1862

Bunkyû 2 (文久二年)

Timeline of 1862

• 1862/1/15 Sakashitamongai Incident - Rôjû Andô Nobumasa is attacked outside the Sakashita Gate of Edo Castle by six ronin of Mito han.
• 1862/3 Kabuki play "Aoto Zôshi Hana no Nishiki-e" premieres at the Ichimura-za in Edo.
• 1862/3 Philipp Franz von Siebold leaves Japan for the final time.
• 1862/4/23 Teradaya Incident - meeting of pro-Imperial rebels is broken up as a fight breaks out at the Teradaya in Fushimi, near Kyoto.
• 1862/5 Central repository of han books is moved to Kanda and renamed as repository of Western books. Photography archives are established in Yokohama and Shimooka-renjô.
• 1862/8 Namamugi Incident - An Englishman is killed in Yokohama by a number of samurai of Satsuma han.
• 1862/int.8 Matsudaira Katamori is named Kyoto Shugo Shoku.
• 1862/11 An Imperial court council decides to "expel the barbarians" (Westerners).
• 1862/12 The British Legation is attacked and burned.

Other Events

• Shogun Tokugawa Iemochi marries Princess Kazu-no-Miya (see Kôbu Gattai).
• The Rôshigumi is formed.
• Sakamoto Ryôma flees Tosa, joins up with pro-sonnô jôi rebel groups in Edo; seeks to assassinate Katsu Kaishû, ends up becoming one of Katsu's disciples instead.
• James Hepburn moves to Yokohama and opens a dispensary for the sick, also begins to preach Christianity.
• Japan's first diplomatic mission to England is dispatched, under Takenouchi Yasunori. While in London, the mission visits the 1862 World's Fair (Great London Exposition).

Births and Deaths

• Yoshida Tôyô, Tosa han minister, is killed by members of the Tosa Loyalist Party (b. 1816).

Previous Year 1861

1862

Following Year 1863