1880

Meiji 13 (明治十三年)

Timeline of 1880

Ryûkyû Dispute

• 1880/3/9 Tokyo agrees to Peking's proposal to meet to negotiate a peaceful solution to the dispute over sovereignty over Ryûkyû.
• 1880/3/11 Tokyo issues a missive to foreign governments, requesting that if any were owed debts by the Kingdom of Ryûkyû, incurred after 1843, Japan would pay them. The foreign governments were given until May 30 to file their claims.
• 1880/4/17 Tokyo agrees to send its representatives to Peking, in light of China's refusal to send its representatives to Tokyo.
• 1880/8/15 Representatives of China and Japan meet in Peking to begin negotiations.
• 1880/10/21 Negotiations reach an agreement, including Japanese recognition of Chinese sovereignty over the southernmost islands - Miyako and Yaeyama - in exchange for China granting Japan Most Favored Nation status. The Chinese ratification of the treaty is delayed.
• 1880/12/20 China declares it will not sign the agreement.

Other Events of 1880

• Isabella Bird's Unbeaten Tracks in Japan is published.
• The Hôheikan, a wooden mansion in American style, is erected in Sapporo to house the Emperor on his trip to Hokkaidô the following year.
• Hokusai's Fugaku hyakkei ("One Hundred Views of Mt Fuji") is republished in London.
• Kubota castle is destroyed by fire.
• Kubota Beisen, Kôno Bairei, Mochizuki Gyokusen, and others found the Kyoto Prefectural Painting School, the first government school to offer training in all modes of traditional Japanese painting.
• Matsudaira Katamori becomes the chief priest of Nikkô Tôshôgû.
• Japan participates in the 1880 Melbourne International Exhibition.
• Ôkuma Shigenobu suggests a loan of 50 million yen be sought; Emperor Meiji issues an Imperial Rescript opposing any loans from foreign powers.
• The Meiji government establishes Shinto shrines dedicated to Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi in Kyoto and Osaka.
• A Public Meeting Law is put into place enacting police supervision over all political gatherings. Various types of individuals, such as teachers and students, are forbidden from attending such meetings, and political organizations are forbidden from recruiting members, corresponding with similar groups, or combining with other political groups.
• A Japanese legation is established in Seoul.
• Ueki Emori argues for Ryukyuan independence, since there were no grounds for annexation, and since doing so would place Japan in a good light, in the eyes of the world community, setting a precedent for a new form of East Asian international relations.
• The first YMCA in Japan is opened in Tokyo.
• Yonago castle is torn down.

Births and Deaths

• 1880/11/20 Okinawan activist Rin Seikô commits suicide in Beijing (b. 1842).
• Shin hanga artist Hashiguchi Goyô is born (d. 1921).
• Artist Odake Kokkan is born (d. 1945).

Previous Year 1879

1880

Following Year 1881