1869

Meiji 2 (明治二年)

Timeline of 1869

• 1869/1
  • 1/5 Assassination of Yokoi Shonan
  • 1/20 Satsuma, Choshu, Tosa, Higo petition to return of domain lands to the state.
• 1869/2
  • 2/5 The government encourages to set elementary schools to all regions.
  • 2/8 The newspaper regulations ban criticism against the government.
• 1869/2-3 (April) Charles de Long becomes US minister to Japan.
• 1869/3/13 The Dajôkan (Council of State) declares the unity of government and rites (saisei icchi).
• 1869/5/18 Enomoto Takeaki surrenders. (End of the Boshin War)
• 1869/6
  • 6 The Wakamatsu Tea and Silk Farm Colony in El Dorado County, California, is established. It is the only site outside Japan to be settled by samurai.
  • 6/17 The return of domain lands to the state. (Hanseki Hokan)
  • 6/24 Russia sends troops to Karafuto.
  • 6/29 The government builds a new shrine for soldiers who died in the Boshin War. (Later called Yasukuni Shrine)
• 1869/8 Ezo is renamed Hokkaidô and is incorporated into the territory of the Meiji state.
• 1869/8/3 Farmers riot in Takasaki.
• 1869/9/4 Omura Masujiro assaulted by a former Choshu samurai.
• 1869/10/12 Farmers riot in Toyama.
• 1869/12
  • 12/14 Farmers riots in Ogaki, Owari.
  • 12/25 The first telegraphic communication lines between Tokyo and Yokohama.

Other Events of 1869

• The Hokkaido Development Office is established.
• Tokushima castle is torn down.
• The Imperial capital is moved to Edo, which is renamed Tokyo.
• Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, second son of Queen Victoria, is the first British royal to visit Japan.
• Y. Tsuchida becomes the first to manufacture cigarettes in Japan, but they do not catch on.

Births and Deaths

• 5/11 Hijikata Toshizo dies in Hakodate.
• 11/5 Omura Masujiro dies.
• The Kikoe-ôgimi, great-grandmother to King Shô Tai of Ryûkyû, dies.
• Kuhara Fusanosuke, politician and founder of Hitachi, is born (d. 1965).
• Painter Okakura Shûsui is born (d. 1950).

Previous Year 1868

1869

Following Year 1870