Keiô 4 (慶応四年)/ Meiji 1 (明治元年) (change on 1868/9/8)

Timeline of 1868

Other Events of 1868

  • Photographer Felice Beato publishes his Photographic Views of Japan.
  • Currency exchange is undertaken in Ryûkyû; each copper mon is replaced with 32 iron mon, causing a sudden and dramatic rise in prices.
  • The end of the shogunate brings with it a massive exodus from Edo; the city's population does not recover to 1868 levels until around 1890.
  • One hundred forty-eight Japanese arrive in Hawaii under contracts as sugar plantation workers, after being shipped out of Yokohama without authorization. Arriving in the first year (gannen) of the Meiji period, they come to be known as gannenmono.
  • The terms han and bakufu are used in an official context for the first time.
  • The port of Kobe (aka Hyôgo no tsu) is opened to Western trade.
  • Nagaoka castle is torn down.
  • The Nien Rebellion in China ends.
  • Shirakawa castle is burnt down in battle.
  • The Tsukiji Hotel, the first official guesthouse for foreigners constructed by the Meiji government, is completed.

Births and Deaths

Previous Year
1867
1868 Following Year
1869