Edo Period - Events

Events

  • 1600: Battle of Sekigahara. Tokugawa Ieyasu defeats a coalition of daimyo and establishes hegemony over most of Japan.
  • 1603: The emperor appoints Tokugawa Ieyasu as shogun, who moves his government to Edo (Tokyo) and founds the Tokugawa dynasty of shoguns.
  • 1605: Tokugawa Ieyasu resigns as shogun and is succeeded by his son Tokugawa Hidetada.
  • 1607: Korean Joseon Dynasty sends an embassy to Tokugawa shogunate.
  • 1611: Ryūkyū Islands become a vassal state of Satsuma domain.
  • 1614: Tokugawa Ieyasu bans Christianity from Japan.
  • 1615: Battle of Osaka. Tokugawa Ieyasu besieges Osaka Castle, all opposition from forces loyal to the Toyotomi family. Tokugawa authority becomes paramount throughout Japan.
  • 1616: Tokugawa Ieyasu dies.
  • 1623: Tokugawa Iemitsu becomes the third shogun.
  • 1633: Tokugawa Iemitsu forbids travelling abroad and reading foreign books.
  • 1635: Tokugawa Iemitsu formalizes the system of mandatory alternate residence (sankin kōtai) in Edo.
  • 1637: Shimabara Rebellion (1637–38) mounted by overtaxed peasants.
  • 1638: Tokugawa Iemitsu forbids ship building.
  • 1639: Edicts establishing National Seclusion (Sakoku Rei) are completed. All Westerners except the Dutch are prohibited from entering Japan.
  • 1641: Tokugawa Iemitsu bans all foreigners, except Chinese and Dutch, from Japan.
  • 1650: With peace, there evolved a new kind of noble, literate warrior according to bushido ("way of the warrior").
  • 1657: The Great Fire of Meireki destroys most of the city of Edo.
  • 1700: Kabuki and ukiyo-e become popular.
  • 1707: Mount Fuji erupts.
  • 1774: The anatomical text Kaitai Shinsho, the first complete Japanese translation of a Western medical work, is published by Sugita Gempaku and Maeno Ryotaku.
  • 1787: Matsudaira Sadanobu becomes senior shogunal councillor and institutes the Kansei Reforms.
  • 1792: Russian envoy Adam Laxman arrives at Nemuro in eastern Ezo (now Hokkaidō).
  • 1804: Russian envoy Nikolai Rezanov reaches Nagasaki and unsuccessfully seeks the establishment of trade relations with Japan.
  • 1837: Rebellion of Oshio Heihachiro.
  • 1841: Tenpō Reforms.
  • 1854: The USA forces Japan to sign a trade agreement ("Treaty of Kanagawa") which reopens Japan to foreigners after two centuries.
  • 1855: Russia and Japan establish diplomatic relations.
  • 1864: British, French, Dutch and American warships bombard Shimonoseki and open more Japanese ports for foreigners.
  • 1868: Tokugawa Yoshinobu resigns, the Tokugawa dynasty ends, and the emperor (or "mikado") Meiji is restored, but with capital in Edo/Tokyo and divine attributes.

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