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EDO PERIOD

1603 - 1867

 

1605

Tokugawa Ieyasu retires as shôgun in favor of his son Hidetada.

1609

  • The Madre de Dios Incident occurs.

  • The Shimazu occupy Okinawa.

    1611

    Tokugawa Ieyasu meets with Toyotomi Hideyori at Nijô Castle in Kyôto.

    1613

  • Date Masamune dispatches a political mission to Europe.

  • The English ship Clove arrives at Hirado.

    1614

    February 1 The Tokugawa Bakufu officially orders the expulsion of all missionaries from Japan.

  • The construction of Edo Castle is largely completed.

    November The Osaka Winter Campaign begins.

    1615

    January 19 A cease-fire is called at Osaka Castle.

    May 28 The Osaka Summer Campaign begins.

    June 3 The Toyotomi army is defeated in the Battle of Tennôji; Hideyori commits suicide.

  • Tokugawa Ieyasu orders the preperation of the Buke Shohatto (Laws for Warrior Houses), which Ishin Sûden reads to an assembly of daimyô at Fushimi.

    1616

    June 1 Tokugawa Ieyasu dies.

    1623

  • Tokugawa Iemitsu becomes shôgun.

  • The English presence at Hirado ends.

    1624

    The bakufu expells the Spanish.

    1632

  • The Bakufu confiscates Kato Tadahiro's domain, a move that shocks many other daimyô. By the end of 1640, the Horio (1633), Gamô (1634), Kyôgoku (1637), Terazawa (1638), and Ikoma (1640) will have lost their fiefs as well.

  • Tokugawa Hidetada dies.

    1635

    The sankin - kotai (alternate attendance) system is established, announced in an amendment to the Buke shohatto. A futher amendment stipulates that no ships over 500 koku burden may be built.

    1637

  • The bakufu forbids any Japanese from leaving the country.

    December 11 The Shimabara Rebellion begins.

    1638

    April 12 The Shimabara Rebellion is crushed.

    1639

    August 4 Portuguese trade is terminated, making the sakoku (closed country) policy all but complete.

    1641

    The Dutch presence at Hirado ends - the Dutch move their operations to Deshima (Hizen).

    1643

    The buying and selling of land is prohibited.

    1651

  • Tokugawa Iemitsu (b.1604) dies.

  • Tokugawa Ietsuna (1641-80) becomes shôgun.

    1680

    Tokugawa Tsunayoshi (1646-1709) becomes shôgun.

    1685

    A final attempt by the Portuguese to re-establish relations with Japan results in failure.

    1701 - 1702

    The Incident of the 47 Ronin occurs.

    1709

    Tokugawa Ienobu (1622-1712) becomes shôgun.

    1713

    Tokugawa Ietsugu (1709-16) becomes shôgun.

    1716

  • Tokugawa Yoshimune (1684-1751) becomes shôgun.

  • The Hagakure is complied.

    1722

    The hyôjôsho (supreme court) is established in Edo Castle.

    1725

    Arai Hakuseki (b.1657), a noted historian, dies.

    1728

    Noted Confucian scholar Ogyû Sorai (b.1666) dies.

    1738

    84,000 peasants protest heavy taxation in Iwaki province.

    1745

    Tokugawa Ieshige (1711-61) becomes shôgun.

    1754

    168,000 peasants protest heavy taxation on Kyushu.

    1760

    Tokugawa Ieharu (1737-86) becomes shôgun.

    1782 - 1787

    The Temmei famine kills as many as 1.5 million.

    1787

    Tokugawa Ienari (1773-1841) becomes shôgun.

    1825

    The Bakufu orders that all foreign ships nearing the coast be fired upon.

    1827

    Saigo Takamori is born.

    1837

  • Tokugawa Ieyoshi (1793-1853) becomes shôgun.

  • Ôshio Heihachiro (b. 1792) leads an insurrection in Osaka protesting city government indifference to the poor and hungry.

    1838

    Yamagata Aritomo, the future prime minister of Japan, is born.

    1842

    The edict of 1825 is relaxed.

    1844

    'Battle of the Tonegawa' - rival outlaw gangs clash in Shimosa.

    1849

    Noted woodblock artist Katsushika Hokusai dies.

    1853

    Tokugawa Iesada (1824-58) becomes shôgun.

    1854

    US Commodore Mathew Perry's 'black ships' arrive in Tokyo Bay.

    1858

    July 29 The Bakufu signs a commercial treaty with the American government.

  • Tokugawa Iemochi becomes shôgun.

    1860

    March 24 Ii Naosuke is assassinated outside Edo Castle.

    1862

    Tokugawa Yoshinobu is appointed shogunal regent.

    1863

    June 25 Chôshû forces shell foreign ships in the Shimonoseki Straits.

    August British ships bombard Kagoshima following the murder of diplomat C. L. Richardson.

    Anegakoji Kintomo, an anti-Bakufu noble, is assassinated.

    1864

    September An allied naval group (including British, Dutch, French, and American ships) attacks and defeats the Chôshû daimyo.

    1866

    June Bakufu forces launch an abortive campaign to eliminate the Chôshû power bloc.

    August Tokugawa Iemochi dies.

    1867

    January 10 Tokugawa Yoshinobu is appointed shôgun.

    June 25 The port of Hyogo is opened to foreign ships.

    September Hara Ichinoshin, one of Tokugawa Yoshinobu's closest confidents, is assassinated.

    November Tokugawa Yoshinobu restores authority to the Imperial house. The Edo Period officially ends.

    1868

    The Meiji Restoration

    January 27-29 Tokugawa loyalists are defeated by Imperialists near Osaka at the Battle of Fushimi.

    April The Gokajo no Goseimon (Charter Oath) is drawn up in the name of Emperor Meiji.

    May 3 Edo Castle is surrendered to imperial forces and Tokugawa Yoshinobu is placed under house arrest.

    June An Imperial constitution is drawn up; the Imperial capital is moved to Edo - which is renamed Tokyo.

    July 4  The Tokugawa forces at Ueno are destroyed.

    1869

    Enomoto Takeaki, a Bakufu loyalist, finally surrenders in Hokkaido.

    1871

    The wearing of swords is declared optional and all remaining daimyo domains are abolished in August; the old provinces are replaced by prefectures.

    1872

    Conscription is reinstated.

    1876

    The wearing of swords becomes illegal.

    1877

    February The Satsuma Rebellion, led by Saigo Takamori, begins.

    November The Satsuma Rebellion is crushed at the Battle of Shiroyama.

     

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