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 Peerage reforms create a new noble hierarchy, including the creation of the kazoku aristocracy.
- 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 - Ueno Keisuke and Miwa Hochi arrive in Hawaii to address the Gannenmono issue.
- 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.
- The Suez Canal opens.
- 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).
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1869 | Following Year 1870 |