Emperor Meiji - Timeline of Events During The Life and Reign of The Meiji Emperor

Timeline of Events During The Life and Reign of The Meiji Emperor

The Meiji era ushered in many far-reaching changes to the ancient feudal society of Japan. A timeline of major events might include:

• 3 November 1852: the Meiji emperor (then known as Sachinomiya) is born to the imperial concubine Nakayama Yoshiko and Emperor Komei

• 1853: A fleet of ships headed by Commodore Matthew Perry arrives in Japan on 8 July; considered by German Japanologist Johannes Justus Rein and described by Francis L. Hawks and Commodore Matthew Perry in their 1856 work, Narrative of the Expedition of an American Squadron to the China Seas and Japan Performed in the Years 1852, 1853 and 1854 under the Command of Commodore M.C. Perry, United States Navy., as the "Opening" of Japan. Death of the Shogun.

• 1854–55: Treaties are signed with the United States by the Bakufu

• late 1850s–1860s: The "Sonnō jōi" movement is in full force.

• 1858: The Bakufu sign treaties with the Netherlands, Imperial Russia, and Great Britain.

• March 1860: The Tairo, Ii Naosuke, is assassinated in the Sakuradamon incident.

• 11 November: Sachinomiya is formally proclaimed Crown Prince and given the personal name Mutsuhito.

• 1862: Namamugi Incident

• 1864–65: Bombardment of Shimonoseki by British, American, French, and Dutch ships; fighting ensues between the shogunate and Chōshū.

• 1866: Death of the Shogun Tokugawa Iemochi on 29 August; appointment of Tokugawa Yoshinobu as Shogun.

• 31 January 1867: Death of Emperor Komei from hemorrhagic smallpox, unofficial accession of Mutsuhito to the throne.

• 4 January 1868: Formal restoration of imperial rule; end of 265 years of rule by the Tokugawa Shogunate

• 12 September: Formal coronation of the emperor Meiji.

• 23 October: The nengo is changed to the first year of Meiji.

• 6 November: The capital is moved from Kyoto to Edo, renamed Tokyo.

• 5 November 1872: Emperor Meiji Receives The Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich of Russia

• late 1860s–1881: Period of rebellion and assassination in Japan.

• 11 January 1869: Marriage of Meiji to Ichijo Haruko, thenceforth the Empress Shoken.

• 4 September: Meiji receives The Duke of Edinburgh.

• 1871: The abolition of the han domains is proclaimed.

• 1873: Edo castle is destroyed in a conflagration; the emperor moves to the Akasaka Palace. Meiji's first children are born, but die at birth.

• 1877: The Satsuma Rebellion

• 1878: Assassination of Okubo Toshimichi.

• 31 August 1879: Prince Yoshihito, the future Taisho Tenno and Meiji's only surviving son, is born.

• 1881: Receives the first state visit of a foreign monarch, King Kalakaua of Hawaii.

• 1889: Meiji Constitution promulgated; Ito Hirobumi becomes first Prime Minister of Japan.
• 1894: Sino-Japanese War; Japanese victory establishes Japan as a regional power.
• 1904–1905: Russo-Japanese War; Japanese victory earns Japan the status of a great power.
• 1910: The Annexation of Korea by the Empire of Japan.
• 1912: The emperor dies.