Meiji 6 (明治六年)

Timeline of 1873

  • 1873/1/1 (Jan 1) Gregorian calendar replaces the lunar calendar.
  • 1873/2/7 An edict is issued explaining that killing in the name of revenge is illegal and that only the government reserves the right to punish murderers (i.e. to exact justice).
  • 1873/5 Edo castle is destroyed in a fire; the Emperor and Empress take up residence at the mansion of the Kishû Tokugawa clan, which is then designated the Akasaka Temporary Palace.
  • 1873/6 Foreign Minister Soejima Taneomi visits Beijing.
  • 1873/6/21 Japanese Diplomatic Minister in China Yanagihara Sakimitsu discusses the Taiwan Incident of 1871 with Chinese authorities.
  • 1873/7 Urasoe ueekata, serving as a representative of Ryûkyû, seeks to meet with Soejima but finds he is absent.
  • 1873/8 Yonabaru ueekata meets with Foreign Minister Soejima following the latter's return from China. Soejima confirms that authority over internal affairs, as well as diplomatic relations with China, remains in the hands of the Ryûkyû government, and is not determined by the Japanese Foreign Ministry.
  • 1873/8/27 The Italian Diplomatic Minister resident in Japan, Comte Litta, writes to Soejima requesting that the rights granted to France, Holland, and the US in treaties signed by those countries with the Ryûkyû Kingdom be extended to Italians as well. Soejima replies that he must confer with the authorities in Ryûkyû han.
  • 1873/10/8 A particularly famous and well-known set of photo portraits of Emperor Meiji, the last official photos of the emperor, is taken by photographer Uchida Kuichi.

Other Events of 1873

Births and Deaths


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