

Tokugawa Ieyasu was the founder and first ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan, which ruled Japan from 1603 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. He was one of the three "Great Unifiers" of Japan, along with his former lord Oda Nobunaga and fellow ...

became ''

shōgun , officially , was the title of the military dictators of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, though during part of the Kamakur ...

'', which effectively becomes the beginning of what will become the Edo ''bakufu''.

Toyotomi Hideyori was the son and designated successor of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the general who first united all of Japan. His mother, Yodo-dono, was the niece of Oda Nobunaga. Early life Born in 1593, he was Hideyoshi's second son. The birth of Hideyori cr ...

was elevated to

Naidaijin The , literally meaning "Inner Minister", was an ancient office in the Japanese Imperial Court. Its role, rank and authority varied throughout the pre- Meiji period of Japanese history, but in general remained as a significant post under the Tai ...

in Miyako

Daijō-kan The , also known as the Great Council of State, was (i) (''Daijō-kan'') the highest organ of Japan's premodern Imperial government under the Ritsuryō legal system during and after the Nara period or (ii) (''Dajō-kan'') the highest organ of J ...

.Titisngh
p. 409.
/ref> * 1604-1606 (''Keichō 9-11''):

undertook the rebuilding of Asama Shrine at the base of

Mount Fuji , or Fugaku, located on the island of Honshū, is the highest mountain in Japan, with a summit elevation of . It is the second-highest volcano located on an island in Asia (after Mount Kerinci on the island of Sumatra), and seventh-highest p ...

in Suruga Province in fulfillment of a vow and in gratitude for the help of the ''kami'' during the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600. * 1605 (''Keichō 10''):

Tokugawa Hidetada was the second ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa dynasty, who ruled from 1605 until his abdication in 1623. He was the third son of Tokugawa Ieyasu, the first ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa shogunate. Early life (1579–1593) Tokugawa Hidetada was bo ...

was named successor ''shōgun'' after his father "retires" from the position of ''shōgun''. * 1605 (''Keichō 10''): The first official map of Japan was ordered in this year and completed in 1639 at a scale of 1:280,000. * January 23, 1605 (''Keichō 10, 15th day of the 12th month''): A new volcanic island, Hachijōko-jima, arose from the sea at the side of in the which stretch south and east from the Izu Peninsula. * 1606 (''Keichō 11''): Construction began on Edo Castle. * 1607 (''Keichō 12''): Construction began on

Sunpu Castle was a Japanese castle in Shizuoka City, Shizuoka Prefecture in Japan. The sobriquet of this feudal fortress was the "Castle of the Floating Isle".Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS)Shizuoka It was also referred to as or . His ...

in Suruga; and an ambassador from China arrived with greetings for the emperor of Japan. * 1609 (''Keichō 14''):

Invasion of Ryukyu The by forces of the Japanese feudal domain of Satsuma took place from March to May of 1609, and marked the beginning of the Ryukyu Kingdom's status as a vassal state under the Satsuma domain. The invasion force was met with stiff resistance ...

by Shimazu ''

daimyō were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji era, Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast, hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and n ...

'' of

Satsuma Satsuma may refer to: * Satsuma (fruit), a citrus fruit * ''Satsuma'' (gastropod), a genus of land snails Places Japan * Satsuma, Kagoshima, a Japanese town * Satsuma District, Kagoshima, a district in Kagoshima Prefecture * Satsuma Domain, a sou ...

. * August 24, 1609 (''Keichō 14, 25th day of the 6th month'') NengoCalc
慶長十四年七月二十五日 -->: Trading pass (''handelpas'') issued to Dutch East Indies Company in the name of Ieyasu Tokugawa. * November 15, 1610 (''Keichō 15, 30th day of the 9th month''):

sponsors work which is begun to rebuild the Hōkō-ji in line with the plans which his father had supported; and this will include recreating the Daibutsu of Kyoto in bronze to replace the wooden image which had been burned. At this time, Hideyori also decides to order a great bell cast in bronze. * May 20, 1610 (''Keichō 15, 27th day of the 3rd month''): Hideyori came to Kyoto to visit the former-''shōgun''

; and the same day, the emperor resigns in favor of his son Masahito. Emperor Go-Yōzei abdicates; and his son receives the succession (''senso''). * 1611 (''Keichō 16''):

Emperor Go-Mizunoo was the 108th Emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. Go-Mizunoo's reign spanned the years from 1611 through 1629, and was the first emperor to reign entirely during the Edo period. This 17th-century sovereign was n ...

formally accedes to the throne (''sokui''). * 1613 (''Keichō 18''): In the years 1613 through 1620,

Hasekura Tsunenaga was a kirishitan Japanese samurai and retainer of Date Masamune, the daimyō of Sendai. He was of Japanese imperial descent with ancestral ties to Emperor Kanmu. Other names include Philip Francis Faxicura, Felipe Francisco Faxicura, and Phi ...

headed a diplomatic mission to the

Vatican Vatican may refer to: Vatican City, the city-state ruled by the pope in Rome, including St. Peter's Basilica, Sistine Chapel, Vatican Museum The Holy See * The Holy See, the governing body of the Catholic Church and sovereign entity recognized ...

in Rome, traveling through

New Spain New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( es, Virreinato de Nueva España, ), or Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain during the Spanish colonization of the Am ...

(arriving in

Acapulco Acapulco de Juárez (), commonly called Acapulco ( , also , nah, Acapolco), is a city and major seaport in the state of Guerrero on the Pacific Coast of Mexico, south of Mexico City. Acapulco is located on a deep, semicircular bay and has bee ...

and departing from

Veracruz Veracruz (), formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave), is one of the 31 states which, along with Me ...

) and visiting various ports-of-call in Europe. This historic mission is called the ''Keichō'' Embassy, (). On the return trip, Hasekura and his companions re-traced their route across Mexico in 1619, sailing from Acapulco for Manilla, and then sailing north to Japan in 1620. This is conventionally considered the first Japanese ambassador in the

Americas The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. Along with th ...

and in Europe. * 1614 (''Keichō 19''):

Siege of Osaka The was a series of battles undertaken by the Japanese Tokugawa shogunate against the Toyotomi clan, and ending in that clan's destruction. Divided into two stages (winter campaign and summer campaign), and lasting from 1614 to 1615, the siege ...

. The ''shōgun'' vanquished Hideyori and set fire to

Osaka Castle is a Japanese castle in Chūō-ku, Osaka, Japan. The castle is one of Japan's most famous landmarks and it played a major role in the unification of Japan during the sixteenth century of the Azuchi-Momoyama period. Layout The main tower ...

, and then he returned for the winter to Edo.Titsingh
p. 410.
/ref> * August 24, 1614 (''Keichō 19, 19th day of the 7th month''): A new bronze bell for the Hōkō-ji was cast successfull
– see 19th century photo of Hōkō-ji bell
http://oldphoto.lb.nagasaki-u.ac.jp/en/target.php?id=3093, and see old photo of bell]; but despite dedication ceremony planning, Ieyasu forbade any further actions concerning the great bell: ::" e tablet over the Daibatsu-den and the bell bore the inscription ''"Kokka ankō"'' (meaning "the country and the house, peace and tranquility"), and at this Tokugawa Ieyasu affected to take umbrage, alleging that it was intended as a curse on him for the character 安 (''an'', "peace") was placed between the two characters composing his own name 家康 (''"ka-kō"'', "house tranquility") uggesting subtly perhaps that peace could only be attained by Ieyasu's dismemberment?... This incident of the inscription was, of course, a mere

pretext A pretext (adj: pretextual) is an excuse to do something or say something that is not accurate. Pretexts may be based on a half-truth or developed in the context of a misleading fabrication. Pretexts have been used to conceal the true purpose or rat ...

, but Ieyasu realized that he could not enjoy the power he had usurped as long as Hideyori lived, and consequently, although the latter more than once dispatched his ''kerei'' Katagiri Kastumoto to

with profuse apologies, Ieyasu refused to be placated." * October 18, 1614 (''Keichō 19, 25th day of the 10th month''): A strong earthquake shook Kyoto. * 1615 (''Keichō 20''): Osaka Summer Battle begins.

Era developments

Keicho gold coinage Oban Koban Ichibuban 1601 1695

* Copper, silver and gold coins called ''Keichō-tsūhō'' were issued in the ''Keichō'' era helping to unify the currency system. * ''Keichō-chokuhan'', also called ''Keichō shinkoku-bon'', were Imperial publications, produced during the ''Keichō'' era at the command of Emperor Go-Yōzei and printed using moveable type which had been imported from the

Joseon Kingdom Joseon (; ; Middle Korean: 됴ᇢ〯션〮 Dyǒw syéon or 됴ᇢ〯션〯 Dyǒw syěon), officially the Great Joseon (; ), was the last dynastic kingdom of Korea, lasting just over 500 years. It was founded by Yi Seong-gye in July 1392 and re ...

on the Korean peninsula. * ''Keichō no katsuji-ban'' was the general name for the first works printed with moveable typ during the ''Keichō'' era. * also called the ''Kembun-shū'' was a book, a collection of tales and anecdotes compiled by

Miura Jōshin Miura may refer to: Places *Miura, Kanagawa *Miurakaigan Station *Miura District, Kanagawa *Miura Peninsula * Ganadería Miura, the home of the Miura fighting bull line People * Miura (surname) *Miura clan, Japanese descended clan of the Taira ...

(1565–1644).Nussbaum, "''Keichō kemmon-shū''" i
''Japan Encyclopedia'', p. 504.
/ref>

Notes

References

* de Winter, Michiel. (2006)
"''VOC in Japan: Betrekkingen tussen Hollanders en Japanners in de Edo-periode, tussen 1602–1795''"
("VOC in Japan: Relations between the Dutch and Japanese in the Edo-period, between 1602–1795"). * Nussbaum, Louis Frédéric and Käthe Roth. (2005). ''Japan Encyclopedia.'' Cambridge:

Harvard University Press Harvard University Press (HUP) is a publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University, and focused on academic publishing. It is a member of the Association of American University Presses. After the retir ...

.
OCLC 48943301
* Ponsonby-Fane, Richard Arthur Brabazon. (1959)
''The Imperial House of Japan''.
Kyoto: Ponsonby Memorial Society. . * Ponsonby-Fane, Richard Arthur Brabazon (1962)
''Studies in Shinto and Shrines''.
Kyoto: Ponsonby Memorial Society. . * Screech, Timon. (2006)
''Secret Memoirs of the Shoguns: Isaac Titsingh and Japan, 1779–1822''.
London:

RoutledgeCurzon Routledge () is a British multinational publisher. It was founded in 1836 by George Routledge, and specialises in providing academic books, journals and online resources in the fields of the humanities, behavioural science, education, law, and ...

. ; . * Titsingh, Isaac (1834). '' Nihon Ōdai Ichiran''; ou
''Annales des empereurs du Japon''
Paris: Royal Asiatic Society, Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland. . * Traganeou, Jilly. (2004)
''The Tokaido Road: Traveling and Representation in Edo and Meiji Japan''
London: RoutledgeCurzon. .

External links

* National Diet Library, "The Japanese Calendar" �
overview plus illustrative images from library's collection
{{DEFAULTSORT:Keicho 1590s in Japan 1600s in Japan 1610s in Japan Japanese eras