Ansei

.

Change of era

*; November 27, 1854: The new era name of "Ansei" (meaning "tranquil government") was created to herald the beginning of a peaceful period. The impetus and explanation for this change of era names was said to have been the burning of the Palace in Kyoto in the preceding summer.Satow, Ernest Mason. (1905). [http://books.google.com/books?id=22cP2o20HrAC&pg=PP11&dq=haneda+port&lr=&source=gbs_selected_pages&cad=0_1#PPA11,M1 "Japan 1853-1864, Or, Genji Yume Monogatari," p. 11.] ]

The new era name was derived from an hortatory aphorism: "Rule peacefully over the masses, then the ruler will remain in his place" (庶民安政、然後君子安位矣).

Although the notion seems appealing, the arrival of the Black Ships and Commodore Matthew Perry is not specifically recognized as a factor in the change of era names.

Events of the "Ansei" era

* "Ansei 2" (1855): Work was begun on re-constructing the Imperial Palace after the devastating fire of "Kaei" 7, and the project was completed in nine months.Ponsonby-Fane, Richard. (1956). "Kyoto: The Old Capital of Japan, 794-1869." p. 324.]
* "Ansei 2", on the 21st day of the 11th month (1855): The emperor moved into the reconstructed palace, having previously lived in the Shōgo-in and then Katsura-no-miya. The people were permitted to view the grand Imperial progress. [see above] ]
* "Ansei 2" (November 11, 1855): Great Ansei Earthquake in Edo, one of the Ansei Great Quakes, with resulting fire damage and loss of life. [ [http://www.historycooperative.org/cgi-bin/justtop.cgi?act=justtop&url=http://www.historycooperative.org/journals/jsh/39.4/smits.html Smitts, Gregory. "Shaking up Japan: Edo Society and the 1855 Catfish Picture Prints"] , "Journal of Social History," No 39, No. 4, Summer 2006.] Epicenter -- (Latitude: 36.000/Longitude: 140.000), 6.9 magnitude on the Richter Scale. [Online "Significant Earthquake Database" -- U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC)] [http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov ...Click link for NOAA/Japan: Significant Earthquake Database]
* "Ansei 4" (November 15, 1857): Nagasaki Medical School is opened. Dr. Pompe van Meerdevoort gave the first formal public lecture on medical and surgical sciences at the new school, which became as well the first such lecture to be delivered in any Japanese venue. [Whitney, Willis Norton. (1885). "Notes on the history of medical progress in Japan," "Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan," pp. 841-842.]
* "Ansei 5" (April 9, 1858): The 1858 Hietsu earthquake kills hundreds.
* "Ansei 5" (1858): The initial establishment of Keio University, seven years before the beginning of the "Keio" era; nevertheless, the university was named after the later era. This is the oldest existing institution of higher learning in Japan. [Ozaki, Yukio. (2001). "The Autobiography of Ozaki Yukio," p. 21.]
* "Ansei 5" (July 29, 1858): Tairo Ii Naosuke signs Japanese-American Treaty of Peace and Amity (also known as the "Harris Treaty"), which was a follow-up to the 1854 Treaty of Kanagawa. [Cullen, Louis. (2003). "A History of Japan, 1582-1941: Internal and External Worlds," p. 180-186.]
* "Ansei 5" (1858): Beginning of Ansei Purge at the order of Ii Naosuke on behalf of the bakufu. [Cullen, pp. 184-188.]
* "Ansei 7" (1860): Fire at Edo Castle.
* "Ansei 7" (March 24, 1860): Ii Naosuke was assassinated, also known as "the Sakurada-mon Incident." [Kusunoki, pp. 52-66; Cullen, p. 184.]

Notes

References

* Cullen, L.M. (2003). "A History of Japan, 1582-1941: Internal and External Worlds." Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-82115-X (cloth) ISBN 0-521-529918-2 (paper)
* Kusunoki Sei'ichirō (1991). "Nihon shi omoshiro suiri: Nazo no satsujin jiken wo oe". Tokyo: Futami bunko.
* Ozaki, Yukio. (2001). "The Autobiography of Ozaki Yukio: The Struggle for Constitutional Government in Japan." [Translated by Fujiko Hara] . Princeton: Princeton University Press. 10-ISBN 0-691-05095-3 (cloth)
* Ponsonby-Fane, Richard A. B. (1956). "Kyoto: The Old Capital of Japan, 794-1869." Kyoto: The Ponsonby Memorial Society.
* Satow, Ernest Mason. (1905). [http://books.google.com/books?id=22cP2o20HrAC&dq=haneda+port&lr=&source=gbs_summary_s&cad=0 "Japan 1853-1864, Or, Genji Yume Monogatari."] Tokyo: Naigwai Shuppan Kyokwai.
* Whitney, Willis Norton. (1885). "Notes on the history of medical progress in Japan," "Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan," [Reprinted from Vol. 12, pp. 245-270.] Yokohama: R.J. Meiklejohn & Company. [http://books.google.com/books?id=LH0IAAAAIAAJ&dq=whitney+%26+japan&as_brr=1 ...Link to digitized version of this lecture text]

ee also

* Ansei Treaties

External links

* National Diet Library, "The Japanese Calendar" [http://www.ndl.go.jp/koyomi/e/ -- historical overview plus illustrative images from library's collection]
* National Diet Library, [http://www.ndl.go.jp/scenery/e/data/234/index.html photograph of Sakurada-mon (1909)]
* [http://web.jjay.cuny.edu/~jobrien/reference/ob58.html Text of Treaty of Peace and Amity (1858)]