was a after ''
Man'en
was a after '' Ansei'' and before ''Bunkyū''. This period spanned the years from March 1860 through February 1861. The reigning emperor was .
Change of era
* March 18, 1860 (): The new era name was created to mark the destruction caused by a ...
'' and before ''
Genji''. This period spanned the years from March 1861 through March 1864. The reigning
emperor
The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/grand empress dowager), or a woman who rules ...
was .
Change of era
* March 29, 1861 (''Man'en 2/Bunkyū 1, 19th day of the 2nd month'') : The new era name of ''Bunkyū'' (meaning "Literate Story") was created because of a belief drawn from
Chinese astrology that the 58th year of any zodiacal cycle brings great changes. The previous era ended and a new one commenced in ''Man'en'' 2.
Events of the ''Bunkyū'' era
* 1861 (''Bunkyu 1''):
Ukai Gyokusen established the first commercial photography studio (''Eishin-dō'') in
Edo.
* January 1862 (''Bunkyū 1, 12th month''): The
Bonin Islands
The Bonin Islands, also known as the , is a list of islands of Japan, Japanese archipelago of over 30 subtropical and Island#Tropical islands, tropical islands located around SSE of Tokyo and northwest of Guam. The group as a whole has a total ...
(''Ogasawara'' Islands) are re-confirmed as a territory of Japan, following up "discovery" of the islands in ''
Kanbun'' 10 (1670) and a shogunate expedition to the islands in ''
Enpō'' 3 (1675).
* 1862 (''Bunkyū 2''): The
Bunkyū Reforms
was a after ''Man'en'' and before ''Genji (era), Genji''. This period spanned the years from March 1861 through March 1864. The reigning Emperor of Japan, emperor was .
Change of era
* March 29, 1861 (''Man'en 2/Bunkyū 1, 19th day of the 2nd ...
relax restrictions on ''daimyōs'' which had been imposed by former
Tairō Ii Naosuke in the
Ansei era.
[Jansen, Marius. (2000). ''The Making of Modern Japan,'' p. 296.]
* September 14, 1862 (''Bunkyū 2, 21st day of the 8th month''):
Namamugi Incident. Satsuma retainers kill English merchant
Charles Lennox Richardson at Namamugi on the
Tōkaidō road.
* April 22, 1863 (''Bunkyū 3, 5th day of the 3rd month''): ''Shōgun''
Iemochi travelled in a great procession to the capital. He had been summoned by the emperor, and had 3,000 retainers as escort. This was the first time that a ''shōgun'' had visited Heian-kyō since the visit of
Iemitsu in ''
Kan'ei'' 11 (1634) – 230 years before.
[Ponsonby-Fane, Richard. (1956). ''Kyoto: The Old Capital of Japan, 794–1869'', p. 325.]
* April 28, 1863 (''Bunkyū 3, 11th day of the 3rd month''): Emperor Komei made an Imperial progress to the
Kamo Shrines. He was accompanied by the ''shōgun'', all the principal officials and many feudal lords. This was the first Imperial progress since
Emperor Go-Mizunoo visited
Nijō Castle more than 230 years before; and no Emperor had visited Kamo since
Emperor Go-Daigo honored both shrines in ''
Kenmu
was a Japanese era name of the Northern Court during the Era of Northern and Southern Courts after '' Shōkei'' and before '' Ryakuō.'' Although Kemmu is understood by the Southern Court as having begun at the same time, the era was construe ...
'' 1 (1334).
* April 29, 1863 (''Bunkyū 3, 12th day of the 3rd month''): In the early morning,
Aizu accepts under its patronage the men of the Rōshigumi, who went on to form the
Shinsengumi.
* May 2, 1863 (''Bunkyū 3, 15th day of the 3rd month''): The Rōshigumi men who were taken under Aizu patronage go to Konkaikōmyōji Temple to make their first formal, public appearance, and pay their respects to their new patron,
Matsudaira Katamori. As Katamori is unavailable, they are instead met by two of his senior retainers.
* August 15–17, 1863 (''Bunkyū 3, 2nd-4th of the 7th month''):
Bombardment of Kagoshima in retaliation for the
Namamugi Incident.
See also
*
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 Japanese era name, year of the reign of the current Emperor. The written f ...
Notes
References
*
Jansen, Marius B. (2000). ''The Making of Modern Japan.'' Cambridge:
Harvard University Press
Harvard University Press (HUP) is an academic publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University. It is a member of the Association of University Presses. Its director since 2017 is George Andreou.
The pres ...
.
OCLC 44090600* Nussbaum, Louis Frédéric and Käthe Roth. (2005). ''Japan Encyclopedia''. Cambridge:
Harvard University Press
Harvard University Press (HUP) is an academic publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University. It is a member of the Association of University Presses. Its director since 2017 is George Andreou.
The pres ...
.
OCLC 48943301*
Ponsonby-Fane, Richard A. B. (1956)
''Kyoto: The Old Capital of Japan, 794–1869''.Kyoto: The Ponsonby Memorial Society.
*
Satow, Ernest Mason and Baba Bunyei. (1905)
''Japan 1853–1864, Or, Genji Yume Monogatari''.Tokyo: .
* Tanaka, Hiroyuki
''Kaiji Shi Kenkyuu'' (''Journal of the Maritime History''). No. 50, June, 1993, Tokyo: The Japan Society of the History of Maritime.
External links
*
National Diet Library
The is the national library of Japan and among the largest libraries in the world. It was established in 1948 for the purpose of assisting members of the in researching matters of public policy. The library is similar in purpose and scope to ...
, ''The Japanese Calendar'
– historical overview plus illustrative images from library's collection* ''Bunkyū'' 3 procession of Shogun towards Kyot
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bunkyu
Japanese eras
1860s in Japan
1861 establishments in Japan
1861 introductions
1860s disestablishments in Japan
1860s neologisms